Atomicpunk!!! My vintage-inspired Halloween costume this year

Midcentury science fiction was wonderfully imaginative. And the character designs on magazine and book covers and in, both domestic and foreign, sci-fi films are iconic.

The artists imagined that women on other planets and humanoid women of the future would wear metallic dresses, elaborate hairstyles, and headpieces with antennas. Who knew space travel could be so glamorous?

This retro-futuristic style is often called atomicpunk, or atompunk and I am using it as my Halloween costume inspiration. It draws on the Atomic Age fascination with atomic technology, rockets, space exploration, and visions of the future.

Let’s look at some of these creative Space Age designs from vintage science fiction and how you can put together your own look.

Feature image from Planet of the Female Invaders, 1967 (Watch here)

Atomicpunk (Atompunk)

You’ve probably heard of steampunk, which imagines a futuristic world based on the steam-powered technology of the Victorian era. Atomicpunk takes a similar approach, but imagines a futuristic world based on atomic and space technology of the mid-20th century… particularly the 1940s through the 1960s.

The style includes everything from rocket ships and robots to cities on other planets and fantastic inventions.

It also incorporates the sleek shapes of midcentury modern design like Googie architecture, a style known for its dramatic angles and Space Age shapes. You can still find examples of Googie in some older diners and roadside buildings.

One of the best-known examples of this vision was Disneyland’s Tomorrowland, which opened with the park in 1955. There, visitors had a chance to experience an imagined future of space travel and scientific possibilities. Tomorrowland captured much of the optimism surrounding the Atomic Age.

Atomicpunk is the modern name for a retro-futuristic genre inspired by this period. The people creating these designs in the 1950s and 1960s weren’t calling them atomicpunk. They were imagining what the future might actually look like.

Vintage Sci-Fi Costume Inspiration

Science fiction movies and television shows of the 1950s and 1960s imagined all sorts of fascinating creatures and civilizations beyond Earth. For costume designers, that meant an opportunity to get creative.

Star Trek and Lost in Space

The original Star Trek (1966–1969) and Lost in Space (1965–1968) are full of costume inspiration. The alien women in particular often wore dramatic hairstyles, bold colored or shiney clothing, and graphic colorful makeup.

Some of the looks were suspiciously similar to the fashionable hairstyles and clothing of the 1960s. How interesting that aliens on other planets are keeping up with intergalactic fashion trends. 🧐

Some of my favorite inspiration comes from the covers of vintage pulp science-fiction magazines and books. Unlike movie costume designers, illustrators didn’t have to worry about whether their creations could actually be constructed or worn by a human being.

These illustrations are full of fantastic headpieces, helmets, unusual clothing shapes, and decorative details. I especially like looking at them for ideas that could be adapted into costume accessories.

How to Put Together an Atomicpunk Halloween Costume

You don’t have to recreate a specific character. You can mix and match the strange and beautiful fashions of the Atomic Age to create your own space girl or futuristic femme fatale.

And you don’t necessarily need to know how to sew. I’ve picked out a few vintage science fiction looks that can be put together with clothing, costume accessories, and a little creativity.

Disclosure: Bear in mind that some of the links in this post are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I may earn a commission.

Disneyland’s Tomorrowland Space Girl Costume

When Disneyland opened in 1955, visitors to Tomorrowland could meet a Space Girl and Spaceman dressed for the future. The costumes changed over the years, but the metallic clothing and unusual space helmets made them hard to miss.

I went digging and found these really cute silver pieces for a Tomorrowland Space Girl costume.

• Space Helmet
• Silver Waist Length Cape
• Silver A-line Mini Skirt
• Silver Lame Long Sleeve Shirt
• Silver Wide 60s style Belt
• Silver Calf High Boots
• Metallic Sparkle Tights

For a costume inspired by Tomorrowland’s Space Girl, start with a silver outfit and add matching boots, gloves, and a futuristic headpiece. The Tomorrowland space helmet had this detail around the base that you could fake with some grey washing machine drain tubing.

Devil Girl from Mars (1954)

Patricia Laffan played Nyah, a visitor from Mars, in the 1954 British science fiction film Devil Girl from Mars. Her costume is a dramatic combination of shiny black clothing, a cape, tall boots, and a close-fitting headpiece. Do we think she inspired Darth Vader’s look? A little bit…

I found some great options online to make the Devil Girl From Mars costume.

• Black faux-leather dress with shoulder pads
• Black long gloves
• Black patent calf boots
• Black floor length cape
• Faux sheer black fleece lined tights

A black faux-leather or wet-look dress makes a good starting point. Add a black cape and boots, and you’re most of the way there. The headpiece and ray gun are probably the most challenging part to recreate, but it is also one of the details that makes her costume distinctive.

Create Your Own Atomicpunk Alien Costume

The colorful alien women of the original Star Trek series are great inspiration for making up your own space girl costume. Green-skinned Orion women and blue-skinned Andorians are just a couple of examples of how changing your skin color can give you an otherworldly appearance.

Movie makeup artists in the 1960s especially used many different colors to convey someone was not of this Earth.

I highly recommend Mehron Makeup Brand set with a translucent powder for this kind of makeup.

Instead of applying body makeup everywhere, try wearing green, blue, or other brightly colored leggings, long sleeve top, and gloves to cover your arms, legs, and hands. Then you only need matching makeup on your face and neck.

Caution: You might be tempted to buy a body suit, but remember you have to be able to get out of the costume in someone else’s home or at a bar to go to the bathroom. Just give that some thought first.

For the hair, have fun with a colorful wig in a 1960s hairstyle. A big bouffant or a short geometric bob. Add dramatic eye makeup, and you’ve got the beginnings of your own alien character.

There are also plenty of ready-made space girl costumes that aren’t based on any particular character. Here are some options you can use as a starting point and customize with your own hair, makeup, and accessories.

The look of these fascinating female alien characters can be done so many different ways. Some characters looked human with just a change in eyebrow shape and exaggerated eyeshadow which is the easiest and least messy.

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