How to Throw Together Great Costume At The Last Minute

*I LOVE HALLOWEEN!! For more costume ideas and my DIY (and money saving) tips and tricks check out this post! It includes links to all my other DIY costumes as well! Happy Haunting! XO - Alexandra*

Last Minute Costume Instruction

In college and within social circles that like to have parties and get-togethers often its good to have a creative mind when it comes to designing a costume on a budget and often in a matter of hours. Because when you go to a party its always more fun to get into the theme. 

Recently Miller had our annual Joe's Place dance where the theme was classic villains. I was swamped the week before and got to the point where I didn't even want to go.. but then I hit a wave of inspiration. I was going to be Poison Ivy from Batman.

In a matter of hours I had a complete costume and for the most part it was on the cheap! :) 

First Here's a Little History of Poison Ivy. 

As my inspiration I used the comic book version of Poison Ivy. She's a little classier than the Uma Thurman version. 

Pamela Lillian Isley was a beautiful and talented Seattle botanist. She was seduced by a villain who convinced her to help him steal an artifact that contained an ancient herb. After the artifact was stolen the villain poisoned her with the ancient herb because she knew too much. However she did not die, she instead gained new powers. She had pheromones that attracted men, kisses that poisoned them and many mutant plants at her disposal. Many of these men she also used to do her bidding before she killed them.

So as far as classic villains go, poison ivy is very recognizable, pretty sexy, but when you go classic not too scandalous... :)

Here is what I did and instructions for making a great costume on a budget and in a matter of hours!

My Costume.

Sweet Green Dress from Goodwill $5!

 Fake Ivy from Hobby Lobby. About $2.50 pinned onto dress, hair etc.

The Skirt was REALLY long, so we cut it (while it was on me!) and made a duct tape hem! Worked perfectly!

$30 red wig + $.99 hair net

$5 fishnets and $45 candies heels (had to go for a more vintage style ... nothing to be found at goodwill as far as shoes go)

Tips for creating a great costume of any kind at the last minute:

Cut corners = use duct tape, safety pins, whatever you have on hand

Bargain = goodwill, the salvation army and other second hand stores are great for costumes! This dress was absolutely perfect for the part!

Pick a Distinct but Easy Character = poison ivy is unmistakable! And all you need to pull it off is a little green, a little red and some ivy. The rest can just be filled in where you have supplies! 

 My "big sis" at Miller was also poison ivy! Tons of possibilities when it comes to variation!

Last Minute Costumes for men? 

Kyle just bought an eye-patch for about $1! The perfect creepy super villain! {doesn't he look exactly like the critic on Ratatouille? Minus the eye-patch?}

But my goodness! He is so gorgeous!!

I'm working on updating some of these tutorials but I'm going to put in these links anyhow:

Poison Ivy Costume DIY
Cruella De Vil Costume DIY
Natasha and Boris Costume DIY
Velma and Shaggy from Scooby Doo Costume DIY

What is your favorite last minute costume?

All for now,

Alexandra