Quality Costumes

Mascot Construction
Head

Upon the acceptance of the design, construction begins with the sculpture of the head.  The head is first sculptured from 2" foam rubber with particular attention given to balance and ease of movement. Depending on the overall look of the character, the placement of the eyes and size of the mouth opening are done next.  Most larger characters that have a fully sculptured body will utilize the mouth opening to view through. This enables the head of the character to sit higher in the air and gives it better movement from side to side. Once the head is sculptured, an adjustable helmet is installed to allow different people to be able to wear it comfortably. With the head sculpture now completed, the outer covering is begun.  Acrylic Pile (fun fur) is used in the manufacturing of mascots. This material gives the character a rich warm appearance and makes cleaning easy.

Body

The next step is to begin the sculpturing of the body. All body sculptures are made to allow as much ease of movement as possible. Consideration is given to allow people of different size and height the ability to wear the costume. Once the foam sculpture has been completed, the fun fur is fitted over the body with an opening being left to allow access in and out of the costume. All access openings are specifically designed for strength. Each opening is fitted with a heavy duty zipper closure to take up any strain and a Velcro over flap to cover the zipper.

Hands

The third step in construction is to manufacture hands for the character. All mascot hands are made using the three finger design as used in all cartoons. A long sleeve on the hand is made to allow the sleeve of the costume to come down over the hand sleeve so none of the arm or skin of the wearer can be seen. This is to ensure that when the mascot raises its arms over its head, there will be no gap between the two.

Feet

The final step in construction is to manufacture the feet. Each pair of feet are sculptured from foam to give the desired look allowing the wearers feet to fit snuggly inside the foam shell. The sculpture is glued to a firm inner sole attached to a 3/8" petroleum sole. The sculptured foot is covered with fun fur on the top and sides. A Velcro strip is glued to the foam sculpture and sole. This allows the fabric to be removed from the foot for cleaning. A final hand stitching is done to give the foot character.

Note

When a mascot is designed as a one piece head and body unit, the hands and feet are still constructed separately.