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Zipper Stats

To order individual zippers for your own projects, please see the next page.

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Giant zippers & a normal Playstation controller

What is a #30 zipper?
Giant Zipper Teeth scale size comparison Zipper sizes #3 through #8 are normal everyday zippers that can be found in sewing stores. A #10 is usually seen in "biker jacket" style and tends to be slim-toothed and aluminum -and while it can be found online, it not often seen in retail outlets. The elusive #15 is the thickest tooth width we had ever seen previously, and after researching zippers for over two years for various costuming projects, we've found that any size over that wasn't available to the public...So, we had to change that...

Are these real zippers?
Yes. They're just really big. These #30 gauge zip and unzip in the exact same way as their smaller counterparts - the teeth are simply a larger scale, zipped-closed at 1" wide. They *do* include a slider pull and are *not* simply zipper chain. The overall width across including the tape is 3".

Giant zipper colors - two-way-separating jacket zippers in red The new fully separating style that debuted at NYAF is now also available.

new PEWTER zipper compared to BLACK
8-13 Cosplay Commissions : Kingdom Hearts - Organization XIII coat custom (close-up of giant zipper & chain)

So...what are they used for?
This started as a quest to offer the perfect over-sized zipper to cosplayers for various Kingdom Hearts designs. Since then, they have been useful to costumes from many other series and original designs as well - but they aren't limited just there. At the 2007 London Fashion Week show, designer Marios Schwab used them as spinal cord effect for dresses in his 2008 Spring/Summer collection, and for the 2008 holiday season, All Staging Unlimited created zipper-wall installations for an international MAC Cosmetics display. Additionally, the giant zippers have been used as teaching aides in children's museums and schools, as stage props for theatre, as visuals in a lecture, and as sculpture and wall hangings for interior design, and in tents and luggage for everyday use.

What are they made out of?
The teeth & pull are molded from thick heavy-duty durable plastic, and are mounted on normal nylon tape (which is cuttable, sewable, gluable, etc.) All together, a single complete 23" top-separating zip or a 19" full separating zip weighs about 7 oz. A 51" full separating zip weighs about 14 oz.

Also, the teeth-contours differ on the front and back - one side is a traditional jigsaw-like wave, and the other is a sharp triangular zigzag. (The loop for the pull is by default on the "normal" jigsaw side.)

Giant #30 gauge Organization XIII zippers!
giant Kingdom Hearts style zippers : neutral tones comparison

new giant zipper teeth in bright colors

What colors do they come in?
Our original glossy black = black teeth & pull on a black tape. The new bright colors that debuted at the New York Anime Fest 2008 convention (red, green, blue & purple) are now available online as well. New for June '09 is "pewter" = a metallic shade between our previous black and gunmetal colors. Gunmetal and white have also returned, plus yellow, pink and orange have been added to the bright color options.

Please let us know if you have any special requests.

For prop and sculpture work (typically, zippers that are "decorative" and will normally stay in the zipped open or closed position), we also have had many successful attempts so far at spray-painting the teeth (using Krylon Fusion brand) which can be seen best on the two pairs of Anti-Sora cosplay shoes made by Saeru.

Cosplay Commissions by Saeru - Kingdom Hearts 2 : Anti-Sora Shoes = finished - Shoe11-Zipper

How can they be attached?
The teeth are mounted on sturdy nylon tape, which allows for a few options. Very straight-forwardedly, they may be sewn on a machine or by hand, like any other zipper. (This is the method we use when making our Organization XIII coats.) Depending on the fabric they are being attached to, Liquid Stitch (a flexible fabric glue that actually works well) can be used either in place of -or- as a first step to keep the zipper straight and in place while sewing. (Please visit this entry for extra sewing tips.) If being connected to slick or rigid surfaces, such as Styrene plastic, a combination of drilling, hand-sewing and  the application of Goop works well. (Check out the extra info on this in the Sora shoe tutorial here.)
giant zipper in Riku's jacket
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Additional info can be found on the new FAQ page here.

Graphics, design + coding c/o U-E. Photography c/o Elemental & U-E.
This page was updated on 1-14-10.
Cosplay Workshop Blog - 8-13 on deviantArt - orgXIIIorg top page

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