2 Halloween Costumes in 1: My refashioned Halloween Costume <$10!

If you have been following along Refashion Runway and all of the great refashioning that has been going on, you know the next challenge is Halloween. Unfortunately I did not make it to the next round but I did make a fabulous Halloween costume that I can actually wear 2 different ways just by changing the styling and detaching some bows. Multipurpose is great since Halloween only comes around 1X a year. First I snagged this baby blue formal gown one Sunday for $0.99. I have had this dress sitting around for over a year as I was going to refashion it for Halloween 2012. Unfortunately we moved so it went into a box. Come around this year it was time to refashion it. I knew the direction I wanted to go but didn't have a plan. I knew I wanted to add cream or off-white lace, this took me a long time to find but I found this gorgeous lace top that I think was like a mother of a bride ensemble (missing the rest of the ensemble).

So I attached the lace to the bodice of the dress. I trimmed it with old gold trim I had from my bellydancer days that I had pulled off a costume. I cut the bottom of the dress off to learn I had tulle netting at the bottom with blue lining that I can use as an under skirt. I converted the sleeves to make an insert for the middle of the skirt. For it to peak out I actually detached the skirt up to the side seams, cut down the center, gathered it, and reattached to the bodice right at the edge of the lace of the bodice. I used the satin I had cut off the skirt to make bell sleeves and also bows. Everything is of course trimmed with the gold trim. And lastly to fit Lauren now, Future Lauren, and friends I opted to not fit the bodice to me right now. I would rather have a costume in the future that I can wear regardless of my weight status. Instead I used elastic across the top back so it would fit me. To make it a little more comfortable to wear I used the last dregs of fabric to make straps using grosgrain ribbon as base. I created a faux halter by angling these straps to look like a halter but they are actually crisscrossed in the back and attached at the back. Now I also don't have to worry about the straps falling off the sides of my shoulders while wearing it (another bellydance costuming trick I learned while I made costumes).

So, if I wear as is, the costume has a bit of a rennaissance/medieval feel to it. But if I attach the bows, spray my hair white and tease the heck out of it, add some of my peacock feathers, pearls and add my petticoat to make it poof more, I have my Marie Antoinette costume.

The costume cost me under $10 and I actually have 2 options. Yay. For more pictures (because after spending so much time with my hair I took a lot) on the entire process and the after pictures go to my blog here.

Cheers,
Lauren
Adventures of Lauren