Before the autumn season gets into full swing, I need to admit publicly, Halloween is my fave occasion.
And I LOVE making homemade costumes for the main event…
We have storage boxes full of decorations. I’m so excited we now have a toddler who understands the occasion more, which means she can get involved.
I wish I lived in the US because I want in on the over-the-top celebrations. Everyone is out on the street, dressed up, interacting. We are a little more reserved here in the UK.
Maybe it’s because I repeatedly watched The Witches over & over at my Grandma’s house when I was little, or loved the iconic Halloween scene in ET (US friends, please tell me trick or treat night really is like this??), or because I am a little witchy myself. I just feel like this occasion was meant for me.
In my excitement for the upcoming celebrations and my participation in #Blogtober, I had to share some of the trusted Halloween outfits I’ve made myself for our Halloween parties in previous years.
Disclaimer – for each of these outfits, I bought the basics and then adapted the outfit . ‘homemade’ is a bit of a stretch, haha!
I also apologise in advance for the puns. Sorry, not sorry!
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Witch please, lets dive in…
1. Day of the dead theme
I love this theme. Having taken part in a fiesta when we holidayed in Mexico, this theme is amazing and really gets the party vibe going.
One year we went all out with fancy dress, bought face paint and all the accessories. We had matching decorations and I even did some baking to fit in with the theme. Our guests followed our lead and their costumes were also amazing.
My hubby even let me do his makeup. We had a great evening.
There is something about dressing up which makes the event more fun. I talk more about the joy of fancy dress in this blog post.
Are you ready to make your Day of the Dead outfit?
The tools you need to create this outfit…
These are the best face paints. I used them in my party days, when dressing up and going out for too many hours was a weekly thing (just the thought of it now makes me tired!)
The colours are great and they never left me with a rash or bad skin afterwards.
I still have my headband in the storage box and I really want to dig it out now. If nothing else, the little one would love dressing up.
I don’t know if I want to let her loose on my precious Halloween boxes though!
I love the look of this and want to add it to my day of the dead outfit. I am currently checking out events where I can wear the outfit this year, when I should be writing for the blog, haha!
This is just one of the dresses I found, but there are so many more, depending on what you’re confident enough to wear!
I still wonder how the wedding dress ended up in the charity shop: did someone get divorced, are they still happily married, just having a clear-out. Anyway, it’s now in our storage cupboard covered in blood and black makeup.
This is an additional accessory and it will bring your outfit to life (pun intended)
I have a few more accessories below which will look great…
Do you have any homemade costume ideas? Share them with me below…
2. Zombie nurse
Every time I looked for an outfit in this category, I wasn’t impressed with the ready-to-buy outfits online and therefore I decided to buy the basics and make my own.
The tools you need to create this outfit…
You need a plain nurses outfit, then it’s time to start creating and make it your own! Adapting it for Halloween is fun…
You will need the following to make it your own…
I created my own version of this one. Think more blood, accessories, the wig above, and some creative face paint.
You can then add shoes, tights, fake glasses. Anything you want!
3. Zombie escape convict
I bought the basic outfit, covered it in blood (fun times), and added some of the accessories below.
The wig was my favourite addition to this outfit.
I also used face paints to create a scary look.
I remember this night well. I also wore red high heels and couldn’t walk by the end of the night!
See my Pinterest board for more ideas…
4. Halloween bride
Don’t judge, but I once bought an 80’s style Halloween dress from a charity shop and spent an evening, when I lived alone, cutting it up and covering it in blood.
It was probably a result of all the pent-up man-hating, because I stupidly tolerated players back in the day! haha!
I still wonder how the wedding dress ended up in the charity shop: did someone get divorced, are they still happily married, just having a clear-out. Anyway, it’s now in our storage cupboard covered in blood and black makeup.
The tools you need to create this outfit…
As well as shredding most of the material on the dress, I also pinned the front up and added tights, to give the full Halloween look.
I used fake blood and black face paint to create a dirty, disheveled effect. Think nightmare-zombie bride. Wedding gone horribly wrong!
These are the tools you need…
I was ambitious with this outfit and made it for the Rocky Horror picture show. When we went out in Liverpool straight after the show, I don’t think people understood the concept. It was a great outfit, but I could have chosen a better audience for it. Maybe I will dig it out and find somewhere to wear it again… Hmm
What do you think?
There are so many other outfits you can create. This article is helpful. Cosmopolitan also has a great article on easy-to-make outfits.
From a purely cost-saving perspective, I love buying the basics and adding my own touch to the finished product. I want to make something unique, that nobody else will be wearing.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this post. For anyone who is really interested in all things spooky and wants a quick stop tour of the history of Halloween. Here it is.
Witching you a Happy Halloween
From your ghostest with the mostest. If you’re such a haunt mess with your outfit ideas for Halloween, I hope this article has given you some ideas for total squad ghouls dressing up vibes.
I will stop with the puns now…
Please comment below if you liked these ideas or you have any others to share. I would love to hear from you.
You can use the search below to find other products for your Halloween outfit…
Also check out the amazing Halloween section at Wilko…
How creative! Thanks for sharing these great ideas! Love it!
Glad you like them. I just need to buy some bits and make one for this year now!
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays & I have many good memories of when I went trick or treating with my parents as a kid.
These are great ideas & I love the Halloween bride idea! That’s awesome you found a wedding dress at a charity shop to use for your costume.
As someone who absolutely adores Halloween, I really enjoyed this read. Love the sound of the Halloween Bride.
I am glad you enjoyed reading and that I’ve found a fellow lover of Halloween.
The bride one was a crazy idea, driven by anger I think. The things we do when we are young, haha.
These are wonderful Halloween costume ideas! The Halloween bride idea sounds amazing and creative. 👰
I’ve never attempted to make my own Halloween costume. While I love Halloween parties, I do tend to wear the same outfit, or create an outfit based on what I already own.
Thank you for sharing these ideas!
The Halloween bride one was my most creative one yet!
I made amendments because I was never happy with what you could buy online. But some of the ready-made ones are so cool. Especially the couple ones that match or a family theme.
xx
Halloween does look fun in America. The Halloween bride is awesome.
It looks so much more fun in America and I really want to book a holiday there for Halloween!
I went all out with the bride one and took a chance. I look back and laugh now.
We don’t celebrate Halloween here in the UK (which, let me tell you, it’s a shame!) but your costumes just don’t help my envy! I might have to try and make one of these costumes for the kids I babysit!
We defo don’t celebrate enough. It makes me sad!
That sounds like such a fun idea. I might make matching costumes this year for me & my little one – whilst I still can!
hello! This is a great post and one I will be saving for when I’m getting ready for Halloween! Alicia
Hi
I am glad you found the post helpful. I now have to decide what to wear for Halloween and of course, I need a party or an event to attend. Better get looking!
xx
Hey, I absolutely love Halloween, and thankfully my son does too so we love to dress up. Yes being in the UK, it’s a lot quieter than in the US so I’d also love to celebrate it like they do it would be so much fun. Some amazing ideas on this list thanks for posting. ♥
That sounds lovely, dressing up together.
We have to try even though there isn’t much going on in the UK. That’s the reason I’ve had house parties in the past xx
I love Halloween too! We don’t do it justice in the UK but we typically have Halloween parties at our house with a mixture of homemade and store bought costumes 🙂
The parties sound fun! We definitely don’t do it justice in the UK. I am always looking for events, but there isn’t much happening here x
I’ve never really been into Halloween that much because I feel like the people I know and where I live don’t really celebrate. But I love horror and I’d love dressing up scary so I wish I could head to the US for Halloween one year when they really go all out! These are great costume ideas!
I feel the same. I’ve always struggled to get people to attend Halloween events with me or come to our parties. We usually have a small group, but it’s still fun and they only attend because I natter them until they agree to join in. haha!
My dream would be to travel to the US for Halloween and really celebrate. Maybe one day…
Halloween is always a fun time to get creative and I love all of your costume ideas xx
Thank you.
I agree, it’s the perfect time to create lots of different things – crafts, costumes, baking.
I can’t wait for it all!
Great selection of ideas, and I like the fact they are not twee but adult costumes. I can see a lot of thought has gone into these, and I particularly like the nurse one; I can imagine that one from a horror film.
Thank you.
These are my trusted costumes if all else fails and the nurse one also reminds me of a horror film. We went to one of those Escape rooms & there was a scary nurse in the bed. I am in no hurry to return to an escape room now, haha!
I love these ideas. I see wedding dresses in charity shops all the time, I’ve never thought of turning one into a Halloween costume though. Definitely going to have to do this
These are amazing!! And I love that they’re scary Halloween costumes and not cutsie ones haha. My friend used to have a Halloween party every year which I loved dressing up for and I always preferred to make my own costume rather than buying one.
I love the Halloween bride and groom! Such a cute idea – especially for a couple’s costume.
Cool ideas! I wish I had a party to go so I could dress up, or a little one who would be thrilled by the holiday but my baby is a newborn so I guess I have to wait a year or two LOL