Rhythm Nation Dancer Costume

I recently participated in a zoom call, where we all dress up every year in October. Zoom costumes can be tricky as you need chest up options. I got the idea this year after taking a Peloton ride featuring Janet Jackson (I was such a huge fan growing up, and being one of her backup dancers in the Rhythm Nation video was a dream).

I started with a black mock neck tunic and created the 1814 emblem out of cardboard and metallic paints. I knew the buckles on the inspiration picture I used would not show up on zoom, they were too low and wouldn’t be seen, so I added them to the other chest embellishment. The leather straps that hold both embellishments onto the tunic was from a dog leash I cut up. The baseball hat I found online, but could easily make two 1814 emblems if you didn’t want to buy it (I did paint over the embroidery on the hat I bought to make it look more like metal). I had a silver hoop earring and an old key, which worked great, and I also made some metal looking pieces for the tops of some black leather gloves out of cardboard and metallic paint.

This costume was a lot of fun to make, and happy with how it came out, truly living my teenage dream. I did have to spend about $80 on supplies, but think it would be fun to try making it completely from things around the house. Easy but effective for sure, if you are old enough to know who Janet Jackson is LOL.