Sure, Mary Poppins is cool, but not nearly as cool as the Guardians of the Galaxy. This year, the entire family is dressing up as impetuous space adventurers who have not only saved the galaxy from Ronin the Accuser, but also from Ego, an actual living planet.
This year I’ll be dressing up as an Empathetic Insectoid Being in a Mantis Halloween Costume from Guardians of the Galaxy II.
We love Halloween and the past few years with some forethought and planning we all ended up in matching festive gear. Our family had such a great time all season long. We’ve done Nintendo costumes, zoo keepers with twin panda bears, a family of food items, scurvy pirates and now this year is shaping up to be no exception.
We Are Dressing up Like Guardians of the Galaxy!
Mom will be Empathetic Insectoid Being: Mantis
Dad will be Ravager: Peter Quill, better known as Star-Lord
Big Sister will be The Most Dangerous Woman in the Universe: Gamora
Big Brother will be Profane and Irreverent Bio-engineered Rocket Raccoon
Little Sister will be Flora Colossus Groot from Planet X
Yeah… we know our stuff. #SuperFans (Emojis by Aleksandar Savic)
Mantis Halloween Costume
I will be dressed up as Mantis: The Empath Insect.
For me, it was between Mantis and Nebula, since my daughter had her heart set on dressing up as Gamora. Mantis is clearly the cooler of the two, and there is no way I could pull off Nebula’s badassery.
Everything You Need
- Leather Costume Bodice + Arm Sleeves
- Antenna
- Wig
- Black Contact Lenses
- Fake Eyelashes
Leather Costume Bodice + Arm Sleeves
Originally, we were going to try and wing it with a green tank top and black arm bands, but I didn’t want to be the outcast looking like a hobo trying to squeeze in on the family fun.
We looked around to see what other options we could find, and found a Mantis Cosplay outfit through Amazon where we could just purchase the bodice and arm sleeves. It also comes with a belt, cuff and pants, but for our purposes we opted just for the upper half of the costume.
The costume we purchased:
The company requested specific measurements so they could make the costume to fit me perfectly.
It arrived in good time, and is extremely well made. It’s nice leather, accurate, and stunning. It looks super legit.
The only problem is, and it’s a major problem, the one measurement they forgot to ask for was the neck. I could not zip it up. We took the jacktet to a local tailor here in Utah (Stitched Specialties), and he adjusted everything to make it fit perfect! The additional cost was well worth it.
Family Hint: Give the company your neck measurements!
For twice the price, FJackets, the same company that we purchased Gabriel’s Star-Lord jacket from, also offered a really great looking costume. When it came time for us to buy, unfortunately they were out of stock.
Antenna
At the Halloween Store we bought the cheapest headband we could find with springy antenna. They happened to be topped with styrofoam bumblebee balls, and they popped right off.
Gabriel used moldable colored glue to wrap around the springs to form antenna, and fixed a light at the top that attaches to a battery on the side of the headband. It’s as easy as it sounds.
How To Make Mantis Antenna [Speed Video]
Check out the video for all the DIY you need to know.
The moldable glue we used for the antenna:
The lights we used for the antenna:
Mantis Wig
Back at the Spirit of Halloween store we purchased a black wig and cut it to match the correct hair length for Mantis. We curled the ends as needed, but it’s probably an unnecessary step.
Black Contact Lenses
To really complete this look, a pair of large black contact lenses are a must! First off, no insect on the planet has blue eyes.
We purchased ours from Optyk Rozmus.
Family Hint: Plan ahead, these are shipped from Poland and can take up to 15 days to arrive.
I’ve never worn contacts before, so after trying unsuccessfully for 30 minutes I finally had to lay on the bed prying my eyes open, while Gabriel put them in. Worth it! They are fantastic!
Fake Eyelashes
After trying on the costume the first time, my pale face and beady eyes were totally overshadowed by the darkness of the wig. It didn’t matter how much black makeup I loaded on. It was painfully obvious I needed some fake eyelashes to complete the ensemble.
We picked some up at Sephora.
There you have it! That’s all you need to complete your DIY Mantis Halloween Costume!
Mantis Halloween Costume Full Cost Breakdown
- Leather Bodice + Arm Sleeves: $89
- Antenna: $26
- Wig: $24.99
- Black Contact Lenses: $24.99
- Fake Eyelashes and Glue: $30.00
Total Cost: $194.98
Arm this girl with a little confidence boost and she’s ready to put Ego down!
Goal for Mantis Halloween Costume
Reality of Mantis Halloween Costume
I can’t see much opportunity for wearing this costume outside of Halloween, but when there is a will there is a way. But seriously, we are super fans of Guardians of the Galaxy, and we look amazing all pieced together.
► For Kids: Your kids may balk and complain that they don’t want to dress up like a family and they want to be an individual, but deep down they are lying. Family costumes for lyfe.
What’s your best family costume you’ve put together! We want to see the magic!
► What We Learned: Apparently, some insects do have blue eyes.
We took these costumes on the road and celebrated at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party! We were the only Guardians at the party, and everyone loved us!
► Nap-Time Version: Everything you need to know to pull together a DIY Mantis Halloween Costume Tutorial from Guardians of the Galaxy!
For more of our costume tutorials, diy props and general interest on Guardians fandom, check out how we pieced together the rest of our family costumes!
- Star-Lord Halloween Costume
- Gamora Halloween Costume
- Baby Groot Halloween Costume
- Rocket Raccoon Halloween Costume
![The Best Free View of Tokyo Tower [Travel Hack]](https://3c91f8.a2cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Tokyo-Tower-View-218x150.jpg "The Best Free View of Tokyo [Travel Hack]")
