When you think about your dream costume, what is the first thing that comes to mind? For me, I always worry that a costume isn’t authentic enough, and by authentic I mean realistic. If you dress as cat-woman for Halloween, it’s not enough to just wear a black dress and cat ears. You have to transform into cat woman. And that’s where my argument for accessories begins and ends.
Accessories take a boring cat woman costume and set it apart from all others. Makeup, tail, hat, and whiskers. Yes, I’m talking about whiskers. For cat woman to really be cat-like she needs her whiskers!
Here are my top five missed opportunities for accessorizing a costume effectively, they are:
- Makeup – Anyone can paint their face white like a ghost, but not everyone can pull off Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas. Practice makes perfect, but using legitimate makeup from companies like MAC instead of cheap costume makeup from Walmart can also make a huge difference. Know your makeups and practice until you get it right.
- Hair – Sometimes your costume will let you get away with your natural color and cut. Most times, you’ll need to dye it or wear a wig. If you’re looking to really sell something, you have to give it your all. Hair color is a small price to pay.
- Facial hair – Some men can’t grow facial hair, but that shouldn’t stop them from dressing up as a character that sports a beard. Using a combination of makeup, a fake beard, and spirit gum you will be able to create a convincingly realistic beard. Again, you’ll have to practice.
- Jewelry – Whether your character has piercings, bracelets, gothic crosses or bone cuffs it’s important that you think about what quickly communicates who you are and what you value.
- Shoes – This is usually were most costume wearers fail. You’ve got awesome hair, makeup, jewelry, but your shoes are plain ‘ole sneakers. You can do better than that. I know you can. Think about what period in history your costume is from. At the very least dress with the most unobtrusive option in your closet.