Tricks & Treats
“What’s the matter Graverobber, can’t get it up if the girl’s breathing?”
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So, a few weeks ago I decided what my Halloween costume was going to be and became avidly obsessed with it since then. I never seem to enjoy making it easy on myself to create a Halloween costume. I always like to do something original or creative, and have a lot of fun with it. Or maybe I’m just a masochist and I love to drive myself insane trying to acquire the items needed for the costume. Last year I was The Baroness from G. I. Joe, and an official costume hadn’t been released for it at the time, so I had to do some fancy footwork to figure something out. Of course I got a lot of suggestions to just buy a Halloween catsuit/Catwoman type deal and modify that, but for whatever reason I chose not to. I think because those costume-in-a-bag setups you get from those Halloween stores always look so incredibly cheap and I didn’t want that. Obviously I couldn’t be too accurate, because I just couldn’t afford it at the time.
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This year, however, I went a liiittle bit crazy. I decided on a whim to check out a Halloween store nearby and while there I had a moment of “OMG, I could do THIS!”. A wig I saw triggered my memory and reminded me of a character from a my most recent movie fixation, Repo! The Genetic Opera. The character in question being Amber Sweet, a surgery/drug-addicted, slutty, and spoiled heiress (portrayed by Paris Hilton, ha). Revealing costume, yeah? Not my usual thing, actually. My costume last year pretty much covered me head to toe. In tight clothes, but covered nonetheless. When I told my mom about the costume and had her check it out online she was humorously aghast, and proceeded to lecture me about being arrested for suspected prostitution if I went out in public like that. Can’t say I don’t agree with her, but it’s Halloween and there are millions of other scantily clad women trouncing about, so I think police would have a hard time differentiating between prostitute and non-prostitute and as such highly doubt they’d outright arrest me based on what I was wearing. Plus, for the first time I’m feeling confident enough to actually wear something like that, and I wanted to do something different than my usual this year.
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Anyways, so I bought the wig I saw there, along with several other small accessories, and that marked the first day of it. In the two weeks that followed I would spend a handful of days devoted to finding costume pieces online, the most difficult pieces being the rhinestone bra, buckle corset, and the cage skirt thing she wears. But I’ll get to all that detailed stuff in a moment. First, I wanted to go ahead and make a list of all the items I collected or already had.
The basic costume had a lot of small details that I’ve seen missed in several recreations. And then, of course, it had parts of it that are simply impossible to recreate perfectly without spending a fortune (the corset, for example), even if I had sewing or corsetry experience, which I don’t. While I’m a little obsessive about the details, like her blue-tinted false lashes and scars on her chest, I’m also fairly practical in realizing I don’t have the money to pull off a full on theatrical replica. Which I don’t need either, because it’s just for Halloween. Hell, I already spent more on this costume than I’m terribly comfortable admitting to anyone. I kept my materials fairly cheap though, outside of the necessary items I could afford but didn’t really need (but bought anyways, because I’m a little meticulous). It kind of sucks being obsessed with details and quality but lacking the necessary funds to be completely true to original design.
So, keeping as close to original as possible, from head to toe:
Hair
From Spirit Halloween or Halloween Express, a black wig with blunt bangs. This image isn’t the one I actually bought, but the closest I could find. I later bought a Styrofoam head to place the wig on to keep it in good condition until I have to use it, as well as style and trim it. For styling tips on handling the wacky frizz the wig had, I turned to Google, which gave me this informative result - How to Defrizz a Synthetic Wig
Eyes
For the blue tinted eyelashes, the ones in the film are a very subtle blue throughout (“highlighted”), but shopping on a limited budget with limited options, I had to improvise. I found a pair like these at Spirit Halloween and plan to remove the pink and green feathers when I put them on. The ones I bought also aren’t as long as these ones either, so no trimming is needed. The lashes come as self-adhesive, but I plan to use LashGrip adhesive for stronger and longer wear. For the eye makeup I found this pretty damn accurate Tutorial.
