Creepy Victorian Ghost Costume

This was one of my favorite costumes that I've done, because it was almost like two costumes in one. I could hang around the parties we went to in just the victorian garb, and everyone thought that was pretty cool. BUT if I turned on my blacklight fan (we'll get to this) it turned into another, much more terrifying, costume.

It was loosely inspired by the first ghost that appeared in the all-ladies Ghostbuster film this year. You know the one.

Victorian Dress/ Suit:
I sewed mine, but it is absolutely not a requirement and I would not recommend it because it took FOREVER! If you would like to though, here's a link to the pattern that I used. I am a beginner at sewing, so I'd rather not detail all of that, nor the HOURS it took. I just wanted a dress that I liked.

The hair:

- Hairspray

- Brush or comb

- Bobby pins

The face paint:

- Invisible, black light sensitive facepaint. I used Mehron's Liquid Makeup- Day Glo Blue.

- Makeup brushes.

- Black light flashlights. Not necessary, because you can use the stringed black lights, but I didn't want them to run out of battery. Also, useful for finding dog pee...

The props:

- Hand fan made of thick fabric. The thickness of the fabric makes it so that the black lights won't be visible on both sides. I got this fan from Amazon for less than $10.

- Stringed, battery-powered black lights. I used about 3 strands and got them here.

- Hot glue gun.

- I found some generic "Victorian" jewelry as well. Also not necessary, but adds to the look.

This was WAY easier than I thought it was going to be- all in all, it took about 10 minutes.

1. Don't wash your hair for a day... easy.

2. Split your hair into three sections by parting down the middle, then creating another part from one ear to the other- this will leave you with two front side sections and a back section.

3. Put the back section into a loose ponytail.

4. Backcomb the front two sections away from your face. Do this by taking inch-long sections of your hair- spraying them with hairspray, and coming from the middle of the section down toward your roots. You will look insane.

5. Take each of the backcombed sections and pin them back at the crown of your head.

6. Twist the back section of your like you were going to make a bun- cause you are- just make it more oval and pin it up.

See, that was super easy!

Protip: Make sure that you've got a good conditioner on hand for detangling at the end of the night.

Setup- You'll need a blacklight to do the makeup since the paint is invisible without it.

1. I did a basic layer of foundation that was a tone lighter than my skin so that I looked a little dead without the light.

1. Set a blacklight flashlight on something to make it shine easily on your face. DO NOT shine it directly into your eyes as it, well, makes you blind and unable to paint your own face.

2. Pour about a teaspoon's worth of the blacklight facepaint onto a palette- I used a paper plate.

3. I couldn't get many details of the facepainting itself, because it wasn't showing up very well in my photos. I looked at pictures of skulls for the parts on my face that I wanted to highlight, and simply used no paint, or paint mixed with water to create shadows and negative space.

4. I finished the look with the black light off and used a little bit of mascara and blush over the black light paint.

Voila!

I made this fan so that I didn't have to always rely on there being blacklight or using the cheap blacklight flashlights that I handed out to some of my friends (those things were blinding). I figured that a Victorian lady could have a hand fan, and that if I affixed black lights to one side, it could make for a pretty good effect.

Steps:

1. Open hand fan.

2. Use about 3 strings of battery-powered stringed black lights and hot glue them up and down the seams of the fan, with the battery packs positioned to where you hold the fan.

3. Find a small jewelry bag and affix it to the bottom of the fan and use it to hold the battery packs.

4. Remove all of those strings of hot glue that inevitably got everywhere.

I handed out a couple of the blacklight flashlights to friends to shine at my randomly throughout the night, since carrying around a giant hand fan isn't the most practical.

This look definitely scared some folks, and I got tons of compliments. I only wished that it photographed a little better.

Let me know what you think and if you try this look!