Second-Hand Smurfette

As you all know, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. You can dress as crazy as you want, and go as far as you want with makeup. And, of course, it's tons of fun to see how everyone else dresses too: some classic (like witches), some super topical (like Barbie), and inevitably the creative or obscure (my friend T went as a character from her favorite video game). 

This year, I chose to be Smurfette, which I think falls into the obscure category, now that Smurfs are "vintage" 😜 The great thing about a costume like Smurfette is you can go as far as you want to (I chose not to do my entire face blue this year), and a lot of components you may already have in your closet.

(Smurfette grabs a meal in a spooky diner.)

Instead of painting my whole face and skin, I brought the blue into my makeup with blue eyeshadow (and of course some sparkles) and blue lipstick. Makeup is an easy way to enhance your look at low cost and with little to throw away. I discovered the same matte product would work well on eyes and lips.

 

I went out 2 nights this year, so could play around with the look. In this second look, I went for a smokier eye, and darker lip, giving Smurfette a bit more of a goth vs. glam look.

Here's how I sourced the outfit:

Second-hand from thredUP, I purchased a Victoria's Secret beanie $13 (vs $20 new), Mainstream dress $22 ($50), Under Armour active t-shirt $12 ($30), Fabletics leggings $20 ($53), and Hushpuppies Soft Style pumps $10 ($55). Overall, I spent $77 for a $208 value. This is comparable cost to a pre-packaged, ill-fitting polyester costume, but I got to make it completely my own. I will keep the beanie, tee, and leggings for my regular wardrobe, gaining even more value than a packaged costume. The shoes and dress I'll either donate or re-sell.

Reused from a previous costume, the blond wig. No additional cost here, and getting more use out of an item. Staple products like wigs are great to keep for multiple looks throughout the years.

All in all, I'm excited to have had an entirely second-hand Halloween, and can't wait to start plotting next year's costume!  Did you repurpose, thrift, or DIY any of your costumes this year?

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.

Another DIY Halloween

Another Halloween, another round of thrifting and/or DIY'ing (from second-hand materials!) my costume. Even with COVID this year, I figured there would be an opportunity for some festivity, and Halloween did not disappoint! For work, I was able to dress up for a virtual happy hour with one group of colleagues, and a virtual team trivia event for another. And for the weekend, Tatiana and I swapped our usual late night people-watching for an outdoor coffee.

In August, I teased you with this arrival from Poshmark. 

And in September, I hinted at more to come, with Toby guarding this stash of second hand fabric, I acquired from Value Village. 

Straight to the punchline, I went as the famous palindrome meme: Tacocat! Pairing a super cozy kitty onesie with a DIY taco cover, this costume is warm enough for a chilly northwest October.

 

Now the how-to: Starting with a pair of red place mats, I painted some details with acrylic paint and fabric medium, then cut out the desired half-circle shape to create a couple slices of tomato.

This pic shows a few steps: I cut the yellow felt into a large enough circle to wrap around me, creating the taco shell, and sponge painted some brown and lighter yellow spots, for a toasted corn tortilla texture. I cut a smaller circle out of the top center, creating a arm hole. Next, to create the "lettuce", I sewed the ruffled border of a green tablecloth around the perimeter. A loop of lettuce creates a shoulder strap for my other shoulder. Pictured here are some adhesives and velcro strips; the velcro was great for fitting the costume, but ultimately not strong enough for a costume I wanted to be able to sit and stand in. I replaced the velcro strips with ribbons.

Next, secure the tomato slices to one side of the taco shell, sewing the slices right behind the lettuce.

Use velcro or ribbons to fasten the other side of the tomatoes to the other side of the shell.

Put the final look together, and... tacocat! First pic is me in costume, followed by the a version of the meme. Nailed it!

 

Not only is it a ton of fun to put these costumes together, but it also saves $$$ and new materials from one-time use. This pre-fab taco costume was found at Target for $30, while the second-hand fabrics were just $8 at Value Village. The cat onesie ran $25 new at Target last year, and cost $9 like new at Poshmark.

 

Total cost: $17

Compare at: $55 new

And, did I mention the cat onesie has pockets? It may become my winter go-to outfit!

 

 

 

Planning for Halloween... with Poshmark!

Each year, I start planning for Halloween well ahead of time. If I'm going to thrift and DIY the bulk of the costume, I need some lead time to scour online and in-person thrift stores. This year it's a little harder to get excited about Halloween. I almost positively won't be in the office, and am still unsure if there will be any evening festivities. Finally, I convinced myself it doesn't matter. There are enough video calls for me to still enjoy dressing up, and I can always just spend the day photo-bombing T.

