A costume fiend's guide to closet costumes: Part One

I love Halloween.  While I love things like candy, pumpkin carving, and wee kiddos trick-or-treating my favorite part is obviously the costumes.  Pre-cosplay I used to spend months and sometimes lots of money putting together costumes.  Ones, that sadly, sometimes only got worn once.  Now while I am all for dropping whatever cash you can afford to put together a costume you love and plan on wearing over and over - it just doesn't make sense for something you're only going to wear once.  And seriously, do not drop big $$ at a Halloween store.  Some stuff is nice but most of it is over priced and cheap.  So, that's why I'm writing a two part guide to building a costume from what's in your closet with little or no need for purchasing anything.

While I obviously own actual costumes this post will focus on ones I put together from what I had in my closet.  Yes my "ordinary" clothes aren't very typical but I still think most folks can pull something off. 

A general apology about the quality of my photos - as I wrote last month my camera tends to die on Halloween so I don't always have decent pics.  Or any at all.  In some cases I'm cropping out others and in other cases I simply don't have full length pics.

This was at the end of the night - my makeup held up well.  Also, this was the year I got smart and borrowed a camera when mine died.

Last year I was the Emcee from Cabaret.   My vision for the costume was a sort of menswear inspired but feminized version of the various costumes - which range from a tux to shorts and suspenders.  With the exception of the undershirt (borrowed from my brother) everything is something I already owned.  I did buy some makeup to make my face white.  It was actually eyeshadow which got plenty of use as intended after that night.

Wow, a full length shot.  So rare.

This could easily be adapted depending what you have and how much skin you want to show - I almost went with lacey pettipants and fishnets but I decided I felt like being more covered up that night.  Another variation would be just to wear a suit.  The main thing here is the makeup - heavy and theatrical.  Most of these costumes rely on makeup - if you aren't comfortable applying your own makeup see if you have a friend willing to make you up. 

This is an example of picking the worst possible background for a shot.  Had I known I was only going to get three pics out of my camera before it died I would have been more careful.

The year before I was Regina - the evil Queen from Once Upon a Time. Again this is all stuff I own.  I did end up having to buy a black dress because I didn't own one at that time.  Like the eyeshadow for the Emcee, it got plenty of use after Halloween.  Feel free to use Halloween as the excuse to buy something you plan on using in your day to day life.  The paper mache heart and shrug were from previous costumes - don't forget that anything you made or bought for previous years might be a good starting point for this year. 

My paper mache heart.  Isn't it pretty?

Again, this is a costume that hinges on makeup - and hair.  Really once you have that down, just wear the most fabulous outfit you can put together in a dark color.  Obviously a heart is a nice touch but if I hadn't already made one I wouldn't have bothered. 

Oddly enough, not the most unflattering photo of me.  Also, I'm not wearing makeup here - does this count as a no makeup selfie?

And then there was the year I was a pirate. Pirates are pretty easy to put together. Stripes, bandanas, vests, etc . . .  Everything I already owned (including long striped socks that aren't pictured.) with the exception of the hat.  I bought a plain floppy brimmed felt hat at Old Navy (of all places). I altered it so it was tri-cornered - an easy (and reversible) fix that requires almost no sewing skills - and added the feather.  Which I had lying around.  I could have kept the hat floppy and it would have still worked - I just wanted a tri-corner hat.  If you own a striped shirt or peasant blouse - pair it with some black yoga pants, and boots and you're halfway there.  And, as I note in the caption - I'm not wearing makeup.  I think you can go either way with a pirate look so rock what's most comfortable.

My brother as Dream, and me as Death.  Probably my favorite picture of us together. 

As I mentioned in my post about my Death cosplay - it began life as a Halloween costume.  The only item I bought for the costume was the ankh.  Yes, I already owned a black lace parasol.  I bought it for another costume but it's a ringer for Death's - spooky.  Or coincidence.

You can't see the Ankh, but you can see the rest of my costume.

If you want to be Death you don't have to buy the ankh - just cut out a piece of cardboard in the shape of an ankh and cover it in foil.   Since Death is an eternal  and has worn all different looks through out time you can pretty much wear what ever you want as long as it's the right color.  Death mostly wears black but she does wear red at funerals.  My advice for the eye is to use either a pencil or marker type eyeliner. I also think whiting out your face is optional - no matter what your skin tone.  So if you don't want to cover yourself in white greasepaint, don't.

Hope this will give you some ideas.  I will be back next week with a few more ideas that will hopefully make creating a costume from your own closet easy.  Never let a lack of funds or sewing skills prevent you from having an awesome costume again.