Realistic Homemade Mermaid Costume

I am a true Halloween junkie. I spend months deciding what costume to make and what events to attend.  No matter who or what I decide to be for Halloween, the costume is always “pretty.”  I refuse to be scary or gory or funny.  I prefer to be glittery and fabulous and as pretty as possible.  I hate to be seen in anything that someone might be wearing, so I always make my own costume.

This year, I went back and forth between a mermaid, Nefertiti and a Disney princess.  I sealed the idea of a mermaid costume  when I found a glittery blue fabric that was perfect for a mermaid fin.

I used 2 yards of glittery fabric to sew a long, tight skirt with a slit up the back to allow me to walk. Then I found a set of green fairy wings at a Dollar store that I folded in half and hand stitched together to mimic the shape of the bottom of a mermaid’s fin. Then I stitched the fairy wings to the bottom of the skirt to create a fin.

Now, I couldn’t very well have a mismatched fin – one part blue (the skirt) and one part green (the wings).  So, in order to tie the two pieces of the fin together, I bought a turquoise sequined vest at a local Goodwill and cut it apart.  I hand sewed various shapes of the sequin vest onto both the top and bottom parts of the fin to pull the blue and green together.

Next, I found a package of various seashell necklaces and giant seashells at the Goodwill and hand sewed them onto a skin-colored tank top. I first sewed the necklaces in drapes around the neckline of the tank top. After the necklaces were secured, I super-glued two larger seashells to the necklaces to hold them in place.

Then I embellished the skirt and tank top by super-gluing blue jewels from a craft store all over each piece.  As a finishing touch I bought starfish from the craft store and sewed a few onto the bare spots of the tank top.  I also glued another starfish onto a headband to embellish my hair.

I must say, this is my favorite of all the costumes I’ve made!  I got so many compliments, but the best one was from a coworker who said, “You look like you just swam out of the ocean and walked right over here! It’s so real-looking and beautiful!”