Last year I coincidentally finished my chemise a la reine in October and since Halloween is my favourite time of the year I decided to give it a ghostly flare. However, it ignited an obsession in me, and I decided, for forseeable future, to make this an annual event. Except going forward I'm probably just going to make a costume intentionally, freeing myself of the subconscious historical accuracy niggles.
This year was a witch. A pretty manic, power-hungry kind of witch. I really just wanted a black historical gown after seeing a few other costumers make black gowns and drooling over them. Originally, since this was a Halloween costume, I didn't want to spend loads on fabric, so I opted for a plain black cotton. Then I fell in love with this very modern mesh dotted lace stuff that was very expensive...so much for keeping the budget down. I started this gown quite early in the year, along with a hundred other 18th century gowns, and I unusually never started a blog post about it, so no construction notes here.
I did start having a problem which I've never had before. I started losing weight. This was unintentional on my part, and the most annoying thing about it was that the costumes I'd spent months making and fitting were rapidly becoming too big. Unfortunately, this was one of them. I was quite a way through the construction by this point. I just managed to take the seams in before finishing it. But in the 3/4 weeks between finishing it and the photoshoot, I seem to have misplaced some more weight, so it was still too big. Perhaps in the future I'll take it apart and alter it, but it took me a while to finish the gown, so it's near the bottom of my list.
I pinned it closed, as I'd intended, but because it was too big the point at the front is offset, so I had to tuck one point under to hide it. Since it's black, though, I don't think it's that noticeable. I like the multiple panels at the back, I'm glad I took the time to pattern them, but it does, typically, make it slightly more of a nightmare to alter.
I actually managed to nail my hair for once. I wanted to go for a manic, chaotic look (and no, I didn't want a hat). I suppose it might be more vampiric than witchy, but it was so fun. I even put on false eyelashes for the first time (I know, I wasn't f**king about this Halloween). That being said, I have photoshopped the following pictures a wee bit, mainly to add effects, and to alter the colour of my eyes (in some cases, my eyes are actually such a light colour I really didn't have to do much).
I can't wait for next Halloween.
