Many costumes take lots of research and much planning to create. These elaborate undertakings must be started well in advance of the party day. But some of you create costumes in the same manner as you buy Christmas gifts- last minute. This article is for you.

Decide first what you want to be and then try to figure out a costume for it. Look at everyday items and seldom worn clothing with a discerning eye. Be daring, be creative, try to think 'out of the box' as they say. You need to see things in a new way.

An old white sheet is a wonderful item that can be used in so many ways. You see a sheet and think of a ghost, a couple of holes for eyes and you have the beginnings of one. Take that sheet and wrap it toga style for a Roman Caesar, drape it for a Greek Goddess, tatter it for the start of a ghoulish creature, tear it into strips and you become a mummy. It can be the start of a cape, a sarong, a monk's habit, and once dyed, sequined, fringed, glittered almost anything you desire.

A pair of black tights can be part of a cat, a French maid, a can-can girl, a knight, Robin Hood, or beatnik. Color wrong-dye them. Black socks can become boots for many a costume.

Turn lingerie into gowns and fur pieces into animals. White socks might become rabbit ears or a tail. The red bandana takes on the correct personality when it is added to the rest of the costume. You can tie it round the neck of a cowpoke or around the head of a pirate. Change the angle and it suddenly is perfect for the gypsy, fold it and it is the right accessory for the biker, or the punker.

Gold chains of all kinds and sizes from necklaces to the ones you tie the dog out with are great accents for many costumes. Ghosts need chains, as do convicts. Lots of glittery chains will bring your Hollywood starlet to life. Cleopatra and every other royal personage could benefit by the addition of chains.

Cardboard, poster board, and Styrofoam can be changed into a wealth of items with the addition of silver or gold paint and glitter. Shields, swords, platters, stars, halos, moons, crowns, and hooks for arms. All manner of boxes, containers, baskets, and trunks can become something else and the perfect accessory for your outfit.

Don't underestimate old costume jewelry, broken and intact. Use these gems to set off the crown, stud the sword, wear in a traditional manner or fasten the draping of a robe, or add the classy touch to a shoe. Flappers, GoGo girls, hippies, and gypsies can wear beads, long and colorful.

Follow your photo or graphic for an idea of what your character looks like, and then look for items with the same general shape. Hats can be reformed to the correct shape with a little patience and stitching, hot gluing, or stapling. The straw hat can top a scarecrow, a farmer, be made glamorous by the addition of flowers and chiffon, or bent into a cowboy hat. The beret can be dyed green for a military look or used for an artiste, or beatnik.

Take any hat, pull it out of shape for a bum, or make it elegant by dressing it up, or spraying it with paint in an unusual shape. Spray paint can be the3 answer to turn something not quite right into the best of footwear. Also spray paint applied to pleated or folded sheets or fabric makes a wonderful look. It worked great for my Statue of Liberty costume.

Lace curtains are found at almost every rummage and garage sale. This is the greatest bride costume or veil. It can be used to accent gowns for royalty, or Renaissance, or Victorian type costumes.
Use silly nightwear as the basis for a clown outfit. This is the place for your wildly striped pants, socks, or those too loud ties. Anything super colorful and too gaudy to wear normally, might be the perfect accent for your clown costume.

Look around you, everywhere you look, there will be ideas. Lots of small seashells could help you turn your little girl into a mermaid. Pretty sheer fabrics could be the beginning of a harem girl, a fairy, or an angel. Shiny, glitzy fabric could be the right starting point for a wizard costume, or even for a dragon.
So now that you are seeing things in a different light, who do you want to be when the party begins? Let you mind wonder, fantasize and create the perfect image in your mind. Now, open your eyes and make that image appear. Happy hunting for the perfect beginning to a wonderful costume and the happiest of Halloweens to you.

© Copyright 2000

Credits: Jo Ann Wentzel