Homemade Halloween Costumes

SpoonfedMeg

The Best Homemade Halloween Costumes (and parties to wear them to)

06 October, 2008
by: SpoonfedMeg

So you haven’t picked a costume or a party for Halloween yet but fortunately Spoonfed has the best homemade Halloween costume suggestions for 2009 as well as the best parties to wear them to.  There's no excuse for going as a ghost when some of the best Halloween costumes are ones you can easily make yourself. 

Sexy Costumes

Girls: Sexy Pirate Costume
Think heavy black eyeliner, smeared down the face, with messed up backcombed hair in sections put into plaits and twisted into mini dreads. Team that up with ripped up fishnets and wife beater (just get a knife and start slashing!) and about two metres of pinstripe material to wrap around as a skirt (you think two metres sounds like a lot? We’re pretty sure that’s about the mini-est skirt you’ll ever wear).

Accessorise with black boots, a hip flask of strong rum, along with a stuffed parrot and plenty of gold bling. For an even more convincing look, go for black painted nails or a coat hanger as a hook for a hand. This sexy pirate look with have your potential prey instantly hooked.

Perfect for: Magnetix Halloween Ball 2009 at Club 414

Guys: Vampire Costume
Ever since Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise starred in Interview with the Vampire, women have been falling victim to the male vampiric charm. Take note, gentlemen, and don your tightest leather trousers and unbuttoned velvet shirt. Apply fake blood not only around your mouth, but over your arms and chest (but not so lavishly that your lady victims will ruin their own costume).

Attach about two metres of long black or red material to your shoulders as a makeshift cloak, and combine it with a top hat and waist coat for a killer look. Feeling daring? Get some red or yellow coloured contact lenses.

Perfect for: The End of the World Halloween Party 2009 at Village Underground

Scary Costumes:

Guys: The Joker Costume
Nothing's scarier than a megalomaniacal crazy man who has a tendency to shove pencils through people's skulls and blow up hospitals. Take advantage of the fact that one this year's best scary costumes can also be one of the easiest with some liberal application of face paint and makeup.

Hunt down some white face paint, lipstick and liquid eyeliner to recreate the Joker effect - if you're really feeling daring you can even get some temporary green hair colouring. For the clothes, get a blue collared shirt, a green vest and blue or brown trousers to complete the look.

Perfect for:Full Moon Halloween Party 2009 at Coronet

Girls: The Corpse Bride Costume
The classic corpse bride costume has two advantages in the scary department. One - it's a corpse so you've got fear of death covered. Two - it's a bride which will send every single male in the room running for the hills.

Start with a layer of white face paint (you might want to add just a touch of blue or gray to give you that half-decayed look) and really go to town with the eyeliner and mascara. Use white or blue lipstick for those cold, dead lips. All that’s left is hunting the charity shops for a wedding gown and adding some rips, tears and dirt stains from when you clawed your way out of the grave.
Lilies should, of course, be the flower bouquet of choice.

Perfect for: Oh My God I Miss You Presents I Love Lucifer Halloween Special 2009 at Bethnal Green Working Men's Club

Family Costumes:

Guys: Scarecrow Costume
This costume can be easily tailored to become more or less frightening depending on the situation (think Wizard of Oz versus the living scarecrows from Doctor Who) but is pretty simple either way. Jeans and an oversized flannel shirt make the basic outfit while a rope for a belt, straw sticking out of the sleeves and trousers and a straw hat finish it off.

If you want to go all out, find a wooden dowel (preferably one that won’t give you splinters) and stick it down the back of your shirt. This option is generally not recommended if you want to spend a lot of the night sitting down.

Perfect for: mulletover Fancy Dress Halloween Spectacular 2009 at Secret Location

Girls: Pop Star Costume
This is a pretty simple one but leaves a lot of room for creativity. The most important bit is the microphone and you can either hunt down a proper handheld mic or grab a computer or cellphone headset/microphone combo pieces for the more professional look.

When looking for a costume, look for rhinestone studded jackets, skinny jeans, long tank tops and temporary hair colouring that can be used for blond, hot pink or purple streaks. If you have lots of friends who are also costume-less, impress the party by going as a X-factor style girl band.

Perfect for: Hollywood Forever Halloween Party 2009 at Egg

Celebrity Costumes

Girls: Amy Winehouse Costume
For a costume that is as funny as it is scary, Amy Winehouse is a sure winner. Dragging your hair backwards through a bush will get her ‘rock chic’ hairstyle, alternatively wet your hair, apply mousse, blow dry upside down, then scrunch and backcomb it up.

Liberally apply as much liquid eyeliner as you possibly can bear, and then apply some more. Use cheap, tacky transferable tattoos, and completely cover your arms. If you can put black tape over a few of your teeth for the ‘meth mouth’ impression, even better. Don't forget your upper-lip mole! Complete the look with large hoop earrings, and a hotpants/crop top combo or dress, all found from your local charity shop.

Perfect for: Bangface #70 - 6th Birthday and Halloween Special 2009 at Arches

Guys: Marilyn Manson Costume
For an iconic Halloween costume in the style of the king of goth metal, Marilyn Manson is the way to go. Cover yourself with skin tight white clothing, and anything exposed should be covered with white make up or the palest shade of foundation. For the really daring, borrow a girlfriend’s bra and get stuffing. If that all seems a bit much, the easy option is to wear a dress suit.

To accessorise, a black wig or temporary black hair dye if you’re blessed with long hair, is a great start. Go for blood red lipstick, applied using a brush and surrounded by dark lip liner, and think large, feminine shaped lips. Use heavy liquid eyeliner, all around the eye, and if you can, drawn out in flame shapes across the brow and temples, then highlight the details with the red lip liner. Team up with an eccentric hat and speak in your deepest voice, to complete this “wwwicked” costume.

Perfect for: Zombies Ate My Brain Symphony of Horrors 2009 at Cable

 

 

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So now you have no excuse for not going all out and being the life (or, depending on your costume, death) of the party. Happy Halloween!

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