Oct 07 2008
Halloween - Costuming
First, an interesting note: November 1st goes by many names; Day of the dead, All Hallows Day, etc. But, apparently it can also be called Hallowmas. Fun!
Anyway, for the female geek with not much time, halloween can be pressing. Most of us are too creative to go with the generalized sexy nurse, sexy policewomen, sexy pineapple theme. Last year I did cave and go as a purpley blue faerie, but that was mostly because I love shinys and wanted to use that fabric. I made the costume myself save for the wings which I ran out of time for (parts of my costume were sewn as I was getting ready to go out, with it on).
A sad fact of the girl geekdom is that its HARD to replicate some of our favorite characters. If you’re into anime you might as well throw in the towel if you’re going for accuracy. I’m pretty sure some of those girls legs go right to their breasts >_>
Anyway, all is not lost! Fandoms that feature live actors tend to be more realistic, and have costumes that work in the physics of our universe. Inara from Firefly would be a great “sexy” costume for the gal who doesn’t want to show too much skin. I was Kaylee for a con last year, and it took only a bit of work to get the patches and such for her pants. River is another easy one if you have enough grace to pull it off (can you tell my favorite show?). Star trek and star wars are common, and saves you from having to explain who you area a million billion times. The first few times it’s fun, after a while you give up (I was Amanda Greenleaf one year, and apparently no one had ever heard of it).
The biggest trick to making sure that you’re recognizable is fabric matching. You want to get colors and textures as close as possible. This will be the first thing people see, before they start noticing details. You can flub some of the details and make up a story about why it’s different, but it’s hard to convince someone your slave Leia if your bikini isn’t gold.
This year I’ve blatantly stolen my idea from the internet, and I really hope I can get it to work.
Not sure exactly how I’m going to do the head. I might actually try to make one so that the fur matches. Not sure how sharp pointy stick and bars would get along tho…
