Aria: Witch
Aria’s witch costume teaches us the most basic thing about witch costumes: You can wear pretty much anything. Do you have anything from Hot Topic? Anything black? Anything red? Anything that laces up? Anything striped? Anything left over from junior high that you thought was cool at the time but now wouldn’t be caught dead in? That’s right, you can wear all of the things. This costume is nothing more than a quick trip to your old bedroom at your parents’ house.
But wait! Aria forgot something really important! Yes, this was probably because she saw her dad making out with a grad student and thus wasn’t too concerned with Halloween, but still! Even the most basic witches need one crucial thing. A witch’s hat! Stores will try to sell you really lame hats that will fall apart and craft sites will teach you how to make crappy paper hats. Here, I’ll explain how to make a cool, fabric, bendy witches hat that will last you through Halloween to the inevitable next time you attend a Harry Potter party.
Materials
+ 1/2 yard of black felt
+ fabric glue or hot glue
+ a pen and piece of string
+ pipe cleaners
+ ribbon (optional)
How To
1. Measure around your head. Add four to that number and divide by 2.
2. Tack a compass (a string tied around a pen) to a large piece of black felt (or other sturdy fabric). Use the pen to draw a 1/3 circle (120 degrees). Cut out the 1/3 circle like it is slice of pizza.
3. Glue (sparingly) pipe cleaners along the 1/3 circle. Optionally also in arcs towards the top (like rings).
4. Meet the two straight edges and overlap them such that you make a cone. Check that this cone fits snugly around your head. Overlap the edges more if the Hat is too lose. Pin the hat at the appropriate size and glue or sew the edges together.
5. Take the cone and use it to trace circle in the center of another piece of felt (with plenty of room around it).
6. Find the center of the circle and measure the radius. This is shown as “d” in the image below despite it being a radius not a diameter (I used d=”distance.” Not my finest math moment). Make a compass this time that is two times this distance d. From the center, make another full circle around the smaller one at this length. This is going to be the brim of your hat, so if you want the brim smaller/larger, adjust that now.
7. Cut out two of these donuts.
8. Glue (sparingly) pip cleaners along one of the donuts. You can also optionally sew the pipe cleaners about a half inch from the outer edge.
9. Cut approximately every inch along the bottom of the cone. Use these tabs to glue to the cone to the donut.
10. Glue the two donuts together such that they sandwich the pipe cleaners and the tabs.
11. If you need/want to, cover the seam between the cone and the hat with a piece of black ribbon.
12. Bend your hat in to an awesome witchy shape!
See?! Wasn’t that fun and easy? For a simpler project, omit the pipe cleaners and the second donut for a simple straight witches hat. Alternative Use: Make bigger or smaller versions of these hats to give out candy in!
Alison and Jenna: Lady Gaga
Jenna and Alison spent about fifteen minutes arguing over who would get to go to the party dressed as “Lady G.” Am I slow? ‘Cause it took me like a half hour to realize they were talking about Lady Gaga. Does anyone call her that? That’s a real question. Either way, zomg Lady Gaga costumes!
So Alison was pissed because Jenna’s costume was clearly better than hers. But wait, what exactly makes Jenna’s costume so much more obviously Gagalicious? It comes down to three things. Outfit. Wig. Sunglasses.
For starters, you want to choose a Gaga outfit that is distinctly Gaga, and not taken from a moment where Gaga was doing “a themed look.” Though Gaga did wear the “biker look,” Alison’s costume, therefore, could just as easily be just a biker. This is the same reason Jo Calderone is such a (disappointingly) non-distinct costume. No one can tell you from a regular T-Bird Greaser. Jenna chose, on the other hand, an outfit that (without adding devil horns) couldn’t be anything but a Lady Gaga look. Look for outfits Gaga notoriously wore– searching “the Google” and Gaga Fashionland are good places to start. In a pinch, take anything super tight and put huge foam shoulder pads in it.
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| $13.30 – Capezio Women’s Tank Leotard | $13.99 – Red Lightweight Circle Ring Infinity Scarf |
Similarly, Alison’s wig is just not Gaga enough. Gaga works in extremes. When her hair is straight, it’s stick straight. When it’s curly, it’s short and curly. When it’s long, it goes down to her waist. When it’s short, it ends at her chin. I do think that the most recognizable Gaga hair is the one Jenna’s rocking: a long white-blond wig with blunt-cut bangs
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| $9.15 – Amazon |
Costume and wig aside, Alison’s costume never had a prayer. Why? No sunglasses! The key to any great Lady Gaga costume is big, sharp, outrageous sunglasses. It might be dark at the club/part you’re at, but you’ll just have to soldier through. Lady Gaga rarely shows her face, and so neither should you. Besides, sunglasses are wicked fun. I don’t know how to explain when you’ll know that you’ve found the right pair, but believe me. You’ll just know. If you can’t find pair that are outrageous enough, I suggest investing in some adhesive rhinestones.
Random Person: Creepy
One last costume. If you watched the episode, you know that this happened a lot:
That’s right. Half the characters in the episode were running around in basically the creepiest baby doll mask thing ever. Weirdly enough, it’s actually called a Creepy Baby Mask and, if you so desire, you can totally purchase it for your super creepy costume! Just don’t come near me because it freaks me out too bad.
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| $18.49 – Amazon |
Okay now that wraps it up for real! Thanks to Home of the Nutty for the shockingly complete screencaps. See you later this week for more costumes, crafts and general halloween musings.