Queen of Hearts DIY

Chapter, Fashionably Light

Nov 01 2013

Gold Tape

Queen of Hearts DIYSimple 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.

Simple Fix: Construct a Halloween Costume

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.

Simple Fix: Construct a Halloween Costume

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:

Queen of Hearts DIY

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.

Simple Fix: Construct a Halloween Costume

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!

miss xandra bee
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