2023 Halloween Costume Contest
Enter 2023 Costume Contest
 

Night Sky Costume

Rate this costume:

23 votes
10 comments  ·  add a comment 
Night Sky Costume

Night Sky Costume

More views: (click to enlarge)
Photo #1 - Night Sky Costume Photo #2 - Disappearing into the night Photo #3 - Moon hat with hand sculpted lovers perched on it Photo #4 - The moon glows from within! Photo #5 - Almost invisible!
Costume type:  Costumes for Women
Category:Halloween Costumes

This homemade costume for women entered our 2016 Halloween Costume Contest, and won 1st place in the Coolest Adult Costume nomination!

A word from Denise, the 'Night Sky' costume creator:

This year I decided I wanted to embody the Night Sky, with all its depth of light and omnipresence. I often like to create conceptual costumes, rather than specific characters, as this gives me more room for creativity.

What turned out to be one of the most important parts of the costume was creating it so that, although the form of my body was visible, there was no way to identify me. Every inch of my body was covered in black, and bespeckled with different tones of crystal glass beads that reflected whatever light was around me. I wore battery powered LED fairy lights under just the right weight of fabric so they twinkled through (which I secured with medical tape onto my skin!). When asked where I hid the battery packs I always answered with, “Battery packs!? What battery packs? Stars aren't powered by batteries!”
I sewed a mask from black nylons,and made sleeves to go under a sleeveless bodysuit by cutting the crotch out of a pair of nylons, and wearing them over my head. I added a turtleneck to the bodysuit out of scrap nylons, and thin socks (which I also made from the same pair that I had cut the mask from). I wore thin leggings under the bodysuit, and I purchased theatrical black gloves. It took me several days to sew the sparkly beads on each piece of the costume.

A night sky must have a moon and a moon must have archetypal dreaming lovers perched on it; and so I designed a pillbox style hat that would add to the sparse but stylized look. I actually used some black bra inserts that I had lying around my closet to create the hat, then firmed the shape with thick steel wire, and attached the moon. I created the moon out of several layers of fabric and wire and more fairy lights. I sculpted the couple out of lightweight foam clay and painted them, even adding pearl jewelry to the woman’s outfit. I design all of my costumes so that I can dance and move around freely, and so an elastic held it firmly to my head while the moon bobbed around, with the illusion of it floating over my right shoulder.

From the minute I emerged at each the event I attended to the very end of the night I got constant compliments, and a lot of people pointing and whispering how great my costume was that didn’t know I was watching them through the mask. The anonymity was incredibly powerful, and to offset the spook factor of me not having a face I would respond with a mischievous wave that made most folks giggle nervously. A few friends couldn’t place my voice and I had a lot of fun keeping my identity secret and listening in to the compliments. (Only when bright light was shined in my direction could my face be seen, but in photos I almost disappeared into the Night!). I was asked to pose in so many pictures I felt like I had my own paparazzi and I had to decline several photos in order to get to one of the contests in time! Overall the costume had a much broader reception than I had initially expected and I was very pleased to win 1st place in one and 5th in the other. (My winnings more than covered the $100 plus cost for materials!). My favorite compliment was from a woman who came up to me, looked me square in the starry face, (even thought she couldn’t see me), and said, “This is the best costume I have EVER seen and I’m 72 years old so that’s saying A LOT!”

Rating: 4.2 of 5. Votes: 23

23 votes

Comments

#1 comment by Anita November 22, 2016

Love it! Love it! Love it!
You are SO VERY CREATIVE, Denise!
Congrats on getting great reviews along the way!
Love to you!

#2 comment by ann green November 22, 2016

WOw, wow, wow! And I thought you out did yourself with the seahorse costume. Utterly amazing costume. You never cease to amaze me!!!

#3 comment by Mindy Gotleib November 22, 2016

You are truly creative and extremely talented not to mention the only body that could wear that out of this world costume Love and miss you.

#4 comment by Jackie November 23, 2016

Amazing costume. Your creativity is astounding. Congrats!

#5 comment by Denise November 24, 2016

Thanks, everyone! Halloween is such a great excuse for a parade of art.

#6 comment by Keyshara October 8, 2018

Hello Denise is their anyway you can make this costume for somebody else

#7 comment by DENISE October 8, 2018

Hi Keyshara,
Thanks for your post. Yes! I love to make costumes for other people. I am happy to do custom work, however, I would need a few months advance notice, to get it made and shipped.
It is too late for this Halloween, but keep in touch if I can help you for another party, or contact me next year by early August!
At the moment I am busy creating my newest costume, so keep your eyes out for it to appear on this website for this upcoming Halloween. Happy Twinkling...

#8 comment by Jacob van Rhijn November 24, 2019

Hi Denise,

Best costume ever! Very very creative! An absolute disguise. It must be great fun to wear one. Are you really making them again? Next Halloween we like two obtain of these suits! Twinkeling regards! Jacob.

#9 comment by Diane Collins November 6, 2020

Hello Denise, My name is Diane and I have been browsing through the gallery after entering this year's costume contest. Congrats on your well deserved win in 2016! Your Night Sky costume is spectacular. I would need to loose quite a bit of weight to look good in that one. I would like to see other costume that you make and sell. I would like to order early for Halloween 2021. This is so exciting. Hope to hear from you soon.

#10 comment by Denise November 7, 2020

Aloha Diane (and anyone else interested in my costumes), Thank you for your kind words. Do contact me directly via dginspace[at]yahoo.com so I can supply you with details. Other costumes that can be found on this site are the Seahorse and Orchid costumes. Coming soon is a group costume of life size skeleton marionettes from last week's Halloween. All are great fun to make and wear! (And there is no such thing as ordering too early!) I look forward to your inquiry.

Add Your Comment

* Comment: 
* Your Name: 
* Your Email: