CL Buchanan Photography
Blissdom Canada wraps up the conference with a costume and karaoke party. I didn’t have a costume and knew I wanted something fun that I would feel good in. I also wanted to make my own costume for environmental reasons, cost savings and just for fun. I don’t sew but I’m pretty crafty, so I knew I could come up with something!
I decided on a Flapper Girl costume, since I love to dress up and don’t get nearly enough occasions to wear high heels and fishnets. I looked online for inspiration and realized that a lot of the look was in the accessories, and came to the conclusion it was something I could pull off with minimal expense.
I took a trip to Value Village and looked around for a straight cut, knee length dress. I found one in black that had some fun mirrors sewn on and it fit just right. I also lucked out and found a feather boa for only $1.99, although the new ones weren’t too expensive either. I picked up a string of pearls in the jewelry section and hunted around for some items to add to a headpiece. I didn’t see anything to my liking, but I was so happy with the dress and boa it wasn’t such a big deal.
Second hand dress from Value Village
Next I went to my local craft store and department stores and picked up a large red peacock feather for the headpiece and two rolls of fringe (in the sewing notions section). And then came the fun of putting it together!
Black fringe
The dress had a tie in the back that I didn’t need, so I snipped it off and seared the edges with a lighter so it didn’t unravel. The I broke out my glue gun – I think this is every crafter’s favourite tool – and started attaching the fringe. I simply cut the fringe in pieces long enough to wrap around the dress, sealed the ends with a lighter just in case, and glued it on with my trusty glue gun. I took care to line it up, but didn’t measure or fret over it too much. I figured most people wouldn’t be looking at the bottom of the dress, plus it would be dark, right? I attached three rows to the bottom and one row to the top. You can do as much or as little as you like with fringe; traditionally flappers didn’t have fully fringed dresses, but many costumes are fringed top to bottom and that’s fun too. I ended up using E-6000 adhesive on the fringe around the neckline because it dries clear and I didn’t want any globs from the hot glue. If I hadn’t had any in the house I could have just been a little more precise with the glue gun and worked in small sections, or not done the top at all. If you do use E-6000 use it outside if possible or open a window: it stinks!
And that is all you need to do to make a roaring 20′s flapper costume! I chose to make a headpiece because I had enough supplies to put something together, but you could just as easily purchase one, make something simple or attach a feather to a barrette or hair comb. Here is the breakdown of how much I spent:
Thrifted Roaring 20′s Flapper Girl Costume Price Breakdown
Black Dress $9.99, Value Village
Feather Boa $1.99 Value Village
Pearls $2.99 Value Village
Feather $4.99, Michaels
Fringe $15.98 WalMart
Shoes, stockings, make up and other materials for headband are my ownTotal $35.94 plus tax
(Plus $7.99 for a flapper wig I bought before I cut my hair and didn’t end up wearing.)
CL Buchanan Photography
Although it wasn’t the most original costume at the party (I think there were 6 of us) it was super fun, comfortable to wear and I felt good about repurposing materials to make it. Our impact on the planet is all about small, daily choices and choosing not to buy a cheap, polyester, made in China costume is a an easy thing I can do to consume less. Plus I was more comfortable wearing real clothes, and it will last for more than one party.
If you need a costume for a Halloween party, a Flapper Girl dress is easy to do and fun to wear. Make it your own with lots of accessories, and of course that flapper make up! If you want to go all out, there is a great make up tutorial from Kandee Johnson to inspire you. As you can see from this photo of the “Ottawa Flapper Girls” there are many ways to pull off the flapper look this Halloween; take these ideas and make it your own!
