How to Dress-Up Like a Book Character

(If a movie hasn't been made to speed up the creative process)

So Halloween is just around the corner, and if you still haven't picked out your costume, here are some easy steps to dress up like your favorite book character.

A few weeks ago Lisa Mantchev, author of Eyes Like Stars, decided to host a contest to help people dress up as her characters for Halloween. I had never given it much thought, but designing the costumes the YAthenaeum Team members wear at book signings is a big part of what I do, so I decided to make this How-To post to help anyone who is first stepping into the realm of costuming without visuals.

So first of all, yes, while not everyone may like them, movie adaptations of books can help a lot when planning out a design. So if you're planning to dress up as Arwen from The Lord of the Rings or Lady Amalthea from The Last Unicorn the movies are definitely the best place to start.

I will be using Beatrice "Bertie" Shakespeare Smith from Eyes Like Stars as my model.


So now on to the first part: Designing the Costume

• First thing to do is skim the book and look for any pages that may describe the character you are going to dress up as, mark these pages.
  
• Physical details are usually given, but their attire is not always described in detail. Try to take the setting of the book as a way to figure out the outfit.
• Start sketching, draw, throw in as many designs as possible, you can pick and choose later.
• After you have several designs, pick what you like from each and combine them to make the perfect outfit.

Like I said, I will use Bertie as my example. Bertie is said to have fiery blue hair and lives in a theater. So the hair part comes natural, but when designing her clothes, I imagined her to have strange outfits that would derive from several different plays and times. So I threw in layered skirts, corsets, billowy shirts, and anything sparkly that made me think of the theater. And for the sake of authenticity, why not have her carry around a copy of The Complete Works of the Stage? Bertie costume does not include seductively stalking air spirit.

Now on to: Making the Costume

• Many find this to be the scariest part if they've never been exposed to a sewing machine. Best part is, for some, you don't even need to pick up a needle.
  
• Many costume parts can just be found at a mall, a corner shop, or a thrift store.
• Write down everything you need for your costume and give yourself a budget.
  
• Don't forget, you can pin and sew things you have at home to make a great costume!
  
• Go out to town, and if you find things that are PERFECT for a reasonable price, buy them.
• If any part is left that you couldn't find at a store or was out of your price range, the internet has great tutorials for just about anything.
• When it comes to costumes, ThreadBanger is a place you can always turn to.
• Search for sites with How-To-Sew tutorials.
• Be creative! If you can't figure something out, just improvise!

The Bertie I designed has an outfit that consists of an underbust corset, a cropped vest, a poofy-sleeved blouse, an asymmetrical layered skirt, a glittery boa, ankle boots, and of course a blue wig.

• So naturally, my first item to find was the corset. Now I'll be honest, corsets are not cheap, and good ones are hard to come by. These can be easily found on the internet, but the one I liked best for my design was from Etsy. (There is a tutorial on TB on how to make a corset)
  
• I found a skirt and blouse that fit what I needed at The Pyramid Collection.
• Feather boas were really cheap on Party Feathers
• I found a wig on eBay that was the perfect color, a little long, but that's why we have scissors.
• The copy of The Complete Works of the Stage can be any large, bound notebook with the name written.
  

Now, with my selection I was restricted to the contents of the internet, but there are plenty of other places to find what you need.


And now the last part: Strut Your Stuff

• Once you have pieced your costume together you are ready to go out and party, knock on doors for candy, and have a good time.

Here are some of my favorite How-To Sites
ThreadBanger
Instructables
wikiHow

Now you are ready to venture into the world as a new person!

Hope this was helpful, if you have any ideas or suggestions please post them below in comments! Oh and post pictures if you dress up as any characters!

-Lorena

Lauren's Halloween Scare-A-Thon

In honor of Halloween, Lauren Myracle dared 13 authors to a Halloween Scare-A-Thon! They were to scare themselves by today, Halloween, by doing something that scares them and facing their fears.

Here's a round up of what happened (Is happening...) :

Lauren Myracle: She learned the Thriller, which because of a certain experience in 7th grade, she was terrified of. Here's her post about it and the video:

M.T. Anderson: Tobin will be doing his on the Day of the Dead and there will definitely be pictures up after when he does.

Holly Black: Holly watched a zombie movie because she's terrified of zombies. More on her blog.

Libba Bray: Even though Libba just got back from her European tour, she posted about her fears and facing them. She posted in the same post a list of possibilities, go tell her what you think her challenge should be!

Meg Cabot: Meg is scared of fairies and for her dare, she decided to dress up as a fairy for Halloween. She discusses this fear and what she's going to do here and here. Here is a picture of her outfit:

Cassandra Clare: Cassandra, being in France on tour, decided to eat brains as her dare. She completed it as edited on her blog, but is waiting to upload the photos.

Melissa De La Cruz: Melissa had been postponing going to the dentist for a surgery she needs done because it's her biggest fear. So, she called and made an appointment and will face her fear on November 17. Here's her post and a video:

John Green: John has said that he will be late, but his dare will come soon. Lauren says, "I told him he has to wear Wienie Hat until then..."

Shannon Hale: Shannon's most recent post was asking her blog readers what they think she should do and naming some of what she's afraid of. She agreed to have her husband scare her, this may not sound as much, but she was really freaked out. Watch the video and you'll see:

Maureen Johnson: Maureen hasn't yet revealed what it is she has done or is going to do, but on Wednesday she made a list of her fears and asked the readers of her blog for their suggestions and ideas.

Stephenie Meyer: Lauren "received a very nice note from one of her peeps saying she's taking a well-deserved break from media and won't be able to participate in the dare."

Kristen Miller: Kristen is scared of eggs, actually ate them, then got sick... More on her blog.

Sarah Mlynowski: Sarah left a comment on Lauren's blog, "Hello sweet Lauren! Of course I am in. My biggest fear involves riding a bike, and I am unable to conquer that at the moment...but I have others. Lots and lots of others.", but we haven't found anything regarding her completion yet.

Scott Westerfeld: Scott has completed his dare, but as of now no one knows what it was. He says here that he will be posting a video of it this weekend.



HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE! And we'll have a post later next week to keep you updated on the dares.

-The YAthenaeum Team