Wonder Woman Wishes You a Very Happy Halloween!

I don't know what was more fun: making the costume or actually wearing it. The night before the party, my boyfriend spent over 2 hours painstakingly helping me make making my corset. Not to get all mushy on you, but this is how I know he's the one for me. I'll give you more details on how exactly I did it later but basically I used an old tank top and he wrapped a bunch of duct tape around me over and over again. Then he cut the whole mess off of me and I fixed the raw edges and added the corseted back. It was pretty funny seeing the bf work because when he first started he was more of a diva than Donatella Versace - telling me not to breath or dance. (I couldn't help it! We were listening Halloween party music and I was getting excited!) He was just nervous about working with such a difficult, foreign material such as duct tape. It didn't help that we had a limited supply; I brought the tape back to Korea from our U.S. trip. But his steady hand and attention paid off; I really appreciated that he was just as (or more) concerned about getting it right as I was!    

The red boots are what started this whole thing. I found them at Goodwill back in July. As soon as I put them on, I rushed over my boyfriend, and with hands on my hips I said, "What am I?!" Yup, that's right. I've known what I was going to be for Halloween since July. That's how much I love Halloween! 

I found the blue granny-panties at my local Homeplus (Korean version of Wal-mart) and I am shocked that not only did they fit my large derriere but that they were big enough to fit the way I wanted. Win! I painted the white stars on with fabric paint.  I made the headpiece and bracelets out of toilet paper rolls and the duct tape from back home. The elastic that holds my headpiece in place is from an ugly, old skirt. I drew the stars on with red permanent marker. The last little details of my costume are my super amazing nude tights - they made me feel svelte, warm and covered. I also wore my black vintage-inspired swim suit bottom under the panties to get extra coverage. 

I am so happy how it turned out! It was better than I could have asked for. I'm just sad that Halloween went by so fast. What did you dress up as for Halloween? What was your inspiration?

Costume Inspiration: 

Classic Campus Cardigan

I don't know what it is about cooler weather, but it makes me really lazy when it comes to getting dressed. I had been waiting since August to finally layer up because layers make for the most interesting outfits. But then when I add all those layers, I end up taking them off and going for something more simple. I just can't stand not being comfortable and too many shirts on at the same time are unpredictable - the button-down twisting one way and the sweater going another. 

This is yet again another outfit that I changed into at the last minute. I liked that it ended up looking a little 1970's and Victorian all at the same time. Or maybe that's just me. I think the locket looks sweet with the lace. 

I also liked being able to play with neutrals. I don't know who got it in their head that you can't wear black and brown together but I think it looks okay. With everything that "breaks the rules" as long as it looks purposeful and that you meant to wear it like that, I think you can get away it. I'm basically wearing all neutrals but white: gray, brown, tan, navy, and black. 

  

Skirt: Korean Thrift Store | Cardigan: American Eagle Outfitters | Loafers: Target | Belt: Goodwill | Necklace: Mother's 

Warning Zombies Ahead: 2 Minute Zombie Make-Up (with YouTube Video)

 Photo by: Alla Ponomareva 

With my zombie friend, Katie

A few weekends ago, there was a Daejombie Runpocalyse 5k Charity event where runners and zombies came together to wreak havoc on our town and to raise a lot of money for a no-kill animal shelter. Being that I'm an definitely not a runner, but very much a lover of animals, events, and costumes being a zombie was a no-brainer (sorry, I couldn't help myself!) Below is a picture of my very gorgeous and undead friends, Krystle and Nadia. They were my inspiration for creating my zombie look. I'm going to show you how we did our make-up in my first ever Youtube tutorial! 

There are a lot of great tutorials out there on how to do super-scary, gross, realistic zombie make-up. This is not one of them. This is the quick and dirty version of a zombie just turned. While it's super easy, I think the overall effect is still pretty creepy! 

Krystle and Nadia in their amazingly easy, and disgusting zombie make-up. 

 

Halloween Make-Over: Katie as Norma Jean/Marilyn Monroe

This is my stunning friend, Katie.  Last weekend we were talking about Marilyn Monroe (particularly this video about her make-up regime - very interesting!) and Halloween costumes. Katie had said she didn't have a costume and was at a lost of what to wear for Halloween - especially because she has limited clothing and as I've said before, it's a pain to find clothes in Korea that doesn't fit a size 0. Luckily, somehow we got to the idea of her dressing up as a 50's girl. Easy to do, and most of the costume is all about the hair, make-up, and accessories. 

For her clothing, she picked out this fantastic mustard yellow turtleneck at Uniqlo, rolled up her jeans and wore cute little flats. Then she went to an accessory store and got the blue floral scarf, pearl earrings, and the big gray bow. 

