Shakespeare Inspired Halloween Costumes

If you've run out of great Halloween costume ideas, you can always turn to classical literature for inspiration.And no one has created more colorful and memorable characters than William Shakespeare. You don't have to go full-on Elizabethan with this. Shakespearean theater was highly anachronistic, and Athenian nobles, fairies and Italian lovers all dressed in contemporary English fashions, though they were always very theatrical.

Here are just a few of my own ideas of how to make great Shakespeare-inspired Halloween.

Lady Macbeth
Probably the easiest costumes to make. All you need is a gown and a dagger, but if you want to go with something a little more recognizable I recommend Ellen Terry's green dress.

You will need:
- Green floor-length gown
- Golden metal belt
- Crown
- Dagger
- Long red wig

The character is very dark, so dramatic eyeliner and red lips are in order. Some fake blood on your hands and a dagger, complete the look.

Ophelia
This is a great costume if you have a limited budget and no time. The character is very recognizable, but to make it easier for your fellow party goers to figure it out use a painting as inspiration. Pre-Raphaelites have created some of the most famous Ophelias in art.

You will need:
- White floor-length gown (check out thrift stores for some wedding dresses)
- Wreath of flowers for your head
- Garlands of flowers to hold

Ophelia drowned, so go for pale makeup with hints of blue. Using a slightly blue lipstick will give you that ephemeral look. Go barefoot or wear soft slippers. Hair doesn't need to be neatly done, and even if you have a shortcut, you can probably get away with it and avoid the wig.

Cleopatra
This Lady of the Nile has always been a Halloween classic. And Shakespeare's Cleopatra doesn't have to be very different from any other. You can use a store-bought costume or put something together yourself.

You will need:
- White Grecian-style gown
- Leopard-printed shawl
- Lots and lots of gold and turquoise jewelry
- Toy snake    

Remember, Cleo is all about the hair and the eyes. No need to be subtle here. There's some great makeup tutorials online. And don't forget to take a toy snake to add some drama to the costume.  

Viola-Cesario
What could be more fun than a costume of a girl pretending to be a boy?  You can go full-Elizabethan here, but if that's too much for your budget, you could always put together something a little more stylized.

You will need:
- White flouncy shirt with puffy sleeves
- Dark tight pants
- High boots
- A vest (look for one that has a slightly military look)

To finish the look, make sure you have a short haircut. If you have long hair and don't want to lose it for the sake of a Halloween costume, just hide it under a cap.  

Zombie Romeo and Juliet
Romeo & Juliet is a great costume for a couple, but it's been done to death. Unless, you make