Wearing a Lekku Headpiece

First, remove the extra foam!

When I pour expanding foam into the lekku, extra foam always swells into the head area. You can remove the amount you need for a good fit. Use your fingers to tear out the foam that is in the head area, and leave the foam that is inside the lekku themselves as well as a thin amount of foam around the outer edges of the lekku to help support their shape as they curve out from your head. You can make the foam gradually thinner so there won't be a visible ridge where it ends. Leave a bit of foam at the base of the lekku to keep them from sagging. Tear out a bit at a time until you're happy with the fit. The headpiece was sculpted to sit close to your head, and it shouldn’t be lifted up by extra foam. If there’s a lot of foam inside the head area and your lekku won’t stay in place, or you’re getting wrinkles on the top, you probably need to remove more foam!  Here's how it looks before and after the foam is torn out:

The blue shows where to leave the foam. When you push down on the top of your head or in the back between the lekku, you should be pushing down on your head. If you're pushing on foam, then you know that the lekku are probably not sitting properly and that can make them slide back. They were sculpted to be sitting right against your head all the way around, and the foam should only be inside the lekku.

 

Next up is the forehead wrap.

Silicone is stretchy, which makes it more comfortable to wear and allows for different head sizes. But silicone is stretchy, which means that it can't hold on to your head all by itself. It needs a forehead wrap to hold it in place, and the wrap needs to be snug. When you've got great big tentacles hanging off the back of your head, gravity will make them want to pull backwards. You need a secure wrap to hold them in place. Stiff fabrics, pleather, or leather work well for making head wraps that are strong enough to hold lekku in place. 

The best way to close forehead wraps is to put strong velcro in the back. (I like the industrial strength stuff!) Velcro lets you adjust how tightly you close the wraps, and lets you make adjustments throughout the day when needed. Snaps work, but they don't allow for easy adjustment. Corset style laces work, too, but they are harder to manage when you're trying to put the wraps on. 

One-piece head wraps are the easiest to deal with. They cover your ears and hide the edges of the silicone all of the way around without having to manage multiple pieces of fabric or leather. I have found that they tend to offer the least amount of security when it comes to holding on headpieces, however. If you really can't keep your headpiece on when wearing a one-piece head wrap, you may find that a two-piece wrap might work better. Two-piece wraps can be a bit more fiddly because you have to manage the back/ear covering AND the strap that goes around your head... but that single strap tends to hold the lekku in place most securely.

Two piece style wraps:

Single piece style wrap:

A note about chin straps:

Chin straps are used to hold the sides of the head wraps in closely to the sides of your head. This keeps the wraps from lifting up and revealing your human ears hiding underneath. The chin straps should not be uncomfortably tight and they are not intended to hold the lekku in place!

Wig Grips:

If the lekku are too large on your head and you need to fill in some space under them, some costumers have found that wearing a wig grip helps to hold the lekku. Options such as this one are available on Amazon and other wig supply locations.  

Amazon.com : Dreamlover Wig Grip Band for Women, Nude, 2 Pieces : Beauty & Personal Care

Silicone Swim Caps:

Another helpful tip is to wear a silicone swim cap under the lekku. Swim caps fit securely on your head and give the lekku headpiece something to grip that is less slippery than hair or a stretchy wig cap!

The elastic trick:

If your head wrap fabric is stretchy or not strong enough to hold the lekku, one option is to hide a piece of elastic under it. This is the elastic that my husband wore under his spandex head covering. He put snaps on the ends to hold it closed.

Silicone Glue:

There are some costumes that require the lekku to be glued down for true accuracy, such as Darth Talon. She doesn't wear head wraps, so if you need an accurate costume you have to glue the headpiece down and do your best to hide the edges of the silicone. It's not the most comfortable thing in the world to have the weight of great big tentacles pulling on the skin of your forehead, but using a good silicone FX glue does make it possible. If you're not costuming as a character who doesn't wear a wrap, however, or if you don't mind that your version of Darth Talon is wearing a nice black head wrap... I really don't recommend using glue to hold lekku in place. Can you do it? Yup. Will you end up miserable because you can't take the lekku off for a quick break while you eat lunch because you glued that great big thing to your head? Probably!