Tron-hoodie-01nj

Tron: Legacy was a decent movie, but what I was really wowed by were the luminescent costumes. I’ve been playing around with light-up clothing ideas ever since, and the simplest idea uses electroluminescent (EL) tape and some velcro to approximate Jeff Bridges’ glowing druid look from the film. It’s not remotely screen-accurate (for you purists out there), but it is a great way to wow your friends during a night out.

Project Steps

Sew velcro to hood.

Cut a length of velcro equal to the length of the EL tape and hand or machine stitch the soft side onto the inside of the hood near the edge. You may want to remove the drawstring first.

Attach velcro to EL tape.

Attach the prickly “hook” side of the velcro to the back of the EL tape. (Mine came with an adhesive backing, but you may have to glue it.)

Juice it.

Attach the EL tape to the hood. Connect the EL tape to the extension cable, then the inverter. Turn it on, stick the inverter in your pocket, and show that you, too, fight for the User!

Going further

To achieve a longer wear time, use 2 shorter lengths of EL tape that meet at the apex of the hood, each with its own 2×AA inverter.