W43, Day 3: Costume Pics

I'm taking a break from work here to show off some pictures of my costume that I made.  At my school, we're doing our costume parade on Friday so my sewing machine has been humming right along this last week because of course I waited till nearly the last minute to get the thing done, even though I've had the pattern and material for months.  Anyway, I wanted a costume that would flatter my shape and be appropriate for school.  I love dressing up for Halloween.

I always have and since I was a kid, Halloween was my favorite holiday, not because of the candy (though that was a definite selling feature), but because of the dressing up.  There's something magical about shedding oneself for one day a year and donning a new persona as a princess, nurse, scarecrow, "Halloween thing", or whatnot.  Perhaps I've always loved the escapism of it all, and, as I said, I love costumes.  Costumes don't really love me though and for years I've had trouble finding anything that would a) fit me, as most women's costumes only go to a large or a size 12, 14, or 16; and b) not look too unflattering.

Women's costumes in "regular" sizes seem to exist primarily in the role of naughty/sexy and that's certainly not the side of me that I'm willing to show the public at large, even if I could fit into them.  Women's plus size costumes are often bulky and unflattering, or plain (for instance, there are tons of plus size witch costumes out there).  I guess the inner girly-girl in me wants my look to be pretty.  So I made my own costume.  It's still bulky, but at least it was made to fit my body.  The hat was a pain in the butt to make, but I rather like the overall look now that it's done.