Step 1: Costume Planning

I can't believe it's almost August! Time flies when you're doing nothing, right? Just kidding. I've been keeping busy with some painting and sewing projects and taking a couple trips with family. I'm currently working on sewing a dress, but that will come in a later post. The topic for today's post is all about costumes!! One of my favorite holidays is coming up (sorta) and I'm already planning for it. This post will be dedicated to how I go about planning my costumes for various events, as well as a sneak peak into my next couple projects!

So. Yes, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, so I tend to go all out. The past couple years, I've participated in Halloweek, dressing up every day the week leading up to Halloween. And last year I did 31 days of Halloween, where I did something Halloween related every day of October. This included things like face painting, working on my costume, and dressing up. If you'd like to see some of those pictures, check out my instagram @hever_hush #31days.

That being said, I have to start making my plans way in advance. Hence, this post! I've spent the last two days figuring out what costume I want to make this year. My process for making this decision includes a few steps and draws from several resources. I keep a list of "characters to cosplay" on my phone (since I usually get ideas at the most random times), so my first step is to look through that. If that doesn't work, I look through my Pinterest boards. I have boards for cosplaying and anime that usually give me ideas. My last resort is to look through all of the movies I own for character ideas. I try to keep in mind how much time I have to prepare, how complex a costume I want to take on, and also whether or not I want to wear a wig... Once something peaks my interest, it's off to the drawing board!

At the beginning of the year, I got a really fancy planner that I keep way more than just a calendar in. One of those things is my costuming planning pages. I created a template for planning costumes that includes the following information:

1. Name of character or title of costume
2. A sketch of how I want the costume to look
3. List of pieces/items required to complete the costume
4. How each item will be acquired (bought or made from scratch)
5. The date I started making the costume
6. The date I by which the costume needs to be completed
7. The event for which the costume is being made
8. My budget/How much I spend on items and materials
9. Notes

This has been SO NICE. I'm the kind of person who needs everything written down and organized, and this is so helpful. I put the pages in order of what needs to get done first, so I can prioritize everything.

Here are some examples of costumes I've planned in the past.

Sometimes I use the notes section to list out things I need to do (i.e. "cut tights into gloves" or "make chain")

Or I use it to record my thoughts: "This outfit is gonna be hecka hot to wear..." 😂

And now....

My Halloween costume for this year IS..........







Zelda from Breath of the Wild!!!

I'm really excited about this costume. It was a hard choice, as I had several other good options from which to decide. But I've been playing this game a lot more recently and I'm IN LOVE with the artwork and the story line and the game play and pretty much everything else. This is by far my favorite portrayal of Princess Zelda in the Zelda franchise. And most importantly, this costume will be a challenge. It's beautifully designed and very creative and I can't wait to get started!

While I was doing this design, I decided to put a little bit of thought into my costume for the Arizona Renaissance Festival, which I attend every spring. This one wasn't too difficult, as I've had something in mind for a while. Here it is! (Some of the details got a little blurry with the black pencil. Sorry...)

My RenFest costumes tend to be a bit more generic and aren't one character in particular. In the past I've done elf princesses as well an assassin/rogue style costume. I'm going a little simpler this year, and I think it will be cooler and more comfortable to wear while walking around. I most likely won't get to any of it until after Halloween, but I like to at least know what's coming up! RenFest will be here before we know it...