I settled on an idea, and 30 minutes later... success! I placed my first ever order on Poshmark and crossed my fingers. Poshmark is a different model than threadUP. Where threadUP is consignment and they manage the sale and shipping out the items, Poshmark is more of a marketplace or platform where you can sell items directly (the seller manages the sale and the shipment themselves). There's pros and cons to each model. In the marketplace model, more money will go to the seller.

I lucked out, and this first experience was fantastic. The seller even re-used a shipping box!

A sneak peek. This is the only hint you're getting at this time. You'll need to wait for Halloween for the full reveal. The item was in awesome condition - as noted by the seller, she had only worn it once before, possibly for a costume party herself?

A win-win for both of us, I only paid $9 for somethings that retails at $25 new, and the seller recouped some funds from something that was just going to take up space in her closet. And the planet wins, because we get multiple uses out of a novelty item. 

And after Halloween, if I decide I'm done? Poshmark provides me an easy link to relist (Reposh) the item.

What are ways you keep one-time use items moving to new people to enjoy?

Cash for Costumes

As you've seen by now from previous years' posts, I love a good Halloween costume, and I enjoy trying something new each year. The average pre-packaged costume costs about $60, is poorly constructed, uncomfortably polyester, and comes in difficult sizes like S/M. From swapping (that time I was a chicken) to thrifting (Eleven) to DIY (Ursula), you can enjoy some really creative looks that are more tailored to you and more original.

This year, my friend Anna inspired me to be a rock lobster, of the B-52s song. Due to the "unique" needs of the costume, I was able to purchase some items used while some were new.

I was pretty happy with the end result:

Ideally, I would purchase used, wear it, and then re-donate it or sell it, meaning the item gets maximum usage from people before and after me. I write frequently about how buying used saves me money up front, but I haven't talked about how much you can recoup from selling items.

Just a few days after Halloween, I've already sold 2 pieces of my costume, made back $25, and I'm not done yet! I highly recommend giving this a try, especially for those pieces you don't envision re-purposing for other costumes. I sold these on Facebook marketplace. Other online choices include Poshmark, thredUP, and Swap.com, and of course, there are local brick and mortar shops. Each varies in model: some you can sell your items directly to the store, while others will pay you when the item sells, while others you do the work of selling and they simply give you a place to list. The amount to be made is directly proportional to the effort you put in; that is, the more work the store does, the higher their commission.

Here are some of the key pieces of my costume:

1. Fierce rocker boots. Retails for $36 new, purchased for $22 used, resold for $15. Total cost $7/savings $29.

 

2. Shredded pleather leggings. Cost $20 new, resold for $10. Total cost $10/savings $10. 

3. Calvin Klein silver leather jacket. This one is a keeper! Retail cost $160, bought used for $34, savings $126.

Total savings: $165. $140 from purchasing used, and $25 recouped from resale.

While I love selling for costumes, which are typically more "disposable" than other types of clothing, don't limit yourself. Selling is a great option for any items that still have life in them.

Fabulous Fail

Sometimes, your best thrifted DIY intentions fail you. After two months of frugal, patient shopping, crafting, painting, sewing, and jewelry-making, my Halloween costume was a huge flop.

Literally. After a couple wrong cuts, the top of my dress lost all structure and became floppy.

So, all of a sudden, I'm a day away away from Halloween, and no costume, and I still want to keep my two priorities:

1) Save $$.
2) Reused, recycled, or borrowed.

Thank goodness, Goodwill came to the rescue. I'll follow with a picture of the final product after Halloween, but I've decided to go as punk Eleven from Stranger Things. That's her in the middle:

(Image borrowed, copyright Netflix)

The good news is these are pretty normal clothes, so I only needed two items: white sneakers (how do I not have these?) and an over-sized black coat.

Here's what I scored. Like-new Nikes, a deal at $15. That logo's from the '70s, so someone had them stashed in a closet for a very long time. They fit great, so I'll incorporate them into my weekend wardrobe.

This wool blazer. New with tags, that shows it would have been $175! Now I got it over-sized, but it turns out it's exactly the right size for T. Not only did I get a screaming deal for $20, but T will get to incorporate it into his regular wardrobe.

$35 for a Halloween costume, where we can reuse everything? That's a Halloween Treat.