How To Pick Your Halloween Costume
It's October and you still don't have a clue as to what you want to be for Halloween. You start thinking about all the superheors and villians from movies but you realize all the work that has to be done for that. You start looking around your house and you notice your cat. You then decide you'll be a cat for Hallowen. STOP. You are NOT dressing up as another cat. I forbid you. Now take a deep breath and read on...
How do I decide my Halloween costumes? I am an unusual case where I plan my costumes months and months in advance and base my costumes off of a varitey of different things. I look at all the factors: What big movies came out this year? What movies are coming up? What is the most doable costume? What costume will be unique but popular? What guy costume can I gender bender and turn into a girl? As you can see, I do a lot of planning.
We have less than 30 days to make you the most badass costume of 2015, let's do this!
1. Make A Pinterest Board
This is my personal pinterest board full of costume ideas. Make one, it'll really help you decide. Examples: Female Bane, Hades, Female Joker, Feamle Silver Surfer, Cheshire Cat and more. Start by searching your favorite movies such as Batman, Avatar, Fight Club..ect. Pick a few characters that have unique costumes and search keywords such as "Hades Cosplay" or "Famale Hades" or "Hades Costume". You'll be pleasantly surpsised by the amount of pictures that pop up! I've been updating my Pinterest board for months now trying to find the perfect costumes and ideas to add onto my costumes. You want to pin as much as you can so you can add your own personalized touch to recreated costumes.
2. Pick Something Thats Moderately Easy To Make
You only have 30 days, not a year. Don't pick a costume that you have to hand sew, weld or mold unless you have endless amounts of time to spare which I don't believe you do. The costumes in the gallery above are perfect examples you can make in under 30 days. Always check your local thrift stores, unique costume shops and your wardrobe. I made a female Joker costume one year and found purple pants at Forever 21, a purple jacket at the thrift store and I cut up a green jacket into a green vest. Thrift stores are your best friend and during Halloween time, they usually stock up with the weirdest things just for us DIY people out there. For my friends in San Diego, go to stores such as: Buffalo Breathe, Flashbacks and Buffalo Exchange.
Easy costumes are costumes that you can:
1. Buy a shirt from the thrift store and then cut up and modify for what you need.
2. Buying accessories from random shops and online.
3. Buying crafts from craft stores and DIY (like my Thor belt which is made from ribbon and buttons).
3. What Are Your Halloween Plans?
Are you going to a Rave? House party? A club downtown? Trick-or-treating? Your costume depends on your plans. You don't want to show up to a rave dressed in something that requires long sleeves and pants, you'll get way too hot and could possibly pass out. You also don't want to show up to a company Halloween party dressed in just a bra and short shorts, you might not have a job when you come back.
If you don't know your Halloween plans, make a costume that's versatile or maybe if you want to get crazy, make more than 1 costume. I know that this year I'll be going to a house party so I know I want a costume that's sexy but doesn't show too much. Last year I made a Peter Pan costume and I wore it two different ways. I wore it with tights as the more classic version and then to make my costume sexy, I wore it without tights and wore cute little green socks. Slight changes can really make a difference to your costume.
4. Make Sure You're Comfortable
I'll be honest with you, my Peter Pan costume was horribly uncomfortable. The original dress I made my costume out of was a long floor length, tight, 100% cotton dress that was very rough against my skin. I only wore it 2 nights out of the long Halloween "week" because it was just too uncomfortable. I was constantly pulling the dress down to cover my butt, adjusting things and I ended up losing the floppy hat by then end of the night. Make sure you have a costume where everything is intact and you can jump around and be wild without things falling off unless you're going for the very delicate and intricate look.
So what are you waiting for? Stop reading and GET STARTED. You only have 30 days. Send me your best costumes when they are finished and I'll put you in my blog post of the best DIY costumes.
Till next time...
- Alex
