My good friend decided to have a themed birthday party for her big three-Oh. The theme? Movie characters from the 1980s. Even tho the party had been planned for months, I only decided who Hubby and I would be about 2 weeks before the big event: Princess Buttercup and the Dread Pirate Roberts from The Princess Bride.
The back story: My 6 month preggo belly looks more like 8 or 9, so I needed something that would either hide or incorporate my planet. I thought that Princess Buttercup's empire-waisted dress would hide it, but after looking at the pictures from the party, I was clearly WRONG!! I just look like a pregnant princess, huh? :D The good news: 1- it's a beautiful costume that you can wear even if you are obviously up the duff; 2-it was incredibly easy and CHEAP to make; and 3- Nick and I both won best costumed characters at the party, so I wasn't totally wrong when I thought they were great costumes. :)
Let me just say, I am WAY more impressed with the Dread Pirate Roberts' costume than I was with mine. First, the shirt: I had never made a proper shirt collar, cuffs, lined neck opening, or poofy sleeves. In fact, I don't think I've even seen pattern pieces for these things, to know what shape they should be. Using only a button-down shirt that fits him as a size guideline, I was able to freehand the entire piece, and it fits him PERFECTLY! I am officially impressed with myself. lol He wore black leggings (the shirt is a little long, so his tush wasn't hanging out too badly), and for the tall pirate boots, I cut the legs off of a pair of black pants, finished the edges, and folded the tops over to make tall spats, which he wore over black shoes. The skulk cap, eye mask, and the sash he wore around his hips to keep his sword in were all varying rectangular dimensions of stretchy black fabric. And that's all! The only "difficult" part of the whole outfit was his shirt, which wasn't too bad itself because I looked up a good tutorial as a guide. Oh, and the sword! Dowel rods that I spray-painted silver and wrapped picture-hanging wire around. And he looked FABULOUS!!
My costume was incredibly easy. Here's the dress it's modeled off of: 
And here's what I did:A peasant-style dress cut floor-length, a length of fabric for the cape, a bodice made from a dress pattern that I already had, arm bands, and $2 Salvation Army gold ballet flats. Oh yes, can't forget the spray-painted BK crown with hot-glued trim. Lovely!
I wanted to make this post in case I'm not able to talk more about costuming before Halloween. I LOVE making costumes, and perhaps this will give you some ideas for the upcoming season. And, if you're sporting a baby belly, some hope that there are, indeed, costumes you can rock out in, comfortably and stylishly!
*IF* anyone wants a few quick tutorials for these costumes, please let me know (like... leave a comment!). I'm playing with the idea of how-tos for them. Anybody interested?
7 comments:
hi! I just found your blog through a google search. My 13 yr old son wants to go to the school Masquerade Ball as the Dread Pirate Roberts. Any tips on the costume would be appreciated :)
Absolutely!! I'd be happy to talk about it. It was fun to make. Post coming soon!
My boyfriend and I are planning on going as Buttercup and Roberts for Halloween, his costume (from your blog) seems simple enough, but where would you suggest I start with Buttercups dress? Such as the white dress underneath and making the gold corset on top???
Thx!!!
Thanks for asking, Katie! The white dress underneath is nothing more than a peasant top with long sleeves, made the length of a dress. Any basic peasant top or peasant dress pattern will work beautifully. Here's one: http://mccallpattern.mccall.com/m2337-products-698.php?page_id=915
And this one would be perfect, lengthened: http://www.simplicity.com/p-2291-misses-tops.aspx
For the bodice on top, use the top of any empire waist dress or shirt pattern. Perhaps size it up one to fit over the dress, which can have quite a bit of fabric because of the nature of the gathered neckline.
For the trim, I think I actually hot-glued the cheapest gold trim onto the edges. Get any old gaudy, pearly thrift store jewelry and attach it to the front.
For fabric, it sounds odd but you might be able to find tablecloths (again, look in the thrift store first) which would provide cheaper fabric than a fabric store. There should be plenty of white tablecloths available, and many will have an embroidered touch. That would be perfect!
Let me know if I can be of further assistance. (Someday I might finish the pirate shirt tutorial!)
Hi, I don't sew a stitch. Would be disasterous to try. But I'm hard-core about my costumes being authentic. Would you be interested at all in selling or renting your Princess Bride costume and/or Roberts? I'd treat them with care and return them asap. If so, plz email me at cindycakes1@gmail.com
Chiming in on Halloween costumes for the pregnant lady: I was 8 months preggo Halloween 2009, so I went as a sexy black widow spider! I came up with this literally hours before trick or treat time!
I wore some comfy black stretchy pants, stretchy black camisole, a black button-up shirt (worn unbuttoned) with a frilly collar and cuffs and silver pinstripes, and a black choker necklace with sparkly fake diamonds that I happened to have in my jewelry collection.
For the red shape that goes on the spider's back, I cut two large triangles from red construction paper, glued the corners together, covered the shape with red glitter, and once it was dry I safety pinned the paper onto my baby belly! Viola! Instant Halloween costume for preggers! :-D
That's a WAY better idea for a pregnant belly costume! I'm glad you said that! I'll remember that in case I'm pregnant during Halloween (or other costume event) again.
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