Looking for blouses or dresses with subtle Halloween prints

October 12, 2017 11:44 PM

I'm looking for dresses or blouses with subtle (and small!) Halloween prints that I can wear to work at a professional office. Something like the small and playful prints Hermes does like this tie that you wouldn't realize had Octopuses on it unless you were 5' away. Thanks!

I am not sure where even to start- if you can point me in the right direction I'd be grateful.

posted by stewiethegreat to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (11 answers total)

You might have an easier time finding accessories like scarves or jewelry (I saw some great cufflinks once that were sterling silver teeth--like extracted molars) as opposed to entire garments...
posted by sexyrobot at 11:58 PM on October 12, 2017 [2 favorites]

I bought this awesome "boyfriend" button-down shirt at Banana Republic last year that's white with black pinstripes and tiny black skulls. Maybe you can find one on eBay?
posted by bendy at 12:35 AM on October 13, 2017

Modcloth has this ghost print and bat print.
posted by acidic at 12:39 AM on October 13, 2017 [4 favorites]

If you wore this skirt with a black blouse, I think it would just look like a cool graphic print, but it is also spiderwebs

You could also get cobweb fishnets like these and wear them OVER plain black tights for a very subtle effect (without the underlayer I don't think they are office-appropriate).

I love this blouse with bat cutouts in the collar that on first glance just look like lace.

From a distance this dress looks like a Boden print, but is fangs. The print might still be too big though?
posted by rmless at 6:41 AM on October 13, 2017 [1 favorite]

This button down is expensive but has a tiny skull print
posted by rmless at 6:43 AM on October 13, 2017

If this is something you're really into, you might want to consider buying fabric and hiring someone to make you something. Searching on "skull" on the Mood website turned up this, this, and this.
posted by FencingGal at 7:24 AM on October 13, 2017

I have this owl print silk shirt. Not super Halloween but it's got that vibe and no one ever knows what it is til they look closely.
posted by jabes at 8:16 AM on October 13, 2017

If you can work with the rockabilly or pin-up aesthetic, The Southern (California) Belle blog might have some ideas: dark skirt with cemetery and ghosts; black and white Beetlejuice skirt; black and white spooky object skirt; and this spider web cardigan which could probably work more generally.
posted by hydrobatidae at 8:47 AM on October 13, 2017

Modcloth has an entire category for this right now, including some more subtle patterns. Some of these patterns still might be too large/obvious for you, but check out...
- Bats
- Colorful skeleton cats
- Glow-in-the-dark skeleton cats
- Witchy cats
- And so on.
posted by ourobouros at 10:16 AM on October 13, 2017 [1 favorite]

Some of these might work? I got one with trees/ ravens myself.
posted by metasarah at 12:23 PM on October 13, 2017

This dress from Unique Vintage would look like polka dots until someone was right next to you.

If you are the type who can pull off menswear, or who would get a mens shirt tailored to fit you, this Robert Graham Skull Jacquard button-down sounds like it'd be right up your alley.

If you're the scarf-wearing type, here's a subtle skull-print scarf from John Varvatos.
posted by erst at 1:00 PM on October 13, 2017