Lips
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The first is L’Oreal Infallible Lip Color in Beyonce Red. I was actually hoping to find the same product in a darker shade but Target.com lied to me and told me they had a certain shade in stock in the store and they didn’t. I didn’t feel like running all over Hades trying to find the right shade, so again, I improvised. I bought a mini tube of cheap Halloween $0.99 black lipstick, with the hope that the lipstain placed over the black will help it stay on as well as avoid eliminating the color of the red because I only need a very slight red tint. It’s something I’ll have to give a practice run prior to when I actually intend to wear it. L’Oreal was bought at Wal-mart (same color, a little cheaper), and the black was bought at Party City Superstore.
Jewelry
Very simple, cheap Velcro studded choker, purchased at Halloween Express.
I also picked up two of these cheap blue glow stick lanyards from Party City Superstores, 4 inches in length, to represent Zydrate, the drug Amber is supposed to be addicted to. It’s not traditionally part of the costume, but I wanted to incorporate some blue glowy thing for the hell of it. I was originally going to have a Zydrate gun made, but it would have cost me $80, which I simply could not afford. I haven’t yet decided if I want to wear the lanyards around my neck or try being a little less obvious by tucking them into my boots/skirt, or tying the strings at my hip. another one of those things I’ll have to try various ways.
Prosthetics
I bought two of these at Halloween Express, they’re only about 3-4 inches in length. They’re supposed to be pasted (with Spirit Gum, which I also purchased in the same place), across the top of the chest in a wide “V” shape, just along or under the collar bone. Because they’re supposed to be fairly fresh scars I didn’t bother buying any of the costume or gore makeup. I elected, instead, to use my own makeup I already own and fade/blend them in a little, then use blush or lipstick to make them look a little reddened or swollen as if they were in the process of healing.
Clothes
This lace shrug isn’t quite the same as the one in the original outfit, but it was as close as I could find. I purchased it on sale at JCPenny’s, and had to search for about an hour and a half before I found the last one they had in stock, just before I was about to give up and leave. Of course, it was a size too small (doesn’t it always work out that way?) but I bought it anyways, and took it home to *modify it a little to fit better.
*modify = snip the underside of the sleeves with some scissors, can’t even tell either!
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Ahh, the Rhinestone Bra. I could have purchased this online for a hefty $250. OR I could just tapped into a little creative ingenuity (cheapbastard) and bought the materials to make it myself. So I bought a cheap, black push-up bra from Wal-mart (which, I found out, have somewhat strange sizes so I don’t recommend them) and then made my way to my favorite cheap resources store, Hobby Lobby! Things are always on sale there. I bought Gem-Tac rhinestone adhesive, and only three packages of Sparkle Stones’ 7mm, Round, Crystal AB rhinestones. The Crystal AB is very important. Just regular Crystal color won’t cast the eye-catching, multi-color reflection akin to diamonds, like Crystal AB does. There are 121 pieces in each packet, and the packets are a little pricey when bought in bulk. I recommend a coupon if one can be found, though I didn’t have one for this purchase. The number of packets that will be needed will vary on the size of the bra. A smaller cup size will require less rhinestones to cover it. Then it’s just a matter of getting cozy and maintaining patience. I sat for well over three hours just finishing half of it. The three packets of stones I had didn’t quite cover the entire one cup, which is where the task became most trying. I had to go get more rhinestones (4 packets this time, to insure I had enough to finish the bra). Wouldn’t you know it, the two Hobby Lobbys closest to me were completely out of stock of rhinestones that size and color. After having traveled to the second one and leaving empty-handed I thought it best to call the third closest store to make sure they had the item in stock before making the drive. It paid off, they’d just gotten new stock in that day and held four packets for me to pick up. As a happy bonus I also got a 50% off coupon for all four packets, which saved me a few bucks. Last night I finished it, while watching Disney movies, of all things, and I’m happy with the overall product.
