Happy Halloween loves! Scroll to the bottom of this post for my 2020 costume reveal video and a bonus Halloween playlist I put together for your listening pleasure this spooky season.
Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays. As a little kid, who doesn’t love an occasion where you get candy from strangers?! As an adult, it became less about the treats and more about the costumes. I lived for this one day a year, where I could wear literally anything I wanted, and it was “normal” and that was before I discovered raves and my own sense of off beat personal style!
Once I encountered the festival and rave subcultures, there was no turning back. I was entranced by the bright fabrics, the soft furs and all the sequin sparkle magic. There was no putting the bullet back in the gun…I could never go back to just thinking costumes and outlandish outfits were only for Halloween. From that moment on, I began slowly amassing a large collection of unique garments, wigs, and ridiculous footwear because one day I would have some sort of a themed party to go to and I wanted to be ready.
As the years passed, my costumes became more involved and elaborate, taking months to completely assemble. This year, despite COVID, is no exception! Since I will be spending the evening celebrating at home under the full moon and in the comfort of AC with my own private bathroom, I decided to be totally extra with my costume this year. Normally, I require that my costume is, first and foremost, easy to go to the bathroom in. Second, I like to make sure I am not going to be too hot or too cold. Lastly, I like to have as many accessories as possible to finish my halloween look. Well, this year, I threw all practicality out the window. I made a giant pajama style adult onesie out of heavy fleece material when I live in a tropical climate and it is one elaborate piece that requires zero additional accessories. Screw you Corona Virus, I do what I want!
I dubbed my costume *Puff, Puff, Pass The Magic Dragon* 😉 To date, it is the most labor intensive item I have ever made. The Fleece fabric is very dense and would catch when I tried to sew it on my machine. I quickly learned this was going to require a lot of hand sewing to finish the garment. The costume accents are made out of various 4 way stretch materials; a mix of spandex and knitted metallics. The tail, scales and outline of the wings are all stuffed to give them dimension. I wanted to incorporate a lot of color so I went with a jewel tone pallet and hints of gold. In true Honey Jayne fashion, I added two extra deep hip pockets and a secret stash compartment in the tail. Then I finished it with my signature glow in the dark puff paint accents that also look amazing under a black light!
The costume itself weighs an astonishing 10 pounds. Dancing in it is a next level workout, but beauty is pain right?! Once it was completed, I had used over 10 yards of fabric and spent over 250 hours start to finish. This includes drawing up the concept, drafting patterns from scratch, cutting fabric, and hand stitching around 70 percent of the garment, then finishing it off with hand-painted embellishments. But seriously, what else did I have going on?!
In the spirit of *Trick-or-Treat* and dance parties everywhere, here is a link to my sweet HALLOWEEN PLAYLIST on Spotify. Something to spice up the night and help set a spooktacular mood.
I hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween season, and remember: clothes make a statement, but costumes tell a story. Have an epic costume story? Tell me in the comments below, I love hearing them!
The ART of FUN! 