halloween

Ms. Baghead – A DIY Vintage Prairie Costume & Pumpkin Picking

October 7, 2020 by The Partial Ingredients

Time to really put the gore back into #cottagecore (#cottagegore ?) with this Halloween costume! For Halloween this year, masks I’m sure will be all the rage whether we like it or not, thanks to COVID. I wanted to do a twist on mask wearing for this year’s extra low budget costume with spooky vintage vibes. It really is one of the easiest costumes to throw together and it’s also legit scary.

Now for the how-to: all you need is a piece of burlap and a vintage style midi dress and you’re on your way! For the dress, think pretty florals, linen or cotton for the best vintage vibes. These old photos of Halloweens gone by provide the most spook-tacular inspiration! Now grab your burlap (it should be square-shaped and enough length to adequately cover your head and shoulders) and just rip a couple of eyeholes and a mouth hole. *Please note: I do recommend wearing a face covering underneath, the burlap will not provide any kind of protection again COVID.* After lining up the eyeholes with your face, take a piece of string or a ribbon and tie the burlap around your neck (not too tight though!) and throw on a pair of vintage shoes — think low slung pumps or oxford lace ups. I think this costume cost about 15 bucks total which was mostly for the dress (from Poshmark), and the piece of burlap which cost less than a dollar to buy from a fabric store. If you already have a good dress and shoes for this costume, it could cost you as little as a dollar. Low budget with maximum scary impact — it’s the best of both worlds!

This past weekend, we did a little pumpkin picking at Bartel’s Farm in Northern Colorado. What a great way to kick off Fall and get some excellent u-pick pumpkins!

**Style details:** sweater from American Eagle; Jeans from Levi’s; Shoes from Solovair

Heart of Glass – Blondie Halloween Costume

October 27, 2019 by The Partial Ingredients

This Halloween I decided to go full glam and do a Blondie/Debbie Harry costume! I absolutely love Halloween and everything Fall so I wanted to make it a fun costume this year. I’ve always been a big fan of her music and fashion too so it made a lot of sense to give it a go. She is such a great performer and I gotta admit I am a total fan girl!

One goal I had this year–I wanted this year’s costume to be super cheap so this costume wound up being less than $30 bucks all in. I did already have the leather jacket, skirt and shoes so that helped a lot! One thing I lacked was the signature “Camp Funtime” T-shirt that Blondie wore in 1977 so I paid about 20 bucks for that. I also kind of just like the T-shirt and plan on wearing it out anyways so that was a bit of a win. Then of course this $10 wig I found at a costume store had to bring the whole thing together. I know, I know–only the best wigs will do for me. I wanted to go for the 70’s-era Blondie more than the 80’s; think more CBGB punk style than 80’s glam was kind of the goal. This costume was comprised of a lot of classic basics: the leather jacket was originally from Zara and is just a great staple piece to have around. Another was this A-line black skirt from Forever 21, plus bonus pockets in the front. I gotta say I am excited for Halloween this season–as long as it doesn’t get too cold!

Debbie Harry wearing the Camp Funtime T-Shirt on stage in the 1970s.

Costume Details: Leather Jacket: Zara; T-Shirt: TeePublic; Tights: Forever 21; Skirt: Forever 21; Ankle boots: Lucky Brand

Halloween How-To: The 1920’s Flapper/Gatsby Costume for under $100

October 21, 2018 by The Partial Ingredients

How to create a costume that looks way more expensive than it is? Getting creative; that’s how! I live in a city with a lot of great historical bars and restaurants that used to be 1920’s speakeasies and illicit bars and gambling places. You can probably guess where the inspiration for this costume came from. I’m actually looking forward to rolling into these converted speakeasies in full Flapper attire on Halloween! It just makes sense right? I know Flapper and Gatsby outfits became super trendy when the newest remake of The Great Gatsby was debuted but this costume is seriously a classic and never gets old. I wanted to try creating the perfect 1920’s Flapper look and getting all 1920’s glamorous without spending beaucoup bucks. I also wanted the look to be somewhat traditional, but I’m not sure I quite succeeded there, but no matter. This dress came from Amazon, and I couldn’t pass it up. The dress was about $39, and it really has that glamorous Art Deco flair. Love the fringe, and the green and gold accents! It’s surprisingly heavy for a dress; probably due to all that sequins. I’m hoping to somehow get away with wearing it again! I personally like dresses that don’t require a lot of adjusting and this dress just goes on and you’re done and comfortable the rest of the night. No bra strap issues, no awkward fit problems, nada! Fits like a comfortable glove, and runs true to size. I believe it comes in several different colors too. Oh, and one of the most important details that adds an extra bit of glamour to the costume is the faux fur shawl! I found this one on Amazon for about $30, and since it’s getting colder I know I’m going to be relieved to have this on Halloween night.

Accessories are everything for a Flapper costume, and I found mine at a local costume and thrift shop for about $6 total. The feather headpiece, the gloves, the pearls and the cigarette holder really pull the costume together with those extra details! The most difficult thing, really, was my hair which is way too long for the period. And nope, I wasn’t willing to chop it all off for one costume. So, what to do? I’m not very talented in the hair department so I went with a simple bun fixed up with pins, and it stayed together very well, and it looks passable for the period. Ideally, you should have a bob cut but oh well. There are plenty of tutorials online for a fancier 1920’s style up-do if you’re better at that than I am. The final touch were the shoes, and I didn’t want to go with the more modern idea of the Flapper Costume: the T-strap. Apparently T-straps weren’t really the thing back then, so I went with a heeled leather oxford. I also like that these shoes can be worn with a modern outfit, but has just enough retro vibes for a costume. You can find tons of great retro shoes from thrift stores and I found these, practically new, Franco Sartos at the local thrift store. I plan on wearing these shoes with other everyday outfits so it was a win-win! Here’s the expense break down for this costume:

Expense Breakdown:

-Dress: $39.99

-Faux Fur Shawl $28.66

-Shoes: $19.99

-Headpiece: $4.49

-Accessories (gloves, beads, cigarette holder): $6

Total: $99.13