Costuming Essentials

This year I made an awesome costume for a good friend of mine (hopefully there will be pictures later) rather than focusing on what I was going to wear. I’ve thrown together something for myself (which there may be be pictures of later) but it doesn’t compare to the last costume I made just for Halloween, a few years ago.

I had the idea of going as a slightly Grecian tribal priestess. The costume  was actually my first experiment in draping. I basically just worked out how to make it with knots and laying it over myself. What really makes the look are the furs, feathers, shells and thorns.

This sort of costume is very easy and frugal. Most of it was items I just had sitting around like shell necklaces from Hawaii. The fabric was just scraps that couldn’t have cost more then $5. The fur pieces were things I had gotten at Renaissance fairs and probably the most expensive part at $15. However, they are reusable for many costume ideas. My favorite bit is a necklace I had made stringing thorns off a rose bush. It was too painful to wear as a necklace but I wore it dangling off the top. Additionally, I wore a shell and straw necklace I picked up at a swap meet for $3 which was the only thing I actually bought specifically for the costume.

Some holidays aren’t obvious choices for costuming. In mid June this year when I found this flag fabric for $1.50 a yard I was immediately inspired to make a dress to wear for the 4th of July. A fun and bold outfit for only about $5 was an irresitable prospect.

I decided to drape the dress right on my dress form in the fabric (ala Project Runway). I’ve had my dress form about a year but haven’t had the time to use it much. However, at $5 what did I have to lose? The end result is just lovely especially given it was a first try at making such a thing without a pattern.

Just got the pictures back from my talk on costuming at the Shadows Anime convention! I’ve seen lots of pictures of people giving presentations but somehow its more fun in costume!