Planning a Costume

I have various costuming events coming up in the next couple of weeks. One of them is a costume party at a friend's house this weekend. The other is, of course, Halloween. I've got concepts/characters figured out for both occasions. The trick now is thinking through the details and making choices about the primary pieces of a costume; that is, will I wear a dress? If so, what dress? Or, perhaps pants and a shirt? Once the main pieces are chosen, then the accessories, hair style, and makeup all get chosen as well. I'm still in the midst of this part of the process, though I have a lot of ideas.

Sometimes, admittedly, I don't start with the main pieces at all. Sometimes I just know I want to wear a particular color, or that the clothes I want to wear will express a particular way I want to feel, or occasionally there is even just one accessory I want to design the whole outfit around. The other thing I try to think about when designing a costume is avoiding the obvious. So, for example, sometimes one particular style of dress will easily call up an overall look--maybe a style of dressing from a particular time period, or a certain sort of iconic image. As much as is possible, I try and work against that obvious choice, while also seeing that there are times when you have to just accept the obvious, go with it, and simply play it a little different than others have before.

Below are pics of some of the various costumery items I'm currently choosing from.

Rubber Dress custom made for me by Atsuko Kudo

YSL TributeToo Black Patent Pumps

Leather Lacing Harness by AudraJean
(the entire front laces up to the neck, sorry this detail is obscured by the black t-shirt)

Taffeta cape custom made for me by Pam Wilkinson

I don't know that I'll wear all of these costume elements, and I have other accessories that will be worked into the ensemble as well. But these are pics of some of the basics I'm considering. Your thoughts are welcomed!