# Halloween costumes!



## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

Okay, so every year I try to come up with an original costume that I can find the components for at thrift stores. It's almost a contest (with myself) to see how little I can spend on the costume and still make it look good/authentic.

Last year and two years before that, I was a pirate (skipped the year in between). I put my entire costume together for under $30 (not including the wickedly cool hat a friend bought me).
Here's me "sword fighting" with the mom of one of my best friends (she is using her cane) last year:








Not a great quality pic, but you get the idea (black velvet jacket with burnout lace on the cuffs and lapels, ripped up skinny jeans with pearls around the rips, frilly white shirt, knee-high boots [not the ones I usually wear with the costume, but I was on my feet a lot walking around, so didn't want to wear the heeled boots I usually wear with it], lots of "gold" jewelry I made myself that you can't see lol...and yes, the guy behind me is dressed as a whoopie cushion!).

Anyway, this year I decided I wanted to be Indiana Jones. My dad and I LOVE Indiana Jones, so I thought it'd be fun. I broke my own record this year, though. I have almost everything for my costume already and I haven't even spent $20 yet. I still need to figure out the satchel (thinking of making one) and I haven't been able to find a suitably authentic gun/holster. My hat and jacket are a little different than what Indy wears (leather fedora with a shorter crown, whereas his is felt, and my leather jacket has ribbed material at the cuffs and waist, whereas his doesn't), but other than that, I've got it to a "T".

I am having a problem with my whip, though. I bought a cheap costume whip off eBay for $7 (including shipping) and it's a bit stiff. It is made of leather, so I'm wondering if I saddle soaped it if that would help it soften up. Thoughts? This is exactly like the whip I bought (same seller, even): http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-FT-BLACK-...108?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item336c655814

Also, what are you going to be for Halloween? 

Disclaimer: I'm 28 (will be 29 in four weeks), so I don't go trick-or-treating (I do have a 7-year-old son, but he lives in Tucson with his dad, so we don't get to go trick-or-treating together). I do go to the trunk-or-treat our church puts on and help out there, and also to the huge Halloween party some friends in our church put on every year in their barn. The past couple of years I have gone to my friend's Halloween murder mystery party (the same friend whose mom I'm dueling in that pic), but she's in West Virginia this year, so no party there.


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## DrumRunner (Jan 26, 2011)

I think the Indy idea is great. I would definitely try to soften the leather with saddle soap. You could even let it soak in hot water before oiling it and bending it alot when it's still wet. 



Oh this is fun! I LOVE Halloween.. Last year I went as a Pillow Fight, it was a little skimpy but hey, that's the only time of year you can dress skimpy and not make yourself look trashy.. I got a big pillow case and cut a neck/arm hole in it to wear as a dress with the word "Fight" written across the front. I had a ton of feathers stuck in my hair and the MMA fighting gloves on...It was really cheap to put together. It was for a Halloween costume contest in Charleston, SC. Awesome Night!


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

That is adorable, Drum!! Wish I could look that good in just a pillowcase. ;-)

The whole time I was looking for stuff for my Halloween costume, the Indiana Jones theme was playing in my head. lol Even now, I look at my costume sitting on the back of my couch and hear the theme. The colors of my jacket and hat are wrong, too (more of a medium brown, not dark brown [is it bad that when I think "dark brown" now, I think "havana," like the tack color?], but oh well...it'll work). There's still a few details I have to work out, like how to hang my whip on my belt and such. Oh, and I need to get a wig. Normally I wouldn't bother, but my hat is a bit big (the ONLY one I could find locally, though...it was only $2, so I'm not complaining), so I'm going to get a short-haired wig to take up some space.

For grins and giggles (and because I love the music!), the Indiana Jones theme!





And here's my costume laid out on my bed...


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## DrumRunner (Jan 26, 2011)

That's going to be really cool Drafty. Are you wanting to be able to get the whip off and play with it or it just sit on your side? If you wanted it to sit there you could just tie it with a piece of string or something. Zip-ties work wonders too. I like the jacket and the hat, I don't think the lighter color will make that much of a difference. I like it!


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

Definitely want to be able to take it off and play with it. :-D lol I need to watch the movies again and see how his is attached (my friend got me pics of the Indiana Jones statue at the wax museum in Las Vegas, but they don't show how the whip is attached).

















I love working at a thrift store (Goodwill)! I got the jacket for $1 and the hat for $2. Pants were $4, shirt was $6 (most expensive piece, but I can use it for working around the barn and riding, so it was worth it), shoes were $2 and whip was $7. I think I can make the satchel for under $10 (the shoulder strap is going to be the hardest part, really). 

Getting OT a little, but it's my thread, so I can do what I want. My absolute favorite scene from any of the Indiana Jones movies:


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