Halloween Shang-Chi Costume DIY

In years past, our family dressed in a unified theme for Halloween. We did Cinderella, in which my daughter was Princess Cinderella, I was peasant Cinderella, my husband was the prince, and my son was the pumpkin. We also did Paw Patrol, in which my daughter was Skye, I was Katie the dog groomer, my husband was Ryder, and my son was a miniature Ryder. The two Ryders were so cute together! My husband called him Mini-me all day.

This year is a little different. My kids are old enough they both have their own ideas, so the family theme is out. Instead, we’re splitting into two themes. My daughter and I are going as Anna and Elsa. My son is going as Spider-man, meaning my husband needed to pick an easy superhero costume from the Marvel universe.

This year's Marvel blockbuster was Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and my husband was really excited to see an Asian superhero. It was no surprise when he picked Shang-Chi for his costume. He told me, "I'm Chinese, so I'm already halfway there!" He even has a mole on his cheek in the same spot as Simu Liu! (The Shang-Chi actor.) The costume was meant to be.

Supplies Needed

• Black pants: We already had
• Black shoes: We already had
• Dark red long sleeved shirt: We bought at Michael’s for ten bucks with a coupon.
• Black duct tape: Walmart was out of stock, but we found some at the dollar store. Just make sure yours is decent quality.
• Elastic hair bands: We bought a pack of Goody elastic bands at Walmart for five bucks. They're the kind for thick hair.
• Scissors

Step by Step Instructions

1. Lay the shirt flat, facing up.

• Roll out some duct tape and cut it to the length needed for one side of the lowest V shape on the chest.
• Stick one end of the tape strip to a clean table edge. Using scissors, cut the strip in half lengthwise. Then, cut each strip in half lengthwise again. You’ll have four long, thin strips.
  Note: Cutting such long, thin pieces of tape is the most difficult part of making this costume. I did it by myself, but having another pair of hands to hold the tape while cutting would help.
• Carefully stick the tape to the shirt, keeping the V centered and symmetrical.
• Once you have the first V on, use it as a starting point to space out the other interwoven lines. The pattern I created is a simplified version of the original from the movie. If mine looks too complex, you can simplify it a bit more and just do three or four interwoven V shapes. As long as it gets across that it’s Shang-Chi’s shirt, that’s all that matters. For a rough time estimate, I’ll tell you it took me over three hours to cut and stick all the tape.
• Next, do the sleeve details. Here’s a close-up of the pattern I used for the sleeves:

• Now it’s time for the shoulder pieces. I cut a crescent shaped piece of tape and stuck it on the shoulder, keeping the part above the sleeve lifted up. Then I cut a smaller piece of tape and stuck it to the adhesive side of the shoulder tape to keep it from sticking and make it jut out over the sleeve. This created the capped sleeve look of the original movie costume.
• In creating the black collar, I folded some tape over the top to stick to the inside. That hasn’t worked out well. When my husband puts on the shirt, the collar needs to stretch to accommodate his head. Instead, I recommend wearing a black t-shirt underneath the red shirt (or maybe a dickie, if you can find one)
• For the abdomen details, I used very thin strips cut to one eighth width. As you can see, it’s hard to cut a straight edge when the tape is so thin. On the side of the torso, there is a thicker piece of tape as well.

• There you have it! That’s the hard part, all done.
• Lastly, you need the ten rings. In the movie, they look bronze to me, but they glow blue or orange-red when in use. I thought thick hair elastics would be good because they need to stay in place on the person’s forearm. I went for brown, but there are other color options too.

A few notes:

• The duct tape won’t stick forever. If any starts to lift off, gently press it down, being careful not to let it double over and stick to itself.
• Don’t try to wash the shirt after the duct tape is on! When Halloween is over, remove the tape and then you can wash the shirt for everyday use.

​Here is the finished product, modeled by my husband:

What do you think? Was there anything I should’ve done differently? Did you DIY a costume this year too?