Another Lower-Impact Halloween

It was hard to get motivated this year for Halloween, with another year in COVID. While I would normally come up with some elaborate DIY scheme from thrifted materials, there was no going into the office to show off a costume, and if I was going to go out about town, it would be lower-key than usual, if at all.

That said, could I possibly let a year skip me by?? No way! And motivation struck from things I already had in my closet. I would be the 13th Doctor (Doctor Who).

(image borrowed from BBC for reference)

In fact, starting from your closet is the best way to be both sustainable and save money. Anything you have is another item not produced and possibly discarded just for a one-off occasion.

So Rule #1: Use what you have. Fortunately, T had gifted me a cosplay 13th Doctor trenchcoat along with her sonic screwdriver for a previous holiday. And due to Seattle weather, the coast is really only suitable for a couple weeks of the year, so I was happy to get it some additional use. 

Then Rule #2: Borrow or thrift what you don't have. The Doctor wears a striped tee and teal cropped pants, both of which I was able to secure on Poshmark.

For the pants, I purchased these scrubs, which saved me $8 vs new ($20 + tax for Cherokee Workwear product line). Side note about Poshmark: since you're purchasing from individuals vs the company, you'll pay more in shipping, because you pay a shipping cost for each item unless you are are lucky enough to find all your items from a single seller.

I then rolled the hem and secured with a few tiny stitches to achieve a cropped length. Since I didn't cut them off, I can easily unroll them and wear as actual scrubs for a doctor (not The Doctor) costume in the future.

For the striped tee, I totally scored. I got a replica tee from Hot Topic's cosplay product line, saving at least $9 (I wasn't able to compare to Hot Topic's shipping rates).

 

And it was new with tags! Score!

How'd I do? Do I look like I can save the planet?

 

 

Or figure out what to do with this alien tree spirit? 

 

Now, onto getting some motivation for next year's big costume idea!

Total savings: $17. Being a friendly alien time lord for a day? Pretty sweet.