Happy Halloween: Frida Kahlo
Happy Halloween!
Every year since my oldest was born I’ve been making my family’s Halloween costumes. Sometimes I make them all and other times I make one. It really depends on the time I have and how complicated the requests are. Although my kids are young they understand that Mum can make what they want and they’re not afraid to use those cute faces to get it. The difference this year was that my 5 year old connected the dots and realised I haven’t worn a Halloween costume since he was born. He started questioning me and asking repeatedly why I wasn’t dressed up. My answer remained the same: “because I’m busy making your stuff, your dad’s stuff and your sister’s!” We reached the Thursday before Halloween and I finally caved. My son is persistent. With only two days to get an outfit together I realised the next dress I had planned to make worked perfectly for my costume idea.
The fabric I had on hand was this luscious cotton lawn from Lady McElroy fabrics. The colours are just beyond dreamy. Lady McElroy fabric has such a soft hand while being so easy to work with and this fabric was no different. The colours are also so vibrant and the way they are intertwined into each other makes this fabric absolute perfection! It’s also light and drapey making it perfect for the top I was initially going to make. But lucky for me, I realised I had enough to make a whole dress and I was going to take it. So I ended up making the Anthea Blouse from Anna Allen Clothing but with a twist. I shortened the bodice on the top version (the pattern does have a dress view) and added a gathered skirt. Two simple rectangles. A great hack to most top patterns. I also added pockets because...well this is self explanatory, we always need pockets.
Even though I wore this for my Halloween costume, this dress was made this way irrelevant of Halloween. It just happened to work perfectly to transform me into one of my favourite idols: Frida. To complete my outfit I went to the dollar store and picked up fake flowers, pom poms and a headband to hot glue my headpiece together. I then headed to Joann and bought glass beads and jewellery elastic to make amazing bracelets. I hadn’t made jewellery since I learnt to make it with my mum when I was a pre-teen so it was nice to use a skill that had laid dormant for so long. I also used my Abuela’s poncho paired with some earrings my mum had bought me a while ago to complete the look.
When I put it all together and actually put makeup on I was pretty floored by how well everything came together. My husband was telling me I actually looked like Frida. Absolute music to my ears. To dress as an idol is amazing, to actually be told you’re getting pretty close to the vibe is another. My husband then helped me get my poses together to really finish off the look. As someone who only knows how to be silly and smile in her photos this was very helpful.
Halloween aside, this dress is going to be a firm favourite on high rotation. It’s a great layering piece for the colder months with tights and a turtleneck. It’s also great to pair with sneakers to dress down for my everyday Mum activities, but I can totally see me pairing this with Dr Marten’s for a more grunge feel. Bottom line, I have a lot of outfit plans solidifying this as a wardrobe staple!
