Dear Halloween, can you please start happening every other month so we have more opportunities to dress up? Love, Brit + Co :)
We’ve been taking costume inspiration notes all year long. From award-winning hipster films to Queen Bey herself, our work has been cut out for us this Halloween. And though ready-made costumes are convenient, we’ve got a weakness for all things DIY. Especially when it involves hacking our own clothes, thrift store finds and, best of all, Halloween costumes from years past. We teamed up with Savers to share a collection of DIY costumes inspired by this year’s most wearable pop culture moments.
If you’re not familiar with Savers, it’s time to get in the know. This epic thrift store family includes Savers, Value Village, Village des Valeurs and Unique Thrift, boasting over 330 locations throughout the US, Canada and Australia.
When it comes to Halloween, thrift stores are the BEST place to find unique pieces to put together an awesome costume. Plus, since you can find super affordable lightly worn items, you can feel good about updating them with details that suit your desired look. We love scouring the racks of thrift stores to find the perfect piece for a costume or an awesome vintage jacket to add to our wardrobe. And we’re not the only ones. According to Savers, one in two people agree that it’s not necessary to spend a fortune on an awesome Halloween costume. In fact, 41% feel that secondhand or thrift stores are great for costume inspiration, which represents a 20% jump from last year. Furthermore, 68% usually don’t buy new packaged costumes, but instead combine new and used, make outfits by hand, repeat costumes or borrow from others.
For this thrift store adventure, we headed to Savers and found just what we needed to create THE meme-inspired costume of 2015. In fact, 51% of people who celebrate Halloween say that current events, entertainment or pop culture tend to inspire their costumes. And no matter what color you saw, nearly 30% believe that “The Dress” will be the 2015 event that inspires the most Halloween costumes this year.
So, without further ado, presenting… #THEDRESS. (Don’t forget to scroll on for nine more pop culture -inspired costumes!)
1. #THEDRESS // #DRESSGATE: Is it blue and black? Or white and gold? Yes, the most confusing day of your life is now a DIY Halloween costume. We created these costumes with two great fringe dresses that we found at Savers. Head to the bottom of this post to see how it’s done.
2. Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé in the “Feeling Myself” Music Video: I have to admit, I really was #feelingmyself when wearing this costume. To create your own Nicki/Bey combo, hit up a thrift store to find a couple of awesome fur (or faux fur) coats. If the store has a good ‘90s section, you might even find pink and purple fur coat options. For Nicki’s swimsuit, we took a white leotard and drew on it with fabric makers. You could do the same with a white tank top and boy short combo if you want to show a little less skin ;) For Beyoncé’s look, we turned a basketball jersey into a swimsuit. Just a few simple stitches. We do recommend wearing an actual swimsuit bottom underneath though, just in case.
3. Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel: Could this quartet be more perfect?! Every single piece in this outfit was sourced at a thrift shop, aside from the Lobby Boy Hat, Mendl’s Box and uncomfortably on-point old lady makeup.
Jurassic World
5. The Wet Hot American Summer Crew: Gather a crew of friends and your old school summer camp gear, and you can easily recreate every single look in this cult-movie-turned-Netflix-TV-show. And if you don’t have gear of your own, you know where to find it — your local Savers, of course ;)
6. Taylor Swift’s Bad Blood Crew: Five fierce female ready to take on the world? TSwift might have bad blood, but she has the best squad of BFFs the Instagram world has ever seen. This look is all about pleather pieces, mesh, black lace and a lot of DIY improvisation. Oh, and an ass-kicking attitude is required.
7. Emoji Maternity Costume: How adorable is this maternity costume idea? Take a black tube dress and add your emoji of choice using fabric or felt. It literally takes minutes to make.
8. Inside Out Characters: If you haven’t seen this movie yet, may we recommend the Sunday morning after Halloween to watch it? You’ll probably be spending that day floating between your couch and bed anyway.
9. #Flawless Beyoncé: Flannel shirt, cutoffs and tons of jewelry — three steps to your own version of #flawless.
10. The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Our most recent imaginary bestie is definitely Kimmy Schmidt, and the fact that she wears the same outfit for multiple episodes is legit. You can find all of these pieces in your closet, your best friend’s closet or in a thrift shop — we promise.
And now, back to how to DIY #TheDress!
You need these tools and materials: white ruffled dress, blue ruffled dress, gold and black ribbon, fabric scissors and a hot glue gun.
Our white dress had sleeves, so we trimmed them off to match the sleeveless silhouette of the blue dress. Cut ribbon and glue it to the side seams of the dress. If you lace is not stretchy but your dress is stretchy, remember to cut extra ribbon on either end. The lace will lay flat once the dress is on your body.
Once you have assembled your white and gold dress, it is now time to assemble your blue and black dress. Follow the same procedure as above. Done and done.
What color combo do you see? If you don’t see both in the photo above, you probably need to get your eyes checked ;)
