DIY Halloween Costumes

Hither comes the night of Jack-o’-Lanterns and ‘Trick-or-Treat’. It’s that time of the year again folks, where you pull out your old costumes and get ready for Halloween. This year, a lot of people are contemplating dressing up as the ever popular, but unfortunately, late Michael Jackson, with orders for his costumes hitting the top of the retailer charts. There are also other celebrities who are up there on the top of the list with MJ like Lady Gaga, the Twilight Vampires, Mad Hatter, Amy Winehouse and Barrack Obama.

So do you want to dress up like your favourite celebrity? Before you head for the nearest store (or website, considering the internet has taken over our lives) and bust your piggy bank, look inside your closet. Halloween is the one time of the year you can be really creative with your closet and get away with just about anything! So why not save ourselves some monies and just try and put a costume together from the dregs of our closets. Here are a few pointers for a DIY Halloween costume:

1.       Make a list – The first thing you’ve got to do is to decide what or who you want to be this Halloween. Don’t restrict yourself to just one person. Make a list of at least 3 costumes you wouldn’t mind being seen in and pin it to the door of your closet.

2.       Study your Subject – Try and understand what are the unique features or the style statements of the celebrities you have chosen to imitate. Write these down against each of the names in your list. Doing this makes it easier to pinpoint exactly what you are looking for, for each costume

3.       Look in the attic - Next, look into the back of your closet, and I mean the furthest corners, and the attic and the trunk of clothes that hasn’t seen daylight in the last 5 years. Pull out a few things that you can possibly use for your costumes. From this lot, separate the clothes you can still fit into.

4.       Spring clean your folks’ closets – Once you’ve pulled out the dirt from your closet, spring clean your parents and grandparents closets. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at what you find in there. Again, sort out the clothes you can use.

5.       Take them to the Tailor – Then, take them to the nearest tailor and have the tailor modify these clothes to your liking, or if you have a sewing machine, you can do it yourself at home. Some of the clothes may not need any modification at all, while some may need adjustments to get the right look for your celebrity lookalike.

6.       Make up & Hair– Once you have your costume ready, all you need is make up. Use make up to obtain the right look for your Halloween costume. Most people underrate the power of makeup, but no Halloween costume is complete without the right hairdo and makeup. Get a friend to help you, if you need assistance.

7.       Masks – For those of you, who are looking at wearing masks, try looking in the attic for all your old masks and see if you can repaint any of them for this year’s Halloween costumes. All it needs is a little bit of paint and an imagination to create a new mask every year.

8.       Borrow clothes – Create a pool with your friends. Exchange clothes, old masks and mix and match to get the right look for yourself and everyone else.  Let them choose from the clothes that you are not wearing and ask them for help to pick out your costume. After all, two heads, and two closets, are always better than one!

Try out these ideas to create a great DIY Halloween costume. Happy Halloween!