Coolest Poison Ivy Costume with Uma's Infamous Hairstyle

I went to high school with Uma Thurman, so I always felt a little personal sting (along with a thrill for her) when she got to do such cool things on film as play Baron Munchausen’s Venus, dance with John Travolta (I mean- WOW!) and to also to be a super villainess in a Batman movie. Alas, I was reading comic books when she was fending off talent scouts.

Anyway- I’ve wanted to try a Poison Ivy costume for a while, but I didn’t have a lot of time or money to put into this. I had this green crochet top, and I just used some more crochet stitches to fasten the fake leaves. I sewed a tutu onto cut up green t shirt to make the under layer because I don’t think I can pull off the slinky vine look at the moment. Leaves were also taped to my shoes at the toes and heels. I had fun with the crazy makeup and leaves on my face (spirit gum) – and they were wonderfully NOT annoying to wear all night, I didn’t even know they were there.

The hairstyle …. I’d need to draw charts and diagrams to adequately describe how I did it- but the secret is that I made two cardboard cones and covered them with hairy twine (with hot glue tacked in spots) The twine served two purposes- it made the cones grippy, so when I wrapped my real hair around it wasn’t slipping- and it also looked “hairish” so if my own hair slipped out of place- we wouldn’t be seeing any cardboard. The twine also gave me a base I could run bobby pins into as I wrapped my real hair around.

The two cones were attached in the middle with wire and cut so they sat on my head at a slight angle. I had to part my hair into 7 sections to make the style (8 in you count all the hair not included in the cones). These would be, the right and left face framing sections- starting just above the ear- and sectioning about 1 inch of hair side to side (set aside) then another inch behind that (like the headband zone) 5 more squares- (set aside the center one #3). I threaded some loops of yarn into the cones from the top down so I could use these to pull sections #2 and #4 of hair up through the center of the cone (after pulling hair through you can toss the yarn, its job is done).

So at this point you have a crazy space ponytail-do – with ponytails coming out of the tips of the cones. Then the last of those sections (#1 and #5) are pulled up the outside of the cone and tightly rubber banded to the cone ponytail- this locks the cones down to your head and pulls them slightly outward where the center connection holds them together so very firmly attached. Section #3 will lie between the cones and cover the wire. Wrap the ponytails around and pin… and then do the hairline sections and wrap them- hiding the ends.

My husband was Penguin, with the cigarette holder, umbrella and a prosthetic nose. He looked very grand!