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Monday, August 29, 2011

The Anatomy of a Halloween Costume

It's the last few days of August, so I feel like this is an appropriate time to start talking about Halloween (only two more months!). I was going through my clothes before my business trip, and I made the relatively shocking discovery that it wouldn't be hard for me to dress up as this person:


Bellatrix Lestrange, of Harry Potter notoriety. If you think she looks insane, it's because she is. She's also SPOILER! in love with Voldemort, which I guess is another way of saying her cheese isn't totally on the cracker.

Now, you might be wondering why the heck I think this will be easy, since I don't exactly trot around in wizard garb. Let's break it down:


Sadly (or awesomely?), I already have four of the five key pieces. Hair of a crazy person? I can certainly make it look that way. Wand? Leftover from when I was Hermione last year. Skirt? Not quite as long, but certainly in the right neighborhood. Clunky black shoes? Yes, complete with buckles.

All I need is to create some sort of corsetry for my waistline. And if I want to get really crazy, I can modify one of my 600 black shirts to have the attractive shoulder laces seen in the first picture. But we'll see.

Of course, I'll share the corset instructions with you once I figure out what I'm doing. Ten bucks says I use Liquid Stitch.

Have you started thinking about Halloween yet? Will you make your own costume? Have you ever dressed up as a book character?
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16 comments:

  1. JennaAugust 29, 2011 at 7:38 AM

    I love it! You can't go wrong with an easy on the wallet costume...since they tend to get pretty pricey! Since last year I've wanted to dress up as the Greek Goddess Athena...I had/have a thing for the Percy Jackson series and Greek mythology...Athena seems fun but elegant.

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  2. MelodyAugust 29, 2011 at 8:09 AM

    Haha, nice. I haven't started thinking about it yet. My costumes are always really lame.

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  3. Paige @ Little NostalgiaAugust 29, 2011 at 8:13 AM

    Jenna, a friend of mine was Athena last year because of that series, too. She found a cheap-o costume at one of those Halloween stores that pop up for a couple of months.

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  4. Miss MegAugust 29, 2011 at 8:50 AM

    I was an avatar last year - made my own costume with blue sweats and a tech shirt and silver fabric pens - I'm not sure yet for this year - I need something I can run in for the road race in Salem, MA that I'll hopefully be ready for. (It's a 6.66 mile race ;-) )

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  5. JennaAugust 29, 2011 at 9:08 AM

    Good to know! I think I "favorited" an Athena costume from one of those Halloween stores online LAST year...I'll have to search way back in my bookmark history!

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  6. SisterBatikAugust 29, 2011 at 10:22 AM

    So much fun - you must post pictures when it comes to the time, or beforehand if you want : )

    have a great day!

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  7. UnknownAugust 29, 2011 at 11:37 AM

    Ooo i cant wait to see it!! My friend shares her birthday with HP and was going to have a HP party themed for final film coming out but her parents surprised her with a holiday instead so now its going to be a Harry Potter Themed Halloween party and shes going as Bellatrix so cant wait to see what hers is like too!

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  8. Wear The CanvasAugust 29, 2011 at 11:50 AM

    love it! What a great costume idea! I started thinking of ideas yesterday and was actually going to do a similar post. Can't wait to see the final costume.

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  9. brittany - moccasin runAugust 29, 2011 at 11:59 AM

    i love halloween! i am going to be uma therman from pulp fiction this year! my boy is gonna be john travolta :)

    brittany

    prettylittlevintage

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  10. weird amigaAugust 29, 2011 at 12:06 PM

    Oh no, you're giving Hermione's wand to Bellatrix...! ;)

    Helena Bonham-Carter is great at pulling the crazy, disheveled look: just think of Mrs. Lovett!

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  11. JenniferAugust 29, 2011 at 1:28 PM

    Perfect!! This will be so great. I have dressed up as Hermione quite a few times haha. Love HP.

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  12. KristenAugust 29, 2011 at 1:56 PM

    Ok, first: that was a very lovely Hermione look you pulled off! Bellatrix will be a lot of fun, too, as she is so much more crazy. Does that give you the right to also ACT crazy when dressed like her? :) Can't wait to see how it turns out!

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  13. Melissa at bubbyandbean.comAugust 29, 2011 at 2:33 PM

    This is great. I, too, have the hair of a crazy person. I haven't even thought about Halloween, but I'm sure I will after the wedding. I like the idea of going with a character that would be semi-easy to pull off. :)

    xo,
    melissa

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  14. Paige @ Little NostalgiaAugust 29, 2011 at 7:04 PM

    Kristen, I think it absolutely gives me the right to get crazytown! I ran into somebody who dressed as Malfoy last year and he called me Mudblood all night.

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  15. My Inspired RealityAugust 29, 2011 at 7:28 PM

    I think that is a great idea for Halloween. You have to post a photo of you in full gear on Halloween:):)

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  16. pasqueflowerAugust 29, 2011 at 8:54 PM

    Cruella Deville!

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