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Quite obviously this corset is nothing like the original in the costume, but at this point I really don’t give a damn. It is surprisingly difficult to find a corset with buckles/studs on it that isn’t in the $100-$200 neighborhood. I did find a very, very nice replica of the movie corset here, but it’s also quite out of my price range. Once again, compromise came into play. I just wanted something that would actually do what a corset is supposed to do, as well as not look incredibly cheap or like I didn’t give a shit about screen costume accuracy. So I searched, and I searched, and I searched. with little to no luck. My bookmarks were packed full of websites with corsets I might have considered settling for. And then I eBay-ed it up. The eBay search relinquished Leatherone Utopia products, which had something accurate enough that it wouldn’t kill me by looking unrecognizable, as well as not kill my bank account. I didn’t have the money at the time though, and they only had one left in stock in my size, and I was worried I wouldn’t be able to purchase it in time when I got paid before it was gone. I expressed my worry to a friend, and she very kindly offered to loan me the money for it, so that I could pay her back once I was able. I was so grateful, and giddy. I have wonderful friends.
***Also, the corset is not worn bare with just the bra. There is actually another corset worn under it, a simple black one that zips up the front. I did not buy a new one, I used an old one (that isn’t really a corset but does zip up the front) from last year’s Baroness costume. But because it is barely visible it isn’t quite as important.
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Okay, so I might be brave enough to wear it out in public, but not with completely bare skin! Especially on the legs. With the several layers on the top the waistband will not be visible, and a nice sheer pair of tights allows for a little more modesty and slimmer leg without being very noticeable. The right tights will need someone getting close enough to see, and I don’t intend on that being the case with me, so I’m not terribly concerned. I had to take care in picking the right style of tights though, no control top or hip shapers. Those styles have a darker upper part that the shorts won’t hide, making the pantyhose ten times more obvious.
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Boyshort panties, or black hotpants. I didn’t buy a new pair as I already had a loose-fitting pair that didn’t have my bum completely falling out of the bottom. Mine are also cotton, highly recommended. These go over the pantyhose, but I DO recommend wearing a nude panty or g-string, something of that variety under the pantyhose. The costume seems revealing but I’ll actually be wearing quite a few layers, amusingly. So it goes like this: nude panty/g-string, then sheer pantyhose, then black shorts.
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This item, along with the corset and rhinestone bra, is among the most difficult pieces to come by/make. Much like the corset I searched and searched and searched endlessly. I did find one, but it was $100 to have made, and custom tailored. just when I’d given up and was looking up items to make one myself and searching for sewing tutorials I happened upon a lucky find. The same skirt, custom tailored, for half the price! Thanks to Lauren at Castle Corsetry (I referenced her earlier in the corset paragraph). She was absolutely wonderful to exchange words with, very pleasant and accommodating. She’s familiar with Repo! and has even made other pieces of Amber’s costume from different scenes, as well as other characters from the film. I gave her my measurements and she assured me that my skirt would arrive before Halloween.
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And finally, last but not least, the shoes! The make or break of any outfit or costume. The boots used in the original are actually shiny lace-ups, however, I was not about to go buy some fetish boots I’d never wear again at some price north of $60. Not with what I’ve already spent on this costume. I actually bought these knee-to-thigh-high boots last year at Burlington Coat Factory and they’re Anne Michelle Success, cost me $40. Because the boot doesn’t unzip all the way up (stops a few inches from the top to allow for a fold over pirate-y knee high) I did have to go up about a size and a half due to having rather muscular calves from soccer and dance as a young’n, the fit in the toe is a little weird but manageable with some stuffing (gasp!). They are rather high, 4 inches I believe, and have a hidden platform. These are actually suede, not shiny at all, but again compromise. I wore these with my Baroness costume last year and they worked just fine, and actually did not kill my feet.
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And that is the entire costume. from head to toe. I know how much of a complete pain in the ass (though somehow enjoyable) it was for me to find all the things for the costume. I also know this is extremely long and perhaps unnecessarily detailed, but I’m secretly hoping that others out there hoping to do an Amber Sweet costume might be able to stumble across this measly little blog and it would benefit them somehow. I know I wish I could have found something this helpful!
Happy costuming!
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“You know you want it baby, GeneCo’s got it. TESTIFY!”
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- C J
