Costume Ideas for Letter Q

Q – The Quartermaster gadget man from the Bond films. The role is set to be revised in the new James Bond film due out in 2012, with Ben Whishaw cast as Q. Of the four Qs who previously played the role, John Cleese was the only one who wore any type of costume and this was a Doctors coat. Use with a badge which just says Q.

Quack doctor- A pun costume involving a combination of a doctor’s costume and a duck’s head-mask (or perhaps duck’s bill nose accessory).

Quaker – Members of a religious group (the Religious Society of Friends) who are firmly pacifist and who prefer discussion and contemplation to the more formal services found with other religions. Many Quakers were also exploratory pioneers, especially in the colonisation of America, albeit because of persecution. Historically, they had a style of dress based on the black/white puritan style with distinctive round black flat hats, an image seen on food-stuffs such as Quaker Oats in Britain!

Quarterback – Leading player of the offensive team in American & Canadian Footballers. The American Football outfit may be a little specialist or bulky for some hire outlets, but there are now a number of British American Football teams.

Quality Street Characters – Quality Street is the brand-name of a collection of assorted wrapped sweets usually found in boxes or tins. Prior to a redesign in 2000, the packaging featured a soldier and lady of the Napoleonic era in period costume, characters from a play called Quality Street by JM Barrie (who later wrote Peter Pan).

Quark - In science a quark is an elementary particle and important element of Matter, but to many Quark is remembered as the devious Ferengi owner of the bar and club upon the Star Trek Deep Space 9 space station. The Ferengi were supposed to be arch-enemy aliens (like the original Klingons) but because of their appearance, including extraordinarily large ears, they instead became like intergalactic spivs and wheeler/dealers. For a time Star Trek Ferengi licensed costumes (and masks) were available, but may now be limited either to those who bought in whilst they were available, or from specialist suppliers.

Quart of Milk –  In this country we work in pints and litres for milk, but there is an American novelty costume based on the typical milk carton.

Quasimodo – The hunch-back bell-ringer from Victor Hugo’s book the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Trousers, jerkin, including hunch underneath, wig & make-up.

Quebec Resident – Wear a Mountie costume – we know this is strictly not correct, but it was the only thing we could really use for a Canadian national.

It’s Time for Queen Costumes

‘Queen’ - Another name for a camp man. Wear flamboyant clothing and ‘mince’ when you walk.

Queen - Aside from the selection below, queens occur in many historical dramas, pantomimes and as chess pieces.

Queen Amidala - Character from the first films in the Star Wars series The Phantom Menace, played by Natalie Portman. Although for much of the film the Queen is actually her double, the handmaiden Sab (Keira Knightley).

Queen Anne (1665-1714) – Queen of Great Britain from 1704. Presided over the unification of the English and Scottish Parliaments and Marlboroughs victories in the War of French Succession. Fashions and costume were from the French court of Louis XIV, (the Sun King) at Versailles.

Queen Bee -Traditionally the Queen Bee is the head of house and mother to most of the bees in a given hive. In a broader sense, the term is often used for any authoritarian female and hence can be used as an alternative to a plain bee outfit!

Queen Boadicia/Boudica – Less of a queen, more of a leader of the Iceni tribe of eastern England who took on the Roman invaders. An opportunity for the tribal armour and woad war paint look.

Queen Eleanor (c.1122-1204) – One of the most powerful females in the history of the Middle Ages. She not only was Duchess of Aqutaine in her own right, but was Queen Consort of France (married to Louis VII, from 1137- until the marriage was annulled in 1152) Wife and widow of Henry II and mother of Richard I and King John. Medieval gown of the period.

Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603) – Daughter of Henry VIII by Anne Boleyn, and one of Britain’s greatest and longest reigning monarchs. Costume is of the Tudor era, although the best known look is of the Queen in a elaborate white/silver farthingale dress complete with ruff. She is usually pictured as having red hair and a high forehead, although in later life she may have used a wig.

Queen Elizabeth II - Another of Britain’s longest reigning monarchs. 2012 was her Diamond Jubilee year. The ‘costume’ is more in the form of one of several masks (both overhead and cardboard face-mask) available on the market.

Queen Mab - Queen of the Witches/Fairies as mentioned in Macbeth.

Queen Mother - Queen Elizabeth II’s mother who was born in 1900 and died in 2002, aged 101.

Queen Nefertiti – After Cleopatra, Nefertiti is probably the next best known of the female Egyptians although because she lived far earlier (14th Century BC), a lot less is known about her. It is thought she may have been the mother of Tutankhamen. The costume and make-up can be the same as for Cleopatra but she wears a different headdress, the Pschent, a red crown on a gold (or white) mitre adorned with a representation of the cobra Uraeus, symbolic of justice and protection.

Queen of the Fairies -May take several forms but the best known is Titania from Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream.

Queen of Hearts - Imperious character from Lewis Carroll’s books Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Costume design is best based on the traditional playing card in red, yellow, black and white, with heart motif decoration, although variations do exist. She may carry a tray of tarts (or just the empty tray).

Queen of the May - Variation on the Mother Nature/Gaia concept. Green or white dress with leaves or floral decorations and accessories.

Queen of the Night - A leading character in Mozart’s The Magic Flute.

