Inside & Out

So remember when I said I was going to sew my own 1920’s flapper costume?  Well, I never got around to it, because of a number of recent happenings.  I ended up buying the costume and most of my accessories (and going over budget) at the last minute because I did not have time to make the costume.  Since I never got around to sewing my Halloween costume, I’m still planning on doing it at a later date, maybe for next year?  The afternoon before the party, Shawn and I went out and got all the remaining pieces for our costumes.  He still needed a vest and “old man pants” as he calls them.  I needed just about everything, including a dress, shoes, stockings, pearls, a headband, red lipstick, a cigarette holder, and more.

So here’s how we looked at the party:

Shawn was a “gambler” from the 1920’s, complete with cap, bowtie, and vest.  He had a flask tucked into his vest pocket (seeing as how it was during prohibition) and a deck of cards that he was pulling out of his sleeves when he would ask someone to play a hand with him.  He won two awards by a landslide:  best performer and best costume.  He took his performance through in everything he did, and even put on a funny accent for the evening.  He kept bumbling his cards while trying to shuffle, since his character profile said he was a really bad gambler.  Everyone loved that he snuck his flask out to “spike” his drink while we were mingling with the other characters.

My character was described as a flamboyant flapper and a “modern woman” for the 1920’s.  She wanted to be a movie star, and was doing everything she could to get there.  So I took the flapper style to the extreme (or as much as I could in the limited amount of time I had to put the costume together.)  I wore dark eyeliner and eyeshadow with false eyelashes.  I wore bright red lipstick, a big, flashy headband with a huge feather fascinator pinned to the side of my head.  I also added a long string of pearls, art-deco inspired earrings, black satin gloves, and a sequined cigarette holder.  A tiered, sequined dress, thigh-high stockings, and t-strap high heels completed the look.  I also brought a champagne flute and a little bottle of champagne to play up the extravagant profile of the character a bit.  (Also, neither of us smoke, so we got some fake cigarettes at the Halloween shop for our costumes.)  Shawn and I spent a little while the night before the party watching videos on YouTube of flappers, gangsters, and other 1920’s types, and I put on a voice similar to Betty Boop’s, and I tried to be a little more flirty than normal.

As for my hair, as you can probably tell from previous photos, I have fairly long hair.  So to disguise that fact, I was planning on curling my hair tightly so it appeared to be cut in a bob, but I ran out of time, so I took some big roller pins (similar to extra-large bobby pins) and pinned my hair under at the nape of my neck.  The elastic headband was an extra layer of security, and helped everything stay put.

I’ll show you some more detailed photos of my costume, make-up, hair, and shoes after I dress up again for Halloween.

We had a great time at the party, and I definitely want to do this murder mystery mayhem again sometime very soon!  I’m going to post a full review and more photos of the murder mystery soon.  I hope you guys enjoy your Halloween festivities this year.  What do you have planned for Saturday night?