Dusk Spirit
This costume was my 2018 Halloween costume. It’s inspired by ballet, as well as by the idea of a dusk/dawn spirit. However, I will admit that this is one of the least favorite projects I’ve worked on. While it’s a great costume to learn from, there are a huge number of issues with it that made it uncomfortable and frustrating. Many of these issues come from the fact that I was still pretty new to costuming when I made it, that I used the cheapest fabric I could get, and I rushed my way through it.
While I probably wouldn’t make this costume again, I learned a lot while making it, and am glad I worked on it for that sake.
Skirt
This was part of the original concept for the entire costume. I wanted to make a skirt that would gradually shift from one color to another, using thin layers of tulle to create that effect, which would eventually reveal a starry sky at the bottom. While I did end up achieving that affect with this skirt, the shape of the garment ended up being sacrificed, turning it into a very fluffy bell like shape, rather than the A-line skirt I would have preferred. The waistband also ended up being a pretty big problem, just because it had so much fabric there that it ended up being amazingly bulky. This made the entire skirt sit badly under the bodice, and added a lot of extra material at the waist.
If I were to make this costume again, I would probably use different fabric, and not have it so that all the layers go all the way up to the waistband, instead attaching lower layers further down to minimize bulk.
Bodice
Despite frustrations with the fit of this bodice, it actually ended up being my favorite part to work on. It's based on the bustier pattern in Simplicity 2172, though I made a few changes. Notably, I changed the bottom of the bodice so that it would end in the shape of a star, which is actually a design idea that I would use again on another project, and am really happy with how that came out. I also added an off the shoulder sleeve-like piece of purple and pink fabric, which tied in the back.
There are two pieces of detail work I did on the bodice. First, I used a thin layer of mesh to give the entire thing a shimmery effect, and then put small, clear seed beads in a constellation pattern all over the bodice. In the right light, this ends up looking a lot like stars, though I might have used larger beads to better reinforce that effect. I also added a star at the center front, which was cut from the same fabric as the bottom layer of the skirt.
Makeup, Accessories, and Hair
This costume had some of the most dramatic makeup I’ve done, though I sadly have lost any photos of it that might have been taken. It included dark purple lipstick and an excess of glitter, especially in terms of the eyeshadow, to tie in to the sparkles in both the skirt and the bodice.
For jewelry, I went for a necklace with a silver star charm surrounded by purple beads. I don’t have the necklace to take photos of, but I do remember it was from Hot Topic, though I don’t see anything like it on their website anymore.
The hair for this costume was a purple wig, which I braided back into a bun. I also used pieces of the fabric that goes across the shoulders and strings of beads to add interest and better tie the costume together.
Acknowledgments
Thank you so much to my mom, who took the photos and helped me work through all the problems in this costume!