Queen of the Nile - An alternative name for Cleopatra, the last pharaoh of Egypt and lover of Caesar and Mark Anthony, and indeed the name under which some Cleo-style outfits are marketed.

Queen of Sin - Okay, settle down. The Queen of Sin was a role taken on by Mrs Emma Peel in The Avengers episode A Touch of Brimstone. Originally made in 1965, the episode was banned in the US, and slightly censored in the UK, although the QoS outfit looks quite tame by today’s standards. The principal objection was not so much the costume (which Diana Rigg helped design) but the fact that she had a whip, knew how to use it and did. An acceptable Queen of Sin outfit can comprise knee or thigh-length boots, fishnets, a PVC or leather-look leotard or corset, spiked collar and hair in an updo or ponytail oh, and a whip.

Queen of the Desert, Priscilla – A camp Australian film about a troupe of touring drag artistes which is now a successful stage show in several countries. Over the top 1970s style Abba costumes can be particularly popular.

Queen, Red – In the original Through the Looking Glass, the Red Queen, based on the classic chess piece, helped Alice become a queen herself. To obtain the chess piece look, a series of large crinoline-style hoops on the outside of a red dress may be used. On the other hand, in the 2010 Alice in Wonderland film, the Red Queen is a despotic ruler, played by Helena Bonham-Carter, who is a mixture of elements of both the chess Red Queen and the Queen of Hearts found in the first of the Alice books.

Queen, White – As above, the Looking Glass White Queen resembles a chess-piece but is a somewhat timid character who eventually turns into a sheep. In the 2010 Wonderland film, she has become an ethereal and distracted ruler seeking to oppose the evil activities of her Red Queen sister.

Queen Victoria - Long serving Queen, proclaimed Empress of India in 1876. Despite this status, the black clad Queen in mourning is the best remembered image ofVictoria.

Queenie – A character from the second series of the British historical comedy series Blackadder. Loosely modelled on a youthful Elizabeth I, she was played by Miranda Richardson.

Queen Singer – Freddy Mercury – the lead singer of the pop group queen. Costumes are available from Its a Kind of Magic (yellow jacket, white trousers) and The Housewife from I Want To Break Free.

Queensland Resident – Wear an Australian hat, or safari costume for the tropics.

Quentin Blake Character - Quentin Blake is one of Britain’s best-loved and most successful illustrators and children’s authors. He is most famous for the illustrations in the Roald Dahl books, such as Willie Wonka, Matilda and the BFG.

Quentin Tarantino - Director, writer and actor. Born on March 27, 1963 in Tennessee, Quentin Tarantino may now be more famous for his screenplays such as True Romance and Natural Born Killers, and directing films such as Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill, but at one stage he was also an actor and starred in King Lear (1987).

Qui Con Jinn – Jedi Knight from the 1999 Star Wars film Episode 1:The Phantom Menace. Wear a Jedi robe or other Jedi Knight costume such as Obi Wan Kenobi, as they are pretty much all the same.

Question Mark – There are not too many question mark costumes on the market. A Riddler (Batman villain) costume can be useful in portraying this most interrogative of punctuation marks. Miss Riddler costumes are also available.

Quiche – A costume based on a (normally) vegetarian baked pastry food with eggs and milk or cream as main ingredients may seem an odd idea, but there are pizza costumes on the market and all we are saying is Give quiche a chance.

Quickstep Dancer – Ladies wear a ballgown style of dress and men wear a tailcoat

Quidditch Player – From the Harry Potter franchise. Licensed costumes are available to purchase for children, adults will need to purchase a red cloak to get the required effect.

Quileute Tribe – Quileutes are a tribe of Native American people, numbering about 750 in total. Made famous with the current Twilight saga (they are the tribe of Native Americans some of whom are werewolves). Wear Native American Indian costumes

Quilt/Quilter – Quilts and quilt-making is a popular pastime, especially in North America. Improvise an outfit out of the fat quarters from which the quilts are made, or combine two qs with a queen-size quilt costume.

Quimby, Mayor – A recurring character in the Simpsons cartoons, Quimby is the mayor of Springfield and apparently modelled on politicians in general and members of the Kennedy clan in particular. Typically he wears a blue two-piece suit.

Quincy ME – Quincy was a Medical Examiner in an American television series in 1976. He was able to solve murders that other policeman found too complicated. Wear a white Doctor’s coat and ID tag for the main character. If purchasing a doctors coat, you can possibly add a touch of blood as he did perform post mortems. Blood not to be used on hire costumes as it can stain!

Quinn Fabray –  Character from the TV series Glee. Quinn is the head of the chastity club at the fictional McKinley High School. She started the show as a stuffy cheerleader, but that changed as the TV show went on. Quinn is now a member of the glee club. Played by Dianna Agron.

Quintessential Heroine – The quintessence was the mystical fifth element sought by alchemists of old in their attempts to create gold from the other four elements (Earth, Air, Fire & Water). In the film The Fifth Element (1997), Leeloo (Mila Jovovich) plays a similar vital resource, who helps save the Earth from destruction. The main orange suspenders costume is quite striking, but there are no mass produced versions available, although some specialist suppliers can provide custom-made versions or key elements.

Quitter Costume – Wear a cigarette costume and cover it with a large red cross.