Like everyone else in the world, I adored Fury Road when it came out in theaters last spring, and I decided I just had to do a Max cosplay… but I didn’t have any conventions coming up. That’s okay! There’s always Halloween!
I haven’t gotten a chance to do a full photoshoot yet, what with there not being any deserts in the Philly area (that I know of!), but in the meantime, here are a couple progress photos!
That’s my jacket!!
I’m still so, so happy with how the jacket came out. I found a suitable moto jacket pattern and bought some fabric-backed leather online at a reasonable price. I made the jacket out of muslin first to get any adjustments (the sides and sleeves needed to be taken in quite a bit, and obviously half of one sleeve is missing), then made the final version out of the leather. I distressed the jacket by rubbing it all around in the dust in my driveway.
The shoulder pad was made from actual football pads I got at a used sports supply store. My partner very carefully removed the right pad and shoulder flap from the rest of the piece. I sanded and painted the plastic part black, then sewed it back onto the pad, and added a leather strap between the front and back of the pad, under the arm pit. I then hand-sewed the pad onto the jacket at the shoulder and front and back corners.
The only photo I have of the full costume…
The rest of the costume was fairly simple. I bought a beige men’s thermal shirt, cut off all the cuffs and finished edges, and sandpapered it a bit to add some holes. I then washed it in a mix of brown, green, and black acrylic paint and let it hang dry to make it look dirty.
The pants and boots are just faux leather pants and boots from Forever 21 that I distressed in the same way as the jacket. As you can see, distressing is probably the most important part of any Mad Max cosplay!
The cord bracelet is from an etsy store that I unfortunately cannot find right now. And the leg brace is made from faux brown leather and a combination of poster board and wonderflex. All of these materials were left over from previous projects, so that was nice! The brace is pinned to my pants so it will stay up. I’m not totally happy with it, but it came out fine for a first try.
I’m hoping to get some real photos fairly soon!