Costume ideas for the creatively challenged

October 29, 2012 4:07 PM

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?

posted by missix to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (14 answers total)

Put some seaweed-y looking stuff in your hair and maybe a starfish necklace, and that green dress would make you a lovely mermaid!
posted by xingcat at 4:09 PM on October 29, 2012 [4 favorites]

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.
posted by brainmouse at 4:17 PM on October 29, 2012 [6 favorites]

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.
posted by Corvid at 4:19 PM on October 29, 2012 [1 favorite]

I'd go with wood nymph/dryad, as brainmouse suggested. Here's a simple dryad costume take you could pull off with that dress.
posted by Requiax at 4:29 PM on October 29, 2012 [1 favorite]

Is Tinkerbelle acceptable, or too cutesy? Any occasion I can wear wings & a wand, I jump at it, but that's just me.
posted by kellyblah at 4:35 PM on October 29, 2012

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.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 5:04 PM on October 29, 2012 [3 favorites]

Daisy from The Great Gatsby. Topical, accessible, and explicable.
posted by tel3path at 5:26 PM on October 29, 2012 [1 favorite]

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.
posted by porpoise at 5:52 PM on October 29, 2012

Get a friend to dress up like Henry Miller and go Anaïs Nin. Spend the evening saying brilliant, seductive things to everyone you meet.
posted by mochapickle at 6:03 PM on October 29, 2012

Response by poster: 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.
posted by missix at 6:51 PM on October 29, 2012

Best answer: Absinthe fairy, perhaps?
posted by hot soup girl at 7:23 PM on October 29, 2012

Best answer: Absinthe fairy! I did that last year -- get some green wings, sparkly make-up, and a bottle of absinthe,
posted by amileighs at 7:23 PM on October 29, 2012

Response by poster: I love the idea of an Absinthe fairy! Unique and not too cutesy. Gonna go search for wings and makeup (and absinthe) tomorrow.
posted by missix at 8:08 PM on October 29, 2012 [1 favorite]

They sell absinthe at Bevmo!
posted by dottiechang at 10:46 PM on October 29, 2012