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Addie Odegaard’s llama, named Riot, towers over her as she stretches the leg hole of a homemade body suit over his foot.
It’s just days before the Lyon County Fair, her and her sister, Lucy’s, first llama and alpaca costume contest of the year, and they are doing a final fitting.
“We bought all of the material, and then we cut it in different sizes, and then you just, like, scrunched up the material, and then we zip-tied it and then fluffed them up,” Addie says as she adds the final layer of the costume, spreading it across the bodysuit.
Addie and Lucy Odegaard have been costuming llamas since age 5. This year, Addie is going into 7th grade, old enough to compete in costumes at the State Fair.
She has decided to do something she has never done before. Her llama will be costumed as a bath loofah, and Addie is going as someone who has just gotten out of the shower.
Their mom, Denise, helps hold the 3-year-old llama as they continue to stuff his fiber into the stretchy bodysuit. Addie makes sure nothing is sticking out as she starts surveying where another homemade loofah needs to go.
The costume idea came to her a few months ago when she saw her mom’s loofah one day. After years of competing, the girls find inspiration anywhere, knowing the contest is a marathon of creativity and innovation. And the State Fair’s competition proves to be a whirlwind.
“We drive up that morning, and then we do costumes one night, obstacles the next night, and then showmanship that next morning, and then we're out. So it's really quick, but it's super fun,” Lucy says.
Lucy, 14, has been competing for nine years and last year won first place in textiles in the intermediate class at the state fair with a Statue of Liberty costume she made for Dozer.
This year, she will be going as a pirate opposite Dozer, who will be a parrot.
They’ve run through the gamut for llama costumes, having done Cousin Itt, a giraffe, a cow and a piñata.
“‘Llama costumes,’ if you type that in, doesn't really get you anywhere. It'll give you like pictures of llama costumes, but it doesn't really do anything,” said Lucy. “I'll search up like costumes for pairs or something like that, and it'll give you a whole bunch of stuff from like Halloween ideas and other costumes.”
Costuming a llama: challenges and innovation
The fair’s llama and alpaca costume contest now fills the coliseum every year, spotlighting the mix of showmanship and trust that defines the students’ bond with their animals.
Judges weigh factors such as how much of the animal is covered, the materials used, handling, presentation and overall creativity.
Requirements for the costumes include covering every bit of the llama’s fiber and covering their toes. Their muzzle and eyes must remain uncostumed.
The biggest challenge is making a llama comfortable with their feet being covered, since, like dogs or cats, they are often unsoothed by it.
For the sisters, they will be using knee-high socks for humans to cover Dozer and Riot’s feet.
“I thought this was really funny, but we got chicken socks, so he's gonna have, like, the parrot legs in the back. I thought this was funny. I love this idea,” Lucy says.
During the fitting, they try the socks on Riot first, who is displeased by the experience. He even manages to use his other foot to slip out of the sock.
Addie laughs.
“So we’re just going to have to adjust. He won. That wasn’t going to last very long,” Denise says. Her solution is to keep it in place with a hairband of the same color.
Another challenge is a new rule added this year. The students are encouraged to include a STEM element, and for Lucy, that means using Dozer’s wings as her space to explore. It requires detailed measurements and creativity to make them look most like feathers.
“There are three different colors: red, green, yellow and blue. We were gonna do feathers, but then we thought of this idea,” Lucy says.
She is using a material called “deco mesh.” By folding it into different sizes and burning the edges, it gives the impression of rainbow feathers.
“It makes the wings look bigger. They look really pretty, too, because they're sparkly. He's gonna be a really pretty parrot,” she says.
Addie has decided to add a bubble machine, which she's excited to show off. It even surprised attendees at the county fair, something Addie is especially proud of.
“I think they'll really like the costume, since it's like something different with the bubble machine,” she says.
The bond between animal and girls
Getting to the State Fair isn’t easy — students first need to place blue or higher in showmanship or obstacles at a county fair.
Lucy, who placed first in showmanship and earned blue in obstacles, and Addie, who placed second with a blue ribbon, have worked hard to build that trust with their llamas.
They got Dozer and Riot three years ago and have spent nearly every day with them.
“I love him, but he's got an attitude,” Lucy says. “We’ve bonded. It took him a while to warm up to me, but because I feed him every day, he's like, ‘Oh, that's the girl that gives me dinner and takes care of me.’”
Having grown up working with pigs, Denise says she couldn’t be prouder of the bond and care her daughters have cultivated with their llamas.
"I'm just proud of how hard workers they are, and they're not afraid of hard work,” she says. “It could be blizzarding out or raining or whatever, they still got to do the chores.”
By being a constant in their llamas’ lives, the girls have found something special for themselves as well. Sometimes the girls may even enjoy Dozer and Riot’s company more than each other’s.
Lucy says she would rather hang out with Dozer. “He listens. I'll just talk to him, like we're having a normal conversation.”
Addie doesn’t miss a beat: “Probably Riot — he’s quieter.”
Regardless, it is a family affair to get these llamas to the State Fair costume catwalk.
To see the final looks from Addie, Lucy and students from around the state, head to the coliseum.
English (US) ·