The Corpse Bride Cosplay || Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! This year is my first really involved costume – I had to upsize and make over this 1960s wedding gown to be The Corpse Bride. I really didn’t want to mess with the gown too much, so my makeover wasn’t very extreme. It had sleeves at one point, and I removed those. They had become frizzy from catching on sequins in the gown. After removing them, I realized I could reuse that lace as an overlay for the panel I put into the back so that it would fit me.

To be honest, I was really afraid to ruin this dress — despite the fact that I’ve had it for five years and it’s never sold. I’m always reticent to make over vintage. But, this style of dress is easy to find on Etsy, so I went for it. There was a moment of panic midway through, trying to get the panel to be the right size and shape, realizing the dress wouldn’t stay up without boning – which I don’t have – and generally being hot and annoyed and overwhelmed.

But it worked out in the end! I put some delicate straps of lace on to hold it up, and (gasp) hot glued some flowers on to emulate Emily’s dress. Then, in a rush, I slapped on some sort of corpse bride makeup, put on my blue wig, and ran outside to have my husband help me shoot photos and video. If you want to see this dress in motion, it’s in my newest lookbook!

I’m really happy with the end result. I felt amazing, and kind of wish I had somewhere to wear this to!

  This year I’ve felt very creatively inspired with photography, and I might start doing more dramatic self portraits just for fun. I did a few twisted fairytale photoshoots in collaboration with my friend SlyStyley, and it was SO fun. I really want to do more.

Living where we do is a photographer’s dream, too. There are so many backgrounds to choose from!

I hope you all have a safe and happy Halloween, friends!