Reminds me of an old episode of "Some Mothers do 'ave 'em" When poor Frank Spencer ends up in a vat of boiling tar when a house removal goes wrong! I don't suppose there was much health and safety then!
I orchestrated a scene at a BDSM camping event where I was covered head to toe in black liquid latex and feathers. This worked well for something to wear for some time, as the liquid latex dries quickly and was safe. It didn't have the "thick and sticky" feeling, but for something I could wear at the event without getting a mess everwhere I went, it was good.
The biggest issue I ran into was heat. It was the height of summer, so I got overheated in my "feather coat", and had to get out of it after about 3 hours.