My Day-of-the-Dead Costume

Husband and I went to a great Halloween costume party. He was the Grim Reaper. Seven-foot-tall Grim Reaper with an antique scythe. Yep.

I wanted something to go along with that, and really love day-of-the-dead dolls so I decided that's what I'd be. Sort of a perfect wife for him it seemed. Plus, I'd look cool when I was by myself too, not like I had to be part of couple.

☠

But here is how this costume/makeup happened. 

Costume party was on Saturday night. I wasn't sure if I was going to be out of town, but as of Friday it was apparent I wouldn't be. Hmmm. That was going to be a problem costume-wise. Out shopping we went. At 7 p.m.

I ended up purchasing a dress that fit like glove at the first store. The dress was for a zombie prom queen but it was perfect. Black with silver and torn looking. Very from-the-grave. It was the perfect length, too. It just skimmed the floor and completely covered my feet. And I could wear flats. No high-heels. Whew. 

Now, I didn't see this coming. Last minute things rarely work out, so I was stunned.

Then, I really wanted to have some bones to keep the day-fo-the-dead doll theme. Do I make stencils and use fabric paint over a long-sleeved black tshirt? Do I paint them on elbow-length gloves? Mind you, this is the Friday night before at about 8 p.m. Well, I decided with Husband this was going to be too much stress for me. But were walking out of Target, which was next door to the costume shop, when I glimpsed a boy's x-ray skeleton costume. !!! This might work!

I have no idea why I thought putting on a child's outfit would work. It was ludicrous and simply begged to crush my self-esteem. Yet I was wild with the thought of its possibility to work.

I tried it on in the dressing room and it fit perfectly. I have wide hips and this was a huge surprise. I mean, it was a childs' costume. A boys at that. But, inseam, perfect. Back closure, perfect. Arm length, perfect. Gloves, perfect. (Which is hard for me because I have small hands, and gloves are always huge.) The legs only came down to mid-calf, but no one would see that.

However, the dressing room was ladies' only, Husband couldn't come back to assure me that I didn't look nuts. So I had to walk out in a skin-tight skeleton suit meant for a child. I was panicking. God bless me there wasn't a single soul in that dressing room or right outside it.

So home we went. I tried it all on together and it was magical. The only thing was it seemed the sleeves were too billowy on the skeleton suit and it ruined the effect of a skeleton-like body, along with the great fit of the dress. So I had Husband pin the arms super tight. It's a stretchy material, so I thought this would work. I stitched it up, my sewing machine played nicely, and I was done in about 45 minutes.

The next day I went and bought some black lace to make a veil. Lucky me, I found out my zombie prom-queen dress came with a black wire tiara. Perfect. Again. Lace got hot glued to it and looked amazing.

Noooow, we have a conundrum. Day-of-the-dead costumes have intricate painted faces. I have never painted my face for Halloween. The last time it was done to me as when I was five and my mom painted me up as a clown.

Well, I had bought a tube of white makeup at the costume shop. But how to make the intricate lines of the dolls? Eyeliners and lipliners at .99 cents and $2 from the drugstore. Bought a pot of cream eyeliner I figured would work to paint in the massive amounts of black for the eyes and nose.

I raced home, as I had been out all day with Husband at our Alma mater's football game watch party. (I am the president of our chapter and it was homecoming, thus we were excited and obligated to be there.) We have one-to-two hours before we have to be there. Oh. Crap.

But, again, somehow everything went smoothly. I found pictures on the web for inspiration in about five minutes, learned to use this white makeup I'd never touched until that day, and managed to paint my own face and make it look symmetrical. Do not ask me how this happened. It's a miracle.

Here's the outcome. I know that's what you've been waiting to see, or already scrolled down saw at first. :)

These closeups were after the party, so the makeup isn't quite as perfect,
but I'd forgotten to get a closeup before.

I hope you enjoyed!