Cool Corpse Bride Homemade Halloween Costume

I love making my own costumes, and with my old wedding dress taking up so much closet space I was looking for something to do with it. I didn’t want to be just a generic zombie bride, but Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride? Now that’s awesome!

I used pipe cleaners to create a base for the head wreath. I cut a piece of tulle from the under layers of the wedding dress and attached it to one half of the headband to make a veil. I then used more pipe cleaners to weave faux black roses and deep blue flowers all around the headband. After finishing the flower wreath, I used black and blue puffy paint to draw Tim Burton stylized swirls up from the bottom of the veil.
To make the wristlets I cut pieces of lace from the back of the dress and fitted them to my arms. I sewed them up halfway and then added button snaps so that I could put them on and take them off easily.
Next I took scissors to the bottom of the dress. I made jagged and random cuts around the entire dress, and then I ripped them further open to create a worn and torn bottom.
I wanted the dress to be a little dirty and extra worn (and I happen to live near a river) so I took it outside and dragged it through the dirt and leaves for a good while. I put it on the ground and stomped on it, wanting to really grind the dirt in, and tear the dress up. Lots of people stopped to watch me do this; I think they were quite amused.
Next came the paint! I used black and blue spray paint to layer color onto all the pices. For the veil I concentrated on the edges and created a gradiated look from top to bottom. I sprayed blue all over the writstlets, using black at the bottom end to create a deeper color. For the dress I sprayed blue paint all over, getting heavier towards the bottom and right around the neckline. The black spray paint was concentrated on the bottom of the dress to give deeper color, and then misted all over to create a dingy effect.
To finish the dress I used blue and black puffy paint to draw swilrs up the bottom, mimicking the swirls I had painted on the veil.

Of course my costume wouldn’t have been complete without hair and makeup.

I left my hair down, curled the ends and sprayed it blue with hair-spraypaint.
I used two layers of a pale blue Ben Nye cake foundation on my upper body, and then I set it with a light misting of hairspray. (This stuff stayed put ALL night, even on my hands!) I picked up an inexpensive blue eyeshadow palette from Wet and Wild, and used a medium blue eyeshadow, dark blue eyeshadow, black eyeshadow and black eyeliner and mascara for my eyes. I also used the blue eyeshadows for the hollows of my cheeks and around my collar bones. I drew on upturned eyebrows with the black eyeshadow and an eyebrow brush. I finished the look with a pink lipstick and gloss.

Then I put it all on. It was so much fun to wear! People stopped me all night asking to take pictures with me. My sister said she loved the dress so much that she wanted to wear it like that for her own wedding. And to make it more fun, I entered the local costume contest and won thrid prize! I won a cash prize and got a really cool ghost trophy. I love it so much that I want to wear it again and again!

As a bonus, because I already owned the dress, I only spent about $30 in makeup and supplies!

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