Halloween 2012: My Costume...

Lydia Deetz.

For as long as I can remember Beetlejuice has always been an absolute favorite of mine, especially for it's Tim Burton style. The elements, and design throughout the film are truly unique to itself, but one of the costumes always stood out to me; this being Lydia Deetz's red wedding dress. 

The iconic look became Lydia's signature costume, as it contrasts her entirely black wardrobe that is seen all throughout the film prior to the wedding scene. 

When I first decided to create the look for myself for this Halloween, I did what I do every year: hit up the goodwill and other thrift stores. This year however, I did not find any great pieces to work with or alter. So I figured I'd have to sew and base for the skirt and then look for a top that might work. After making the base for the skirt out of regular red taffeta, I still struggled to find a good top and lowered my standards by seeking out a simple red tank top, v-neck, to at least attach lace too, but shockingly I couldn't find that either. I then foolishly attempted to make my own top out of the left over taffeta... keep in mind I know very little about sewing, and only sew what I have to. I pretty much glue-gun everything else. Did I also mention that my sewing machine broke before I really got going on the costume? 

Anyway, finally I had stitched the "top" together (which looked as jaggedly put-together as the flesh of Frankenstein) and of course, there were so many mistakes the top wasn't going to fit. When this moment of realization happened, it was 4 in the morning, day of my Halloween party. Pumpkinrot recently posted about every Haunter's nightmare, you know that one where you're scrambling to get everything together and people are coming over or trick-or-treaters are on their way? This was one of those moments. As early as it was, I knew I had so much still left to do that I felt rushed. So I did what every resourceful haunter does, I think "what do I have that I can rip up to pieces?" Then I remembered I had an awful Christmas shirt from a tacky Christmas sweater party from a few years back and it happened to be the same bright red. I pull that sucker out of the back of my drawer and cut off the ridiculous snowman design on the front, and turned the shirt around to reveal the back and create a v-neck for the front. 

Anyway, the costume somehow became a success - oh wait, I know how, my magic glue-gun! Thank goodness for that... 

 However, I mustn't brag about my own costume. My friends impressed the hell out of me with their clever ideas and great costume executions; characters from Pulp Fiction, Gangs of New York, and Moonrise Kingdom, as well a few cowboys, indians, and pirates... One of the most clever costumes was my roommate's, the bp oil spill...