The Tarzan costume helps to create a fantasy of the wild, uninhibited male who follows his primal nature. Animalistic,yet still the King of the jungle.
For the exotic male dancer, the Tarzan costume can represent the primal male who reacts on instinct to those strong urges he feels. And of course, the customer is very pleased that the Tarzan costume is most often little more than a loin cloth or animal print underwear.
Easy And Successful Tarzan Costume
The Tarzan character appeals to all types of audiences. He's the hero protector coming to save them from an attack by wild animals. He's the man in charge of all the animals in the jungle. He leads them with love and care and they follow. He's the sexy lover who sees no need to wear clothes to cover his body and his life in the jungle has given him a body with muscular definition. He's one of the original sources of tv and movie eye candy. Add in props and sound effects and your audience will be very pleased.
Underwear -The Base Of The Tarzan Costume
Jungle animal print underwear is the obvious choice for the Tarzan costume. We selected leopard print underwear for the model in our photoshoot. Tarzan is often associated with controlling big cats. The underwear is the base of the Tarzan costume. From here we add more costume pieces and accessories for the male stripper to remove during his performance.The go-go boy can stop here are add a couple of accessories for a completed costume.
Finding Accessories From The Jungle
1. Hair
In the books and some of the tv shows and movies, Tarzan has long hair. This is because Tarzan supposedly has been in the jungle for a long time and his hair has grown. He also doesn't get hair cuts. If you have a well-built body that you are showing off playing Tarzan, no one is really going to care if you have long hair or not. But if you want to be authentic to the character, wear a wig. However, you want to be careful with a wig. You want to look sexy, not like a comical cave man. I found the one above on eBay for $11.22 with Free Shipping. If you would like to check current eBay listings for Tarzan costume wig prices, click here.
Jungle Vine
Tarzan's mode of transportation through the jungle is by vine. I created a vine using rope, camouflage fabric and duct tape.I wrapped duck tape around the ends of the rope so it wouldn't unravel. I then tore the camouflage fabric in 1" strips. Starting at one end I wrapped the fabric around the end and tied it off. You can see the little knots along the vine where the fabric strips ended and we tied them to the next one. Wrap the entire length of the rope tightly and tie it off. Simple and easy with the desired effect. Tarzan can carry this over his shoulder or hang it across his shoulders. I recommend that you use rope that is 1" diameter or larger. We made our vine 6 ft. long. One yard of faric was plenty to coverer it. If you want a longer vine, you'll need more fabric. You can pick up duct tape at any discount or hardware store. I've placed links below in case you are wanting to buy all materials online.
Search current listings on Ebay for: rope. camouflage fabric. duct tape.
Additional Accessories,Sound Effects And Props
In the pic at the top of the blog a coconut drink containter is in Tarzan's hand. The coconut drink container was purchased at party city.
Tarzan has a signature sound called the Tarzan yell. Have the DJ play the Tarzan Yell just before you enter for your performance.
Tarzan is often seen in a loin cloth. Below Is a YOUTube tutorial on how to create your own. The creator looks like Tarzan and has a comical presentation. A loincloth is another layer that a male stripper can seductively remove to reveal the leopard underwear. A go-go boy could wear only the loin cloth for a more authentic Tarzan look.
A Male stripper will want additional layers to strip out of during their performance. The first book in the Tarzan series was published in 1912. The style of clothing for British men of the time was Edwardian. The Edwardian Male costume in the pic below could be the top layer with the Tarzan loin cloth and leopard underwear underneath to be revealed during the strip-tease.
Another option is to shred the arms and bottom ofa button up shirt and the legs of a pair of slacks to reference a shipwrecked man who has worn his clothes to shreds. Be sure there is room underneath for loincloth and leopard print underwear. A third option would be to buy some feaux fur fabric and create animal skin clothing to wear on the outside.'Below is a video of a guy teaching how to make a cloak from Ikea rugs.
Other Options To Consider
Add a female Jane character to your performance, or pick one out of the audience to join you on stage. If you select a Jane ahead of time, she can wear a costume. If you are performing at a club with drag queens, a drag queen could add a comic element to the performance. If the drag queen is a local popular performer, the audience will get a laugh at the costume.Dressed as a female Tarzan, you can have the DJ play the Carol Burnett version of the Tarzan yell (below). TheDJwill need to pull one of the samples from the vYouTube video.
Another costume option for Jane is a safari outfit (below).
Final Thoughts
If you have a body with muscular definition, you owe it to your fans to perform as Tarzan at some point. Be primal, add seductive sounds and movements.If you want to use backup dancers, have them dress in monkey or ape costumes. With a gay audience, they could suggestively eat bananas. now, I've given my ideas, let your imagination take it from here. If you perform as Tarzan, please send me pics or videos.
