The Adventures of Aviator Scott

Scott wanted to be something different for this 2011 Halloween…something that could be re-worn or held more value than your typical badly made costume that would get tossed in the dark corners of your closet and never to be worn again.

I’m not exactly sure where he got the inspiration to recreate a vintage aviator look, but he he managed to put it together with modern pieces and still created an old school look.

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, I needed to take advantage of the light and wanted to become more familiar with my Canon 60D so I asked Scott if he would like to do a mini photo shoot with his costume. This was taken in TooGood Pond in Unionville, Markham. Its a forest right across main street, we had to hike deep into the forest, cross about 7 wooden bridges to get to a spot Scott thought that would make great photos.

This is how Scott pieced together his look. Initially he was planning to purchase goggles off of Etsy since he stumbled onto it first but he couldn’t find a reliable seller…a few google searches later he realized they were actually available locally. He purchased his goggles from a store in Burlington, Ontario called Air Craft Spruce Canada. They sell authentic piloting gear and even vintage goggles if in stock. These goggles are by Halcyon and manufactured in England, the cost of the goggles were roughly $120 with shipping.

http://www.aircraftspruce.ca/ if you would like to check out their inventory, they have some pretty cool stuff.

Scott kinda lost track with everything and of course was running out of time just before the weekend. He could not find a helmet that suited the look he was going for, so it was up to me to hunt down a helmet and the rest of his accessories.

Aviator style leather jacket: Purchased recently from Zara $110

White dress shirt: H&M $20

Knitted grandpa vest: Diesel $$? This was purchased a few years ago

Green Cargo pants: was purchased on sale at Holt Renfrew, i’ll get back to you on the designer.

Boots: Combat inspired boots by Steve Madden: These were purchased from several years back in Atlantic City. $130

Canvas Helmet, gold pin, and fingerless leather gloves: On my day off, I went to Kensington Market, Toronto. I wasn’t 100% sure if they would even have what I was looking for, but there it was…a very cluttered but neat and tidy store called AAA ARMY SURPLUS. I’m pretty sure you can guess what they sell. They sell a plethora of army gear, new and old…gas masks, BB guns and yes! Pilot gear along with other stuff.

The canvas helmet originates from Russia, it was their last one…smelled kind of funky…I made Scott febreeze the #$%@ out of it when I got home. I also had to go through a bin of mismatched leather gloves to find those finger-less gloves.

With the pin, helmet and gloves my total came up to $70 (I hustled a bit)

The staff was very helpful, and all playfully dressed up in heavy army or police gear. My help was via SWAT, he looked pretty legit.

A steam punk vintage inspired pocket watch was added to his outfit to complete the look. This was purchased in the summer time during my first time at FanExpo: they had a small but good selection of steam punk accessories. $70

Okay well, this costume isn’t the most wallet friendly mind you, but at the end of the day he looked fantastic…pretty things come with a price ya know?