Dark Maiden Costume

It's October 1st. You do know what that means, right? Halloween is less than a month away so we all need to start planning costumes! (Haven't you noticed the decorations, the cheap ready made kids costumes and the pumpkins creeping into the stores?)

I have a secret to share. It's a big one. One mighty confession. You won't have seen it coming, I tell you. You'd better sit down first. Ready? Are you sure?

OK. Here it is: I hate Halloween. (I can here you gasping!) Well let me re-phrase that: I hate how All Hallow's Eve has become a commercial festival about Gruesome Bloody Gore (remember, I hate the Horror Genre). As I have previously clued, I am Pagan (oh, all right, Neo-pagan, if you want to be specific) and to me, Samhain is the Celtic New Year, so I really mind this perversion of my Holiday. (Last year a friend told me she didn't get why I hated the whole horror/scary show, considering I call myself a witch - of course, she had no idea how rude she was being.)

(I have a point in there somewhere. And, it relates to costumes too!)

Instead of shutting my eyes and ears and going La-la-la to try to ignore the wave, I fight it all alone in my corner by having my Halloween party and decor themed more around Autumn and Harvest. I set up a bonfire (in an outdoor fireplace) and an altar, I make Witches Brew (ask Nancy-Raven, it is yummy!), I ring a bell and I ride around the front lawn on my broom, dressed up as... a witch of course!

For Halloween 2003, I decided to make myself a really cool Witch’s costume, one I could keep for years to come and wear again and again (if such a thing is possible for me). I found a really neat pattern that really inspired me and decided to make it. Guess what I was doing at 4 A.M. on October 31st of that year? Rushing to finish at the last minute of course!

The pattern I used is McCall’s 4089, view A, and I made only one tiny modification: instead of having a jewelled cord bridging the opened sides of the upper sleeve, I made sewed them together every four inches or so.

Dark Maiden (McCall’s 4089, view A)

Here is a list of the fabrics and notions I used:

• The main dress is made of black stretch paned velvet.
• The vest and sleeves are made of thick spandex with a hematite coloured glitter design.
• The vest is lined with black polyester.
• The accents on the vest and sleeves are made with black sequin string.
• The dress' neckline is drawstring, for which I used ¼ inch black satin ribbon.
• The vest is decorated by a silver coloured clasp that also serves to close it.

My Dark Maiden Dress, Halloween 2003

When I made this costume, I promised my Mom it was going to be my Halloween costume for years to come.

OK, so I make a new one every year for the office and other parties, but I always wear my Witch's costume on Halloween night, when I'm the host of the party.

My Dark Maiden Dress, Halloween 2007

I look better with Bangs, don't you think? Oh, and a funny story, when I first wore that costume, a women came to me and said: "Wow, a blond witch! Are those your real hair?". Why I know long hair are rare (they were down to the small of my back), but what kind of a question is that?

Anyways, last year, I didn't get to wear it because Nancy-Raven held her party on the 31st. But this year, I'm doing the 31st! (It has been reserved for a year.)

Yet, I'm not sure I'll get to wear it because I was thinking of going for a Harry Potter theme. We'll see!