Gotye Halloween Costume: A How-To Guide

Pop stars and outrageous outfits go hand in hand, which makes it easy as pumpkin pie to dress up as one for Halloween. Having trouble deciding which artist to choose from? Following our suggestions for how to get decked out like “Gangnam Style” sensation PSY, we’re back once again to help you handpick from the most iconic looks of 2012, and to give you some tips on how to recreate them.

Today, we’ll show you how to really be “Somebody” this Halloween with our Gotye costume guide. And don’t forget to enter our Halloween Costume contest here. 

What you’ll need:

• While we all can’t have Australian skin artist Emma Hack to turn our bodies into a work of art like Gotye did, you will need a good friend with a moderate amount of patience and a steady hand.

• Take a trip to your local art supply store and ask for their body paint. IMPORTANT: make sure the paint is “water-based, latex-based or are labeled to be used on the face or body, and no body paint ever has tributiline oxide”. If you space on which colors you’ll need, just look to the Aussie’s Magic Mirror album art. Make sure you have extra brick-colored paint, lots of pinks, silvers and black for the lines.

• White spandex or a white bathing suit that you don’t care about ruining. No need to pull an Andy Samberg/Taran Killam when you’re trick or treating. Ladies, you can pick up a white unitard (like this one from American Apparel for $38). Fellas, depending on your modesty level you could even grab a pair of white boxer briefs or white/nude-colored leggings.

• A short, brown wig. This one from Halloweencostumes.com for just under $12 should work.

• Now, stand still while your friend starts painting. (Just remember if you get frustrated or run out of time before your Halloween party, you could always say you’re Gotye at the beginning of the video):

• Using the steps above and substituting the Gotye wig for a black, bobbed wig (like this one for $25 on eBay), find yourself a Kimbra and make this the contest-winning couples costume. Just make sure that Kimbra is always to your left and keeping her back to the rest of the party. (Socializing is overrated anyway.)

• If you really want to go that extra mile, attach a poster board (to mimic the mural in the video) to your back that perfectly lines up with the artwork on your body.

• And if, for some reason, you come across a person who doesn’t immediately recognize the video, just shout “SOMEBODY!”