Simple Fix: Construct a Halloween Costume.

It takes effort, but the thrill of its completion is so worth it.

But…you’re a minimalist!

Dressing to theme and dressing minimally are two loves of mine that struggle to be wed. Halloween, however, I cannot ignore. As I walked down the Oxford’s moonlit streets having just completed my costume, I thought When is the next time I get to dress up?, eager to craft my next outfit.

It is possible to be a minimalist and still celebrate Halloween in full.

Here’s what I did.

I chose to go as the Queen of Hearts based on the fluffy pink dress already in my wardrobe. That way I wouldn’t have to buy too many new pieces. I knew that a pack of cards was a must, and by coincidence The Monkey had received a promotional pack for free he wasn’t using.

I identified key accessories, and how I could make them with as few purchases as possible.

The Bling – A sheet of glitter heart stickers was a great find. I used the hearts to bedazzle my crown and wand and to wear as stick-on earrings.

The Crown – I bought a big piece of red construction paper to finish off the crown, which is made from a hairband from Accessorize. I had found a hand stitched tea cup hat made of card print fabric by an indie artist in Shoreditch. Tempting, but I decided to save money by making my own.

The Wand – is a knitting needle.

The Necklace – I visited Alice’s Shop [the original Alice in Wonderland shop that Alice Liddell herself used to visit when it was a candy shop! Now it’s full of Alice stuff.] for ideas. I was tempted by a rabbit necklace, but bought a keychain one instead and made my own by adding red ribbon [more money-saving!].

The Tights – A slight catastrophe occurred. I had found the perfect tights at Alice’s Shop, weeks in advance. The morning of Halloween I was super-excited [obvs] and put on parts of my costume early.

Size M children’s, people. Not American-sized 4-6. Ages 4-6. The tights barely covered my calves.

I hurried around looking for replacement tights, but to no avail. Seriously, the retail tights selection has become so boring! I refused to settle, so I cut up the kid tights and taped them to my legs and tied them up with extra red ribbon.

The final product:

The Shoes – tempted by some lovely red Melissa wedges, but the ones I had did the job.

The Gloves – from my go-to fancy dress accessories shop in Camden. I wanted to be Lady Macbeth this year but decided against it since I would have to buy too many new pieces. These gloves will eventually be used again for her. Red nail varnish borrowed from Kat.

The Face – Too many times have I forgotten about makeup. For this, I used eyeliner to make my eyebrows pointy and evil. I used the bright red lipstick I bought for my Ms Pac Man costume as lipstick but also as eyeshadow. Easy!

Just add an occasion.

Hello Atomic Burger, special pumpkin-flavoured [as in actual pumpkin purée. Yup.] milkshake, and Halloween gang of ghoulish girls!

Thanks to Atomic Lucy and Atomic Ben for rocking our evening, and to my Halloween girl gang for celebrating my favourite holiday with me!