Local legend uses creative craft
to contribute to children's charity
February 15, 2023
Bruce Holt is shown above displaying some of his pieces in his workshop at his home outside of Cassville. Each completed suit could take up to 200 hours or more to complete.
Ezra DeVore
From crafting homemade Halloween costumes as a boy with cardboard to walking Leonard Nemoy to an event stage, local costume builder Bruce Holt has been pursuing his craft his entire life.
As a boy, Holt would look forward to Halloween, contributing much of his time to his seasonal efforts, using latex calking, plastic, cardboard, and other household materials as a teenager in the mid to late 1970s.
“When Halloween was coming up, I’d start planning months before with the craziest thing I could come up with because they weren’t store-bought costumes.”
Holt explains that his first few were fairly rudimentary examples of his craft, but his passion sharpened into skill over time.
He also says his craft was a path to opening up, stating that he would sometimes sequester himself into the comfort of his costume in early life.
“I grew up kind of reserved and shy. I’d build these costumes to become a different person because you didn’t see me; you saw the character. I think it was my way to have a shield on so I could approach and talk to people - that changed, though.”
In addition to his achievements of winning national costume design competitions are his personal achievements.
While spending his adolescence in St. George, Utah, Bruce married his wife, Joyce, in 1979, celebrating 44 years of marriage this year.
After moving around for some time, Holt and his wife settled just outside of Cassville in 1985. Even as an adult, however, Halloween was halfway synonymous with Christmas for Bruce Holt. In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, he would attend and often place or win local costume contests, earning up to $500 in prize money, equating to roughly $1,000 today (depending on the year).
Holt attended two events every Halloween night for years, and upon winning one event in Springfield in 1989, the prize entailed Holt and his wife being driven by limousine to St. Louis, treated to dinner and a stay in a fine hotel. This victory was earned by Holt and his friend’s costumes of Borgs, members of an alien antagonist group in the Star Trek series. The costume requires the appearance of complex circuitry and extensive facial cosmetics to accurately portray, therefore inspiring awe when crafted convincingly.
However, the most memorable event would not arrive for several years at a Star Trek event in Las Vegas in 1996. Holt explains that he felt experienced in the local competitions, so he wanted to enter something new.
At this event, Michael Westmore, the actual makeup artist and costume designer for borgs in the Star Trek series, was a judge and requested to speak with Holt. The two spoke of their own approaches to the costumes, and for Holt, this personal admiration from a person involved with the program meant a great deal.
Another memory from his days as a frequent competitor is when Leonard Nemoy, who portrayed Spock in the original series, requested that Holt and his competition partner escort him to the stage for his appearance at a Star Trek convention. Due to the prior panels running overtime, Holt had the opportunity to speak with Nemoy for around twenty minutes and then escorted him rather than the brief exchange originally expected.
Now, Holt is involved in a nonprofit called the Figmentation Foundation, which chooses children in a similar manner to Make a Wish, and these children get to create their own superhero. Then, a short film is written and produced with that superhero as its focus. The short film is shown in a commercial size theater, with the child and their family present. Holt designs and creates the costumes for these short films.
Over his years of building, the competitions and conventions have taken Holt from California to Kansas City and taught him about the necessity of growth and creativity.
“I see a lot of guys my age,” he says, “and they’re just not happy. This, this makes me happy.”
From crafting homemade Halloween costumes as a boy with cardboard to walking Leonard Nemoy to an event stage, local costume builder Bruce Holt has been pursuing his craft his entire life.
As a boy, Holt would look forward to Halloween, contributing much of his time to his seasonal efforts, using latex calking, plastic, cardboard, and other household materials as a teenager in the mid to late 1970s.
“When Halloween was coming up, I’d start planning months before with the craziest thing I could come up with because they weren’t store-bought costumes.”
Holt explains that his first few were fairly rudimentary examples of his craft, but his passion sharpened into skill over time.
He also says his craft was a path to opening up, stating that he would sometimes sequester himself into the comfort of his costume in early life.
“I grew up kind of reserved and shy. I’d build these costumes to become a different person because you didn’t see me; you saw the character. I think it was my way to have a shield on so I could approach and talk to people - that changed, though.”
In addition to his achievements of winning national costume design competitions are his personal achievements.
While spending his adolescence in St. George, Utah, Bruce married his wife, Joyce, in 1979, celebrating 44 years of marriage this year.
After moving around for some time, Holt and his wife settled just outside of Cassville in 1985. Even as an adult, however, Halloween was halfway synonymous with Christmas for Bruce Holt. In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, he would attend and often place or win local costume contests, earning up to $500 in prize money, equating to roughly $1,000 today (depending on the year).
Holt attended two events every Halloween night for years, and upon winning one event in Springfield in 1989, the prize entailed Holt and his wife being driven by limousine to St. Louis, treated to dinner and a stay in a fine hotel. This victory was earned by Holt and his friend’s costumes of Borgs, members of an alien antagonist group in the Star Trek series. The costume requires the appearance of complex circuitry and extensive facial cosmetics to accurately portray, therefore inspiring awe when crafted convincingly.
However, the most memorable event would not arrive for several years at a Star Trek event in Las Vegas in 1996. Holt explains that he felt experienced in the local competitions, so he wanted to enter something new.
At this event, Michael Westmore, the actual makeup artist and costume designer for borgs in the Star Trek series, was a judge and requested to speak with Holt. The two spoke of their own approaches to the costumes, and for Holt, this personal admiration from a person involved with the program meant a great deal.
Another memory from his days as a frequent competitor is when Leonard Nemoy, who portrayed Spock in the original series, requested that Holt and his competition partner escort him to the stage for his appearance at a Star Trek convention. Due to the prior panels running overtime, Holt had the opportunity to speak with Nemoy for around twenty minutes and then escorted him rather than the brief exchange originally expected.
Now, Holt is involved in a nonprofit called the Figmentation Foundation, which chooses children in a similar manner to Make a Wish, and these children get to create their own superhero. Then, a short film is written and produced with that superhero as its focus. The short film is shown in a commercial size theater, with the child and their family present. Holt designs and creates the costumes for these short films.
Over his years of building, the competitions and conventions have taken Holt from California to Kansas City and taught him about the necessity of growth and creativity.
“I see a lot of guys my age,” he says, “and they’re just not happy. This, this makes me happy.”