For her hair, I used Lauren Conrad's vintage hair technique of curling the hair inwards. Then I gave her one victory roll (technically, this is more of a 40's hairstyle but who cares?) where I grabbed a section of her hair in the front and rolled it towards her face and secured it a bobby pin. There are a bazillion of youtube tutorials on how to do adorable victory curls. This was my first time doing one and I'm pretty pleased with the result (of course, doing it on someone else's head is always a little easier!) I pulled back one side of her hair with her big bow. For her make-up,  I used the scotch-tape technique of fail-safe cat eyes. I also put fake eyelashes on her but for fake eyelashes, I don't like to use the whole lash. I cut it in half and glued it just to the outer part of her eye to make them look really lush but not super fake. Last was really rosy cheeks and a bold, glossy red lip. Voila! We have Marilyn before she was Marilyn - or maybe Marilyn on her day off. 

It was pretty easy to do and Katie looks like a KNOCK OUT! In fact, she honestly could wear this on a normal day and I don't think it would look a Halloween costume at all. I hope she liked it because I couldn't be happier with how it turned out - exactly like I pictured! Of course, it always helps that my model is incredibly drop-dead gorgeous!

Classic Comfortable Style for a Cool Autumn Day

This outfit is all about comfort and keeping warm while still looking teacher-y. I was going to wear a more fun, funky, fashion-forward outfit but as soon as I put it on I thought, wearing this is too much work right now. I'm lazy. I just want to be comfortable. So I grabbed this instead and I'm happy I did! This Gap shirt is amaaaaaazing. It's part of their supersoft tee collection. I paid $5 at Goodwill for it, but honestly, I think it's worth the real price (or at least sale price!) It's got this amazing stretch, obviously it's incredibly soft, and it's also a lot thicker. I've been wanting to wear it for a while but it's been way too hot. 

Going along with the theme of keeping things simple, I grabbed my trusty jean jacket and leather backpack on the way out. I've had this jean jacket for 10 years. When I worked at Goody's in high school, I wanted this Levi's jacket so bad. At the time, it was around $50 and I wasn't about to pay that. I waited and waited until it went on a super-duper sale (to be fair, I think I might have hidden it in the underwear section or something too; always moving it around). I think I eventually got it for under $10!  Luckily my patience paid off this time. I've had customers go and buy "my" clothes from under my nose when I wasn't so lucky! For a while jean jackets weren't really worn but I'm glad I kept it, because denim is everywhere. But a jean jacket is a classic - that's a style that always comes back around! 

Another classic style that's come back around is leather backpacks. As we know, the 90's are in full force for 2013 and this bag trend follows it. I'm so glad it does because this is the perfect bag for me! For all of my teaching jobs, I spend an hour one way on public transportation. This means walking to the bus stop or subway station, waiting for it, standing on said transportation and then more walking and waiting. Carrying a purse with folders and books on one shoulder really started to kill my back. With this bag, I don't end up looking like Dora the explorer or an employee at R.E.I. 

What are your two go-to tried-and-true accessories?

P.S. For all my Korean chingus, I got these adorable fleur-de-lis loafers at Homeplus! (Korean grocery store that's a weird, smaller version of Wal-mart). Heck yeah! 

Jacket: Levi's | Shirt: Gap (Similar) | Skirt: Target | Scarf: Korean Street Vendor | Purse: Korean Thrift Store | Earrings: Gift | Shoes: Homeplus

I Wanna Be Formal, But I'm Here to Party, Too*

*Business on the top, party on the bottom! 

Yesterday I was in a rush to get out the door. All I knew was that I was going to be wearing jeans because my dress pants were dirty and also because well... you know... 

Technically I don't think I'm supposed to be wearing jeans when teaching so I figured I'd wear a blazer to look more professorial. And then a blouse, too because it always seems to be so warm in the classrooms and if I had to take off that professorial blazer, I didn't want to look like one of the students. Basically, I figure if everything else about my outfit gave me the appearance of being well-dressed, maybe no one will noticed I was actually wearing jeans.  

I didn't even mean to plan it this way, but apparently this blazer just loves hot pink.  I grabbed this blouse to wear with jeans because I know it looks luxe. A friend with (expensive) great taste gave it to me during a clothing swap. It's made of beautiful, light-weight material (had to wear my beloved cami underneath it) and the color is off the charts. The only problem is, it's a little boxy and I always forget about that. I think next time I'm going to either tie it at the belt-line or tuck it in. 

Lately, I've been pretty lazy when it comes to make-up. Clean skin, bronzer, mascara and lipstick and that's it. But this day I put a little bit more effort into it and dang, now I remember. THAT'S why folks love make-up so much. It makes ya look pretty darn good! I'm also trying something new with my eyebrows. I can't tell if I like it or not yet. What do y'all think? (Or do you even notice?) 

A pair of my favorite earrings! They're cupcakes! 

Blazer: American Eagle Outfitters | Shirt: Clothing Swap | Jeans: Cello | Shoes: Goodwill | Necklace: Flea Market | Watch: Citizen | Earrings: Naughty Cat | Ring: Clothing Swap