So when I worked at Binghamton University, I started making my own Halloween costumes. I had a busy year, so I wasn’t thinking about a costume for Halloween. I also didn’t want to disappoint everyone at the library. Not that they would have been broken-hearted. I decided to do an easy costume.
Growing up, the easiest costumes parents would make was a bum or hobo. Thinking back on it, it was quite an offensive costume. But for parents it was easy. Just get some of your dads clothes. Make sure it is wrinkled and worn. Have them take a corn and burn one end so they can paint facial stubble.
Well, that was not going to cut it for me. So I chose the vampire. Which makes sense, since I was always told I looked like the undead. Which I find funny because most of the people who told me I looked like a vampire. They were the ones who seemed to look the same year after year. If anything, they were the creatures of the night.
Ok, so back to the costume. This costume took me a few days to make. Since I did not know how to use a sewing machine. I still don’t know how. I had to resort to stitch witchery. Yes, that was my weapon of choice. I have been a fan of this stuff for years. Basically, it is just an adhesive that fuses fabrics together.
The costume simple; white shirt, black pants, vest, cape, makeup, and some props. I am not sure how the skull in my hand was a vampire thing. But it seemed to work. The vest and cape were the two things that I made. The vest was made from a pattern I bought at the fabric store. I have never worked with patterns. So that was a challenge. Also since I was using stitch witchery, that was also quite a challenge. The hardest part for the vest was not making it. The hard part was putting it on without falling apart. Again, the stitch witchery is great. But it is not the best chose for a vest. After a while the seems stated to spit when I wore it to work.
The cape was better suited for stitch witchery. That was because I only need to hem it. Making the hood backing was tricky. In the end I use wire from old coat hangers. Thankfully I keep them lying around when I dry clean my suits. The wire was placed inside the back. I think it came out well because it didn’t have that wired look in the back.
Overall, I would say this was not a bad costume for a two day job. If I took more time, I would have done things differently. But then again, how does a real vampire dress anyway? Oh wait, I know. They dress like those people who literally look the same since college.
