Comments on: Costume ideas for the creatively challenged

Question: Costume ideas for the creatively challenged

missix — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 16:07:57 -0800

It's been over a decade since I had to dress up for Halloween and I am not very creative. Is there anything I can reasonably do using this flowy green 1930's style dress?

It's very form fitting up top and loose and layered on the bottom. My criteria are:

1. Not tacky or offensive (ghoulish/gory is OK!)

2. Obvious or simple enough to be explained to strangers at parties/bars, if they ask.

3. Not necessary, but if there's a way to incorporate some kind of jacket or long sleeves, that would be awesome because I do not live in warm climate.

The best I can think of is "socialite", which seems kind of vague and bland. Any ideas?

By: xingcat

xingcat — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 16:09:36 -0800

Put some seaweed-y looking stuff in your hair and maybe a starfish necklace, and that green dress would make you a lovely mermaid!

By: brainmouse

brainmouse — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 16:17:51 -0800

Looks like a good base for some sort of wood-nymphy costume too -- brown tights & brown long sleeve shirt (under) or shrug (over), some leaves & twigs in the hair, green eyeshadow, and there you go.

By: Corvid

Corvid — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 16:19:11 -0800

Looks like a stalk of celery or asparagus to me. You could wear a similarly colored turtleneck or something underneath to be warmer and more green, and a tall, leafy hat that could be easily made from felt or construction paper. Accessorize with hollandaise or vinaigrette, maybe a japanese beetle, munching away. Good excuse to wear comfy shoes -- something big, brown and muddy, like roots pulled from the dirt.

By: Requiax

Requiax — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 16:29:06 -0800

I'd go with wood nymph/dryad, as brainmouse suggested. Here's a simple dryad costume take you could pull off with that dress.

By: kellyblah

kellyblah — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 16:35:11 -0800

Is Tinkerbelle acceptable, or too cutesy? Any occasion I can wear wings & a wand, I jump at it, but that's just me.

By: hurdy gurdy girl

hurdy gurdy girl — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 17:04:31 -0800

How about Zelda Fitzgerald? (Here's Alison Pill playing ZF in Midnight in Paris.) You would be wearing long gloves so that would make it a warmer costume.

By: tel3path

tel3path — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 17:26:00 -0800

Daisy from The Great Gatsby. Topical, accessible, and explicable.

By: porpoise

porpoise — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 17:52:14 -0800

Not terribly exciting but the obvious is as a prohibition era flapper.

I think the key adds would be the vintage hat/hairstyle/fancy-feather, stockings, and shoes. A shawl wouldn't be out of period. Add accessories like a large drinking flask labeled "bathtub gin" or somesuch.

By: mochapickle

mochapickle — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 18:03:30 -0800

Get a friend to dress up like Henry Miller and go Anaïs Nin. Spend the evening saying brilliant, seductive things to everyone you meet.

By: missix

missix — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 18:51:15 -0800

Thanks for the ideas. A friend suggested something like kelp or seaweed - does that makes sense as a costume? I think I could get kelp-y accessories at a craft store or similar.

mochapickle: Spend the evening saying brilliant, seductive things to everyone you meet.

If only.

By: hot soup girl

hot soup girl — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 19:23:07 -0800

Absinthe fairy, perhaps?

By: amileighs

amileighs — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 19:23:28 -0800

Absinthe fairy! I did that last year -- get some green wings, sparkly make-up, and a bottle of absinthe,

By: missix

missix — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 20:08:51 -0800

I love the idea of an Absinthe fairy! Unique and not too cutesy. Gonna go search for wings and makeup (and absinthe) tomorrow.

By: dottiechang

dottiechang — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 22:46:28 -0800

They sell absinthe at Bevmo!