Orange Is the New Black is finally back on Netflix! While we binge watch the current season, here is the breakdown of my inmate costume and my husband’s guard costume that we assembled and wore last year. These two costumes were super easy to put together that required basically no creativity, skill, or time on my part!
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Inspiration for our costumes were inspired by Alex Vause and John Bennett from Orange is the New Black. Usually on the last day of a convention, I dress for comfort, so I had comfort in mind when choosing these characters. Plus, I just love the show so damn much. Would you classify Alex as a villain? I tend to pick more villain costumes, don’t I? I already had the wig (purchased for Artemisia), glasses, and (depending on my sugar/caffeine level) a bad attitude.
Jerome and I wore our costumes to Comicpalooza in Houston last year and really enjoyed how comfortable they were. We had planned to also wear them to DragonCon in Atlanta later that year but cut the costume list short due to Hurricane Harvey cutting our trip short. That’s okay, these are ready to go to any convention, Halloween, or prison party with little effort. Here’s what we purchased for our costumes…
Inmate Costume
- Scrubs Women’s Scrub Set – Medical Scrub Top and Pant, Khaki, Small
- Badge (non-character) Prison Name Badge Prop For Prisoner Costumes
- Undershirt (optional) Sivvan Women’s Comfort Long Sleeve T-Shirt/Underscrub Tee – S8500 – White – S
- Wig, temporary tattoos, glasses, shoes, etc.
Guard Costume
- Shirt Dickies Men’s Long Sleeve Work Shirt, Gulf Blue, Medium
- Pants Dickies Men’s Original 874 Work Pant Black 32W x 32L
- Handcuffs VIPERTEK Double Lock Steel Police Edition Professional Grade Handcuffs (Silver)
- Shoulder Speaker (attached to any radio for the look) Pro Heavy Duty Shoulder Remote Speaker Mic Microphone PTT For Yaesu Vertex VX-1R 2R 3R 5R 150 160 180 210 210A Two Way Radio 3.5mm
- Keychain uxcell Metal Hook Spring Stretchy Coil Strap Keyring Key Chain 5.5 Inches Length
- Flag patch American Flag Embroidered Patch Reverse White Border US USA Iron-On Emblem
- Mustache Rubie’s Gent Mustache – Black
After Comicpalooza I took his shirt(s) in for embroidery. Almost any large dry cleaning shop will do it, provided you supply the preferred font and specify exact spelling for them. Since the guards have been changing lately, a specific name/character isn’t really necessary.
And since I can’t have photos taken of me without cracking up at some point, here’s an outtake. I don’t know how to stay in character, sorry!
So what cell block are you in? “Florida” looks nice, doesn’t it?