Make: Volume 78

Flight has caught our fancy since the dawn of

time. Ancient Greek myths detailed Daedalus

strapping wax-and-feather wings to his arms.

Leonardo da Vinci diagrammed wearable winged

mechanisms in the 15th century. Otto Lilienthal

helped launch the sport of hang gliding at the

end of the 1800s, and modern wingsuits have

been around since the mid-1990s. This is to say,

humans have always wanted wings.

Some members of the costume community

feel the same way, and have built their own

ornamental winged accessories. These always

capture great attention due to size, realistic

articulation, and that basic human desire to flap

ourselves into the sky. ...