Witch of the Wood | Cheap and Easy Halloween Costume

Happy Halloween, loves! I hope you all had a fantastic Halloween weekend and that today is a spooky and festive holiday despite the Monday drudge. Our weekend was full of good friends and family and even a visit from my sister and her brood from Georgia. Originally, we were going to have a year off from Halloween costumes as our usual party was relocated to Vegas. But, circumstances allowed for a last minute party and I was scrambling to come up with an easy and cheap costume that looked anything but easy and cheap and held up to my usual standards of Halloween awesome.

First step was finding my inspiration. Usually, I pull my costume from a movie. I've been Edward Scissorhands, Ursula, the Mad Hatter, The Wicked Witch of the East (house and all), etc. And since this year was all about my throwback love for witches, I decided to come up with a character inspired by the movie The Witch. For the most part the "Witch of the Wood" in the movie is naked or unseen, but I wanted to come up with a stylish version of a witch who could have existed in folklore from the 1600's because being naked in public is, you know, illegal.

This costume was incredibly easy and can be pulled together with makeup, a long black dress, a headpiece, and a quick and cheap DIY project.

Any long black dress would make excellent witch attire. Details like lace or flowing, billowy fabric are a bonus and baring skin in daring places adds a spirit of hedonism and empowerment that witches exude like a thick vapor. My headpiece was created by tying a pelvis bone to a headband. I chose it because it looked like the skull of some deformed and demonic creature. Antlers or horns would also make a great reference to hoofed animals who are notoriously in league with the devil and many people have weird objects like this hanging around, especially if you know some hunters. Ask around and you could probably borrow something from a friend. If not, Amazon or costume stores carry the fake kind for around fifteen to twenty dollars.

My claws were created by following this simple tutorial and took only a glue gun, scissors, and black poster board. I painted my arms with cheap Halloween body paint and in this case, the messier the application the better because I was trying to give the illusion of doing some dark and dirty in the deep woods.

Gethe really heavy handed with the conot our, eye makeup  and blood red lips, and you've got yourself a cheap, easy witch costume that is stylish, sultry, and haunting.

Buffalo Plaid and Stripes | Outfit + Body Positivity

This outfit is breaking so many "don't do that!" rules. Don't wear horizontal stripes! Don't wear over-sized clothing! Don't wear short dresses! Don't wear tight dresses! Don't show any evidence of a body that hasn't been given the stamp of approval by the media and the masses. Don't have curves in the wrong places. Don't let anyone know you have a body that has indulged and lounged, worked hard, slept very little, slept a lot, fought battles with strength and fragility, and lived only by it's own rules.

If you did any of those things you might be showing yourself as too lazy to care how the mechanics of your body affect others. You might be revealing yourself as too undisciplined to try to garner the amorous attention of every person you come into contact with. How are you ever going to be a pretty object for someone else's benefit if you don't start acting like one?

But even when it can leave me feeling exposed and vulnerable, to brashly defy the expectations that have creeped in and overtaken the minds of so many people, that is just not what I want to spread around. I don't want the standards that I pass on to my kids to be perfection or nothing. I don't won't to hide the honesty of myself.

Maybe. Just maybe I will be able to raise kids who see life as something to experience and not an experience to be worthy for. I also hope that I can prevent the hard edge of criticism from forming in their brains and retain the kindness that doesn't require people to check off a list of desirable attributes before they are granted respect, acknowledgement, or even eye contact.

Appearances, theirs or others, are not something that concerned them while they were running around picking pumpkins, getting dirty, acting goofy. They only followed a natural proclivity for joy. Wouldn't it be amazing to always see life that way? Joy has no standards. So, if it fills you with joy to run around a pumpkin patch in a short, tight dress with horizontal stripes, please, don't be afraid to be that bright spot of defiance - that agent of joy.

Dress: JCPenney's (similar, similar in straight sizes, similar, similar, similar in plus) | Shirt: Borrowed from my husband but originally from JCPenney (similar) | Socks: Sockdreams | Boots: Modcloth (similar)

Decorating for Halloween | Outfit

All holidays are a good time for me. I will take any reason to celebrate and be festive, but Halloween has a special place in my dark heart. There are a lot of sweet and innocent reasons to love fall. Crunchy golden leaves, brilliant blue skies, the slight chill that makes snuggling into a warm scarf heavenly. But, nothing compares to thrill of Halloween.

My tastes run towards the chilling and haunting. The question of shadows that appear firm until you turn to meet them. The creak of movement in an empty house. The crackle of energy that moves up your spine while sitting with your back to darkness. I could live in this state all year round, but in October the whole world unfurls into the same mood that wants to fills my head and I can sink deeply into my eerie and gothic delights.

In particular, I've always held a fascination with witches. I went as a witch for Halloween 5 years in a row when I was a kid. My favorite movies always seems to be about witches. Hocus Pocus, Rosemary's Baby, The Craft, and the newest addition to the list, The Witch. When I was a teenager we stumbled upon a Wiccan celebration while camping and I was completely spellbound (pun so intended). Basically, I like them a lot and they are always the source of my inspiration for Halloween.

Elegant, unearthly, and an easy, unshakable sense of power. Witches call to me.

Maybe it's because witches draw my love of granny chic and subtle sexuality into one stirring and unsettling image, but not only do I want to fill my house with this feeling, I only want to dress with a witchy woman in mind for eternity the next month. Autumnal, dark, and moody. I want to live deliciously.

What inspires you in fall? The feelings of harvest and plenty? The ghoulish breath of cold air on your skin? What brings you to life this time of year?

Cardigan: Target (similar in plus) | Shirt: Passive Juice Motel | Skirt: Target (similar in straight sizes, similar in plus) | Tights: Target (similar in plus) | Socks: Torrid (similar) | Boots: Modcloth (similar) | Lips: Colourpop's Ultra Matte Liquid Lipstick in Tulle