The anatomy of a winning halloween costume…

Alright, I know you all recall last year’s Halloween costume since I talk about it A LOT.    Here too.   I was REALLY proud of it and thought I deserved to win last year (ask ANYONE who I was with – I made it known).  It all came down to a dance off where I tried to retain my dignity rather than dance like a fool like my competition.  So really… I win.
 

Regardless of what happened last year (let me remind you, I lost), I made it my mission to outdo myself this year.  I decided on my costume back in like, I don’t know… March.  I was that obsessed.  I decided to stick with a theme… a Johnny Depp theme… so behold… Edward Scissorhands.
 

Yep.

 

Let me pose for you.

 

With my amazing cousin and makeup artist extraordinaire.

 

I have to give credit to some different places for inspiration and I’ll also break down exactly what I did for the whole costume.  The only “official” item I bought was the wig.  Other than that, it was Marshalls, Goodwill or homemade.  Because remember… I don’t buy pre-made Halloween costumes.

 

So let’s break it down:

 

I found this template online from someone who had done the Edward thing a few years back and I printed it off in the size she suggested and cut them out for my stencil.  You can find that template here.

 

 

After tracing them on foam core, I cut them out using a razor blade.  And some curse words.  It wasn’t as easy as I would have liked it to be.

 

 

Then, I spray-painted them with speckled silver paint and voila!

 

 

From here, it was just a matter of hot gluing them to some black gloves I bought at Goodwill for $1.99.  Sweet.

 

As far as my outfit goes, here’s where I got everything and what I paid:

 

* The jacket I scored on clearance for $20 (down from $150) at Marshalls back in the spring.

 

* The pants I bought a couple weeks ago (when I lost enough weight to warrant a smaller pants size!) again, at Marshalls for $20.  I used some electrical tape to cover the giant Calvin Klein label on the butt pocket.

 

* The mock turtleneck I picked up at Goodwill for $3.  I spray-painted some washers bronze and I sewed them to the neck.

 

* The belts I also picked up at Goodwill for .99 to $1.99.  I then just used thread to sew “belt loops” in the spots on my pant legs so they wouldn’t fall down my thighs, popped a hole in with an awl to make them fit better and used electrical tape to hold up the excess.

 

* The wig I bought for $12 on Ebay.

 

* The boots were mine.

 

So it looks like the total costume cost was ~$65 but the pants and jacket are items I will totally wear again so I really should lower the overall price… only seems fair.  Besides, the whole thing still isn’t THAT much more than the pre-made (cheap crap) costume I COULD have bought.

 

That would be this one.  And it’s terrifying.

 

Next is my makeup which I need to give TOTAL credit to my amazing cousin, Jessica, who did some research and created the final product.  We did watch this tutorial by Kandee Johnson a few times – she’s amazing and definitely inspired the resulting amazingness.

 

The “Before” picture.

 

Covering my eyebrows – we used a variety of techniques including a glue stick.  Apparently I was a kindergarten art project for Halloween this year.

 

The “After.”  Awesome.  Would have been a better pic if I was actually wearing my wig.

 

Once it was all together, it was epic… I’m not gonna lie.  I walked downstairs and several people came over for photo ops.  And interestingly enough, a couple guys even hit on me just like last year when I was dressed as the Mad Hatter.  What’s UP with that???

 

Last year’s winner who, upon seeing me, said “is that all you got?”.  He was kidding… obviously.

 

The epitome of our relationship.  I’m over the top and he’s so loveable.  Love this man.

 

After the contest and the band quit playing, I went upstairs and changed into sweats, washed my face and brushed out my hair before coming back down and sitting at the bar at which point, a band member asked me what I had been dressed up as that night.  The same band member that I was playing the guitar with about 30 minutes prior to that moment.  I told him that I was Edward Scissorhands and I thought he was going to fall off his bar stool.  Apparently I did a good job and he didn’t recognize me in the slightest.

 

So, yeah… I won the Halloween Costume Contest this year. Hands down. And that pun is totally intended. No 2nd Place finish for this girl.  Therefore, I think it’s safe to say that I have succeeded.

 

24. Top my Halloween costume from 2010
 

Yeah, I did just that.
 

And I’m already taking suggestions for next year.
 

Once you embody the language, the character comes really naturally, especially when you put the costume on.  ~Lucy Liu