Coco Chanel, The Witch of Fashion

Halloween falls on a busy work day for me this year and I haven't had a great track record this year with holidays so I didn't go all out like I normally do. But I couldn't just do nothing rien. Easiest thing in the world - grab your little black dress and classic witch hat et voila! It was so much fun to go retro and put on this looker; I got this dress at the thrift store and if it isn't the most flattering thing I own. I love the midi-length and that everything is so very covered up but sexy at the same time. And it's so stretchy and comfy. Parfait! Don some drop-pearl earrings, classic vintage make-up and these killer cat-eye sunglasses and I got myself a Chanel-esque witch. (or maybe Audrey-ish?) 

What'd you wear for Halloween this year? 

My fake store front in Chinatown. If you come into the back, I'll show you my bubbling caldron full of Chanel N°5! 

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Spooky Style in Saddle Shoes

I had too much fun wearing this outfit all day! But that's what fashion is all about, right? Here's my interpretation of a festive Halloween outfit - a bit retro style - without the embarrassing tacky embroidered sweater vests. Black and orange with a skull scarf throw on for good measure. 

I went shopping on Wednesday and came across all these little gems: the skater skirt, the saddle shoes, and the retro glasses. I cannot believe I got those shoes for $10!! They're so comfortable and it's nice wearing something other than boots, sandals, or ballet flats. I also like that they have a lot of personality but they can match practically anything. Best part of all - I'm about to start swing dancing lessons soon and saddles shoes are perfect! 

For Halloween night, I watched scary movies on the big projector screen at my favorite bar.  My friends and I played rummy while trying not to scream at the scary parts. It was a cozy evening. What did you do Halloween night? 

Skirt, Shirt & Shoes: Korean Thrift Store | Scarf: 501 | Earrings & Glasses: Naughty Cat | Watch: Citizen

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: 

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!