- What’s already in the house?
- Do I have all the tools to make this?
- How expensive are the extra things I have to buy?
- Is this in season right now so it’s cheaper?
- Is this so obscure that only I will like it and it will just go to waste on everyone else?
Not to fear! I’ve got four rocking female cosplay/Halloween costumes ready to go for under $50 (if you don’t already own any pieces) made up of stuff you can wear again. No sewing needed. I’ve even made you a household items utility belt tutorial at the bottom (because a girl needs her utility belt when she doesn’t have a purse!). Keep in mind that children’s costumes are always cheaper, so for accessories opt for them over an adult version when possible. Let me help you cosplay on a budget.
Uhura – Star Trek Into Darkness
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Remember how skater dresses were all the rage this summer? Well, now they are on sale, just in time for you to be Uhura! And why wouldn’t you want to go as her? She’s a genius, speaks a ton of incredibly rare languages, is cool under pressure, takes no BS from Kirk, and gets to make out with Spock.
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Fabrics Needed:
Dress: ASOS, $33.75, Top: ASOS, $13.50
Complete the Look:
You will also need her Star Fleet com badge. It’s likely a costume shop will have one for cheap this year and ThinkGeek has exact replicas for $11.95 (Uhura’s in Engineering), but there are DIY options, too. If you’re doing a permanent look (not using the dress later), you can do an iron on transfer. If not, you can either tape the image on (use cardstock or the iron-on paper depending on how much movement you anticipate throughout the night) or rock some duct tape and black marker cut to shape.
For boots, just grab your tall black boots and you should be good to go. If you don’t own any, well, it’s boots season! Rain boots would likely work for this look, too. Another tall boots option is black leg warmers over black heels. For your hair, high ponytail with a loose strand wrapped around the hair tie. Her earrings are sort of a pearl/opal stone, but you can probably get away with any drop earrings that are white or silver. Remember to practice doing your Vulcan wave, Spock’s your bf after all.
Random Cosplay Bonus: Oswin Oswald from ‘Asylum of the Daleks’ Doctor Who episode
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If you opt for the warmer fit-and-flare/skater dress with sleeves option, this is an easy transformation. If you went all the way Uhura with short sleeves, just add a red 3/4 sleeve shirt over your dress and then “attach” the two with the utility belt. Voila!If you really want to take it all the way, add in accessories like an apron and pot holder, since she’s Souffle Girl. |
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Lois Lane – Man of Steel
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What’s easier than a wear-to-work Halloween costume? Plus, Henry Cavill. Sure, Lois is not a hardcore, butt kicking superhero like, say, Black Widow, but she’s pretty well known, plus this is the year that all the guys are going as Superman, so you might as well! Hot alien lover aside, she’s a big time journalist who rocks her job. I call that admirable and worth emulating. (source) |
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Fabrics Needed:
Skirt: Target, $22.90, Top: Forever21, $8.80, Vest: Ebay, $10.99
Complete the Look:
You will need black pumps and a thin bracelet (hair tie?) on your right wrist. Hair is a loose ponytail, bun thing. Lois is a low effort gal. Make a press credentials badge for yourself with a black lanyard (sold at office stores), and if you really want, you can bring your tablet with you. Good for taking photos, right?
Random Cosplay Bonus: Amy Pond in Doctor Who episode “The Eleventh Hour”
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So, it’s not straightforward, but… Reuse the white button down, add a black mini skirt, and a black puffer vest with some POLICE patches (or iron-on) and you have an Amy Pond get-up. She’s wearing black oxfords and seamed stockings. Also, a black belt. If you want to go all the way, you’ll have to make a little checkered tie thing. Also, handcuffs… |
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Jane Foster – Thor: The Dark World
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So, I went with her Midgard costume, because unless you have leftover LOTR dresses or are a LARPer (or can sew), you’ll be shedding big bucks for her Asgard outfit. And are Chris Hemsworth and Christopher Eccelston really worth that? (notice, I didn’t include Tom Hiddleston, because we know the answer to him is always, always YES).Anyway, it’s Jane Foster woman of science and lover of Thor (for now at least–Lokane foreva!!!). Girl stood up to S.H.I.E.L.D. agents with a vengeance and was smart enough to make a “here’s my location” phone call to Dr. Selvig when she did an unsafe thing against his better judgment. Common sense on an astrophysicist is sexy. |
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Fabrics Needed:
Jacket: Forever21, $32,80 , Shirt: H&M, $24.50, Jeans (assuming everyone owns jeans)
This runs over by a few dollars because parkas seem to be no cheaper than $32 right now and utility jackets are even more! But, I’m sure you can get creative with your jacket search.
