Wonka Hat and Coat

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This custom Halloween costume was inspired by Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka character in the 1971 film version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

We created the purple velvet overcoat, top hat, floral vest, and matching bow tie.  As a twist on the original, we added RGB LEDs animated in bright candy-like colors.  The LEDs are used to outline the collar, cuffs, and lower hem of the coat. The top hat is decorated with a dense grid of LEDs covered by a sheer black mesh (to conceal the connecting wires), and is programmed to display "WONKA" as scrolling text, among other patterns.

Both the coat and hat have multiple animation patterns that can be selected with built-in mode switches, including moving rainbows and blue/purple effects that match the fabric.

video

The clip below demonstrates some of the animation patterns.