Halloween 2018
I couldn’t wait to write about this Halloween. Back in 2011 I thought the costume I had made Scott was going to be my Magnum Opus. He had always wanted to be the Mask of the Red Death from The Phantom of the Opera. So I spent weeks sewing and designing. Re-doing the pants when they didn’t fit for him. Re-sewing the front of the tunic when it wasn’t straight. It was a lot of hard work, and the one I am still most proud of having done on my own.
But then, in 2018, Scott came up with the most brilliant costume idea for that year: Coco, and I think this may also be right up there with the 2011 costume. Since we try and make them couples costumes we decided Imelda and Hector had to be it. I think Scott loves this movie best of all the Pixar films. Personally this one is second for me after Frozen. I’m a sucker for princess movies.
We started working in July since we decided to go in August. I was extra excited because we were going on my Birthday! I’d never been at Disney World on my birthday, and now we were doing the party also. What more could I have asked for?
After doing some initial planning for each costume (mostly what each would comprise of) we started by scouring the internet for just the right purple fabric for the Imelda dress. I can’t tell you how many fabric websites we searched looking for just the right material. Luckily a cute little store in Pennsylvania had something that was actually pretty good. I ordered four yards and prayed it would arrive quickly. Then I started working on a mock up.
Since it was a period piece from Mexico I looked up the Folklorico costumes and daily wear of the ladies from that time period. We also must have watched the movie about a dozen times to study their clothing. I already had a pattern for a 50s dress that would work for the square neckline, but I didn’t have anything that would work for a tiered skirt.
After searching the internet yet again I found a do-it-yourself pattern on a website that gave me the basic breakdown in measurements. Problem is I hate math. This always proves to be the hardest part for me if I have to make my own. I’m more of a “wing it” sort of person. Unfortunately measuring it became a necessary move when I realized that the four yards of fabric I ordered would be just enough to make the dress. I couldn’t mess up. If I did I wouldn’t have enough time to order more fabric to try again. So I ended up making a second mock up to use as a pattern for the final.
In the meantime, Scott started looking for a way to paint our faces so we would look like skeletons, finding me some flower trim, and searching for his own costume. The top was easy, a purple vest torn in just the right way. For that I bought an “Uncle Sam” costume pattern whose jacket was right, sans the tails. For the pants he started searching Goodwill stores. I’m not sure how, but he found the perfect pair of striped corduroys in almost the exact colors we needed. I have to say, by the way, that Goodwill has come through for us more than once when looking for an item to use. Whether as a part of the costume or as an accessory. Real clothing has always proved of better use than store bought costumes.
I made more than one mockup of his vest as well to make sure it hung right. Then we had to cut and tear his pants in just the right way and make some waist fitting adjustments. He handled the cutting of the pants legs, and I have to say he did an amazing job.
The flower trim for the dress was proving difficult. Nothing seemed right. Scott found on Etsy, I think, a seller who had some ribbon that was pretty close. There were two different colors so he ordered both. It was being sent from the Middle East somewhere and I had some concerns it would reach us in time. Luckily we did get it and it matched well enough, so we went with it.
By the time mid-August rolled around we were in pretty good shape. We had nearly everything we needed. Last but not least we needed skeleton costumes for underneath our clothes. Scott really wanted to make the skeleton bones for underneath himself. He purchased a black body suit and a turtle neck. Then found some kind of foam to use. He wanted them to have a 3D effect and look real. He spent weeks shaping them and painting. He glued them to the suit and let them cure. But no matter what he used to adhere them the foam would not stick. I know how frustrated he was, especially with all the work he put in. We got down to the wire trying different methods but it was just not going to happen.
Luckily places like Party City start Halloween early and they had several costumes to choose from. On our way driving up to Disney we ended up stopping at two different locations since neither store had both of the costumes we needed. (A funny side note here, at the one in Orlando there was a HUGE random line in the store with all these parents and kids. Apparently a local school was doing a dress up day of some kind the next day and they were having a run on doctors, nurses and police officer costumes. We were actually concerned, since it was about 9pm when we got there and had ordered ahead, that we wouldn’t get our costume. Most of the stores close at 9 or 9:30. But the employees were pretty competent and we got it that night.)
The night before the party Scott worked on some finishing touches to his costume in the hotel room. He wanted to “distress” the vest by using some fabric paint. The clothing in the movie is obviously worn and tattered and he is a perfectionist when it comes to small details. Anything worth doing right, after all.
The day of the party was a blast. Since it was my birthday we chose to do Epcot in the morning/afternoon for Food & Wine Fest, then head back to our hotel room in the late afternoon to get ready for the party that night. Turns out there was an extra surprise in store. Scotts friends from ice hockey, who are also big Disney fans, were also going to the same party and we were meeting up with them.
On our way to the park they texted Scott to let him know that Disney was doing some filming for an upcoming tv special there. They also mentioned that they happened to know one the producers of the show and he had said he might be able to get them on tv as background people if they were interested. They had agreed but said they wanted to wait for us to see if we were interested too.
This was turning out to be one the coolest birthdays ever! When we arrived we met up with our friends and found the producer. He walked us over to an area roped off from the rest of the parade watchers. There were cameras everywhere. We had to sign an agreement that allowed them to film us, and then we waited for the parade. They were interviewing a few people nearby but we couldn’t really hear what was going on at the time. Later, when we watched the special that aired that October, turns out the interviewees and the group of people we were standing next to included the choreographer for the parade and the main parade baton twirlers fiancé.
After the parade we met back up with their producer friend who complimented us on our costumes. He said that they had seen us when we walked into the park and, had we not already been friends with the people he knew, they would probably have asked us if we were interested to be on the show anyhow just based on our costumes. That is hands down one of the best compliments I’ve ever gotten for a costume. Our costumes were tv worthy.
One of the other great compliments that night came from a party-goer. A young lady ran up to us, perhaps 13 or 14 if I remember correctly, and was thrilled with the fact that we had done the Coco costumes. She was desperate to get a picture.
Days later, our friends found a post by her mom on a Disney Facebook group. Coco was her favorite movie and she had been so hoping since it was a Dia de los muertos film that Disney might do something to incorporate Coco into their celebration. She had been very disappointed that there didn’t seem to be anything at the party, but it had made her night that she had seen us and was able to get a picture with us. I love hearing that the things we do because we love them so much can also make someone else this happy.
The rest of the night we did our usual party stuff. Riding the rides, checking out the specialty party treats and merchandise (available during the party only), and hanging with our friends. The time always seems to fly by during the parties in particular.
Then, after scaring the people in a Wendy’s drive thru, back to the hotel room to take off the makeup. This proved a little difficult since we used special makeup so it wouldn’t smudge or run (have I mentioned Florida is hot lately?) The only thing that would take it off was a hard core scrub and rubbing alcohol. The makeup alone had taken almost 3 hours to apply in the first place, then another hour to remove. This was definitely something we would have to improve upon if we wore the costumes again.
All in all, this is definitely one of the best costumes we have done so far. In the intervening years we have worn them several more times, and upgraded our makeup game (which I will try to detail when I talk about the 2019 costumes since we wore the Coco ones to Disney again that year also.) It was such an amazing party that year and we had so much fun. Despite our set backs all the hard work definitely paid off.