Complete the Look:
You can’t tell in the above photo, but it looks like from other pappz photos she’s wearing red wellies in this scene. If you went with brown boots, probably no one would notice either, since she owns them in the original Thor film. Hair down and a bit messy (alien invasion is rarely good for the hair) and smudge yourself with dirt (aka black eyeshadow put on with a blush brush).
Random Cosplay Bonus: Bella Swan circa Twilight and New Moon
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Seriously guys, you just need to overcurl your eyelashes, add a headband and converse sneakers, and you ARE Bella Swan. (yes, shameless Multnomah Falls photo plug here. I miss my waterfall.) |
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Tris Prior – Divergent
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Okay, so maybe this is a year early, but whatever…we SET the trends over here at That’s Normal. Plus, all of us want to paint on those bird tattoos, let’s not lie. I kept this simple, but feel free to add a black jacket if it’s cold. I think she’d wear cloth over leather, but your call. Also, is this the best excuse to buy moto leggings, or what? If you’re feeling black jeans over leggings, do it. Just keep it black. |
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Fabrics Needed:
Leggings: Forever21, $15.80, Tank: Old Navy, $8.00
Complete the Look:
Black combat boots or sneakers for footwear. She normally has her hair up in a ponytail (so much running!). Then you need to make those tattoos happen. In the photo above she’s not gotten her shoulder tatts yet, but if you are going to place yourself a little later in the book (after the *critical* chasm scene with Four, ahem), she gets the Dauntless seal on her left shoulder and the Abnegation seal on her right shoulder. Here’s the best DIY tutorial I found for making your own temporary tattoos.
How to Make a Utility Belt
What you’ll need:
- Belt in the fabric, size, and color needed (sometimes stores like Forever21 or Hot Topic have “seat belts” as belts for sale. These make great utility belts! But really a cheap fabric belt works well, too). This method doesn’t ruin your belt, so you can use a belt you already own.
- Plastic bottles (shampoo, soap, etc.) either in color needed or a light color that’s easily covered
- Spray paint in color needed
- X-Acto knife
- Velcro
- Thick fabric in color needed (felt, leather, heavy canvas etc.)
How to make your belt:
- To make your pouches/holsters: Using X-Acto knife, cut lid/mouth off bottles. Empty, wash, and dry them. Keeping the non-lid side in tact (so you have a sturdy bottom to your pouch), cut them to be the size you need to store your stuff (cell phone, credit cards, ID, cab fare, lip gloss, etc.) and attempt at clean edges to avoid cutting yourself on the plastic later. When I made mine for my Padme outfit, I used 2 Pantene Pro-V shampoo bottles–one was a pouch and I cut it about 1/3 size and one was a gun holster, which I hardly cut at all.
- Cut 2 slits in the pouch a little bigger than your belt at the point where you want the pouch to rest on the belt. I held mine up to the belt and did a slight score before making the full cut. Remember it doesn’t have to be perfect, but the bigger your cut, the looser the fit.
- If painting your pouches, this is the time to spray paint them.
- Once the paint is dry, figure out how you want your pouch covers to look. Cut the fabric to fit over your pouch as needed and then adhere it with velcro. That way you can access your pouch easily throughout the night! (you could glue one side on, if desired, whatever works for your utility belt’s look)
- Once your pouches are dried and covered, slide them into place on your belt and voila!
Here’s how my Padme outfit turned out (way back in 2008 — still is all in one piece!). I tried to show the best utility belt shots:
So, there you go! Halloween made easy and on trend. Also… upcycling 😉 It’s like hipster geek chic extravaganza!!!
What are you going as for Halloween this year? I think I might be Poison Ivy… but I always have my Padme fallback if I run out of time.
