Halloween 2016: Closet Costumes

Halloween Budgets

The thing I struggle with most at Halloween is sticking to a budget. This is especially hard when I have so many different ideas and I want to do all of them. Unfortunately, I always end up spending way too much on wardrobe and props. But not this time!

This year I decided to challenge myself to make a few costumes from what was already in my closet, with leniency to purchase one small additional item per costume if needed. While I may have more “costume type” items in my closet than the average girl, I did my best to work with articles I knew most people would actually own. With that in mind, I hope these ideas are accessible to you!

Sleeping Beauty: Modern Aurora

•         White button up blouse
•         Gray skirt
•         Black Corset (a tank top or strapless top would work as well)
•         Black flats
•         Blonde waves with a black headband
•         Blue eyes (contacts for those of us without)
•         Rosy eyeshadow and blush
•         False lashes
•         Red lip
•         Handbasket
•         Flowers

In order to make this costume really work, you’re going to want to find a bridge in a forest-y area, and make friends with any animals nearby. To start, you can have long conversations about your dreams while dancing with them. That being said, if you’re low on time or animal instinct, you could just pair up with another human, boring as it may be, and dance the night away in the forest…er…living room…er…wherever your costume may take you! Unfortunately, I had neither to use with my costume, so I had to make do with walking back and forth across the same bridge by myself. Incidentally, I did have a basket filled with flowers, but it ended up getting cropped out of every shot. Figures.

True Blood: Sookie Stackhouse

•    White T-shirt with “Merlotte’s” logo
•     Black Shorts
•     Sneakers
•     Waitress Apron
•     Watch
•     Stud earrings
•     Side ponytail
•     Minimal makeup – natural look with pink lip
•     Bottle of “Tru Blood”

The only items I didn’t own already were the waitress apron, “logo”, and bottle of Tru Blood. I was able to make two of three easily and purchased the last item for under $10.00. I printed the logo onto a sticker label, cut it out, and stuck it onto my t-shirt – pretty simple. For the bottle of Tru Blood, I suggest printing a label and gluing it to a beer bottle. I ended up Photoshopping mine onto a stir-fry sauce bottle for these shots because I didn’t have a printer available mid-shoot, which is when I remembered I needed a label (oops). If you can’t find a label, you could always walk around with a red drink in a clear glass and ask who ordered the “O Positive?!”

Frankenstein’s Bride

• Wedding dress
• Black hair (or wig)
• White hair extension
• White, gray, and black eye shadows and liners
• Red and black lipstick
• “Stitches” – use red, white, and black liners to create a more dimensional look
• “Bolts”
•  Crazy contacts

This is an ideal costume for the married gal who wants an excuse to wear her dress again! This makes a great couple’s costume if one of you wants to dress as Frankenstein and the other his bride, but it’s also fun if you want to go solo. 

In my opinion, it’s best to walk around with a flashlight held under your face to create the true “monster” look. When I took these shots, my lighting was too soft for the creepy tone originally planned, so it wasn’t exactly the spooky monster look I thought it would be. I’m sure it’s because all brides give off that ethereal glow of joy on their wedding day (monsters included) and nothing to do with my studio lighting skills!

As a side note:  I made my bolts out of a carved wine cork that I wrapped in tin foil and attempted to glue them onto my neck unsuccessfully. Additionally, you could probably use spirit gum to keep them on. Or poke a wire through one side of each to place around the back of your neck so they rest on your skin. Of course, I did the super-lazy version of this and used twist ties, but the wire was very flimsy and didn’t stay well – hence my suggestion for other methods if you don’t want to lose your head over it (…get it…?)! 

Twiggy: The 60’s style icon

• Sheath dress – bold color or print
• Thigh high socks and kitten heels or heeled boots
• Blonde pixie cut (or a wig to the rescue!)
• ALL of the fake lashes – the longer, the better
• White eyeshadow with black geometric shapes outlining your eyelid
• Pale lipstick
• Extravagant earrings  
• Anything that reminds you of the 60s!

This look has been on my list for months now, so I thought Halloween would be the perfect excuse! I mean, who doesn’t want to glue three sets of eyelashes on and build up their eyelid muscles?!

Personally, I’ve felt a connection and looked up to Twiggy for as long as I’ve been modeling, especially with her background as one of the first “slim figured” supermodels of the time. All I was missing was a lava lamp and a bottle of Diet Rite Cola (which Twiggy did a commercial for in 1969) to really make it feel like the 60s!

Closet costumes

In conclusion, do you think you can pull a costume together from your closet after seeing what came from mine?