Hello Halloween!

I mean "Goodbye Halloween." It's November, but I wasn't gonna finish a project early just so I can blog about it in a timely fashion.
In my youthful days of joy, I would spend weeks planning a costume. Something sexy and fun, but not totally cliche. Then, I would prepare Halloween themed desserts, sometimes even a cocktail and celebrate the shit out of that holiday at what was always the party of the year.
Now, my sad ass just dresses up for school. I knew what I wanted to wear, whether it was age appropriate or not...

Helloooooo

So, if you read my blog over the summer, you'd know that I like Hello Kitty now. (Waves fist) You better be ok with that! (Why I like Kitty.) It's "kawaii" which means "cute af" in Japanese from what I can gather. The whole Sanrio-Kitty world is just so cute and endearing. The simplicity is what makes her over the top cute.
Oh, and I do remember the news story that came out awhile back declaring Hello Kitty "not a cat" and I declare "bullshit." Paws, whiskers, little cat ears...yeah, that's a cat, you can't pull a fast one on me!

Anyway...my costume. I searched Pinterest and Google images for some inspiration.

I wanted a cross between that strapless dress and that cute baby. She looks so comfy.

Here are some other ideas that could possibly be work appropriate. If I wanted to be recognized I needed the cat ears and bow, which I bought. For the clothing part, Kitty's usual outfit seems to be a jumper; something with shoulder straps like overalls. Her colors seem to have two basic schemes: classic red/blue/yellow or girly red and pink.

I didn't want to go subtle, so I figured I would construct a dress with images of Kitty herself. Even though that's kinda like this:

Milhouse: Check it out Lisa! I’m Radioactive Man!

Lisa: I don’t think the real Radioactive Man wears a plastic smock with a picture of himself on it!

Milhouse: He would on Halloween!

I started with this stupid garment:

I did not waste time modeling a "before" shot because it's not funny looking, it's just one of those terrycloth beachwear things. Obviously not a jumper, but it worked for me. Then I hit up the little girls' department of Savers and found this:

I almost felt bad about destroying it just for the picture of Kitty with the 3D bow. But I cut her out right around the head. The stretchy bathing suit material was kinda worn and pill-y. 

Then I went to Goodwill and found this one:

Oooh, sequined Hello Kitty face! Now, I want that one. Both dresses were $3 each, so...probably not money well spent for scraps. 

The transplant took place and the sparkle head was added to the front of my red "jumper." Then, I looked at the other one and wanted that one too. I made a pocket with it!

I didn't get a real picture, I just zoomed in.
Who has a pair of white leggings? Couldn't find any, until I asked my mom the night before. She said "Yeah, I think I do. And I don't think I've ever worn them. Why do I have them?"
The finishing touch was a really fun Hello Kitty necklace for $1.99. Actually, I drew on some whiskers. That was the finishing touch. 

Just a mirror selfie. My mirror just leans against the wall in my bedroom so I moved it into the kitchen for the white background. Here's one without the white:

The children loved it, and everyone was reminded of my darling little friend AB who attends a different school this year. (Scroll up and click the link in the second paragraph, that will tell you who AB is.) I definitely sent a pic to her Nana's phone so I could say Happy Halloween and remind her of how we all miss her.