A Clockwork Orange Costume Part 1: The boots worn by Alex and co.

After doing some research, it seems like all of the droogs as well as Alex wear the same pairs of boots. I was worried at first because I thought I'd have to shell out big money to import some British army boots, but it turns out that the boots are clearly US issued military boots. Specifically, the boots are vintage split-sole Corcoran paratrooper jump boots.

Unfortunately, that means getting a pair can be difficult and expensive. I have been looking at eBay and many of them are a brown/rust color; I believe these are from WWII and the Korean war. Therefore, any newer than that should be black. You can get new paratrooper boots for around $150, but the droogs boots look well-worn and have an older style shine and sole.

Look at the heels and count the pins holding them in place: 13 exactly.

It is also very difficult to find the split-sole shoes that Alex and co. wear. The regular sole jump boots from the 60s look virtually identical to the ones Alex wears. I purchased a set for around $75 in good shape. Any set of used Corcoran model 1500 boots will look good, and the only detail it won't have is the split sole (I can't imagine anyone calling you out on this detail, but if they do, give me their info so I can congratulate them).

The problem with Pete from A Clockwork Orange

Pete is obviously smart. He doesn't screw with Alex much and is often spared punishment. He is also quite stealthy, and spends the least time in front of the camera. Unfortunately, this makes it difficult to reconstruct his outfit. And while a casual viewer may say "They all wear the same thing," this is not true at all. Georgie has a downright bizarre outfit with a knit shirt and bloody bullet nipple things, and Alex has some sort of Edwardian or military, double pocket shirt, as well as those eyeball cuffs, among other details. Dim has a stripped shirt and eyeball suspenders. And Pete, well pete has a completely different shirt (no collar), different suspenders, that black beret, a totally different weapon, different eyeballs, large white buttons, and some bitching makeup. We'll get to all of this shortly but suffice to say, it is not easy being Pete.

Making a Clockwork Orange Costume

Dressing as a character from A Clockwork Orange for Halloween. I am sure thousands do it each year.

It is well and good, but I immediately several issues come to mind:

1) This is a pretty generic costume idea, ruined by emo douchebags throwing on a cheap dress shirt from Wal-Mart, some eyeliner, and some grannie panties or a jock strap, otherwise ignoring all of the details of the real costumes.

2) Alex is over-done so why not be a droog? (I will be Pete, the one with the beret and little screen time).

3) If I am going to do this, it will be the most authentic A Clockwork Orange costume ever.

4) This will take a lot of money and effort, and it will be best if you have a girlfriend or mom to do some minimal sewing.

So I thought I would show you how to make the perfect Pete droog costume. I feel this will be the most amazing Clockwork Orange costume I've ever seen, at least for Pete, and it will run around $400 after all of the clothes and accessories are purchased. I will also mention some specifics for the other Droogs and Alex if I run across specifics in my research, but I will focus on Pete.

Special thanks to the incredible site http://www.malcolmmcdowell.net/ for the incredible costume information and original photos necessary to get started on the Pete the Droog project. Now on with the show, thou globby bottles of cheap stinking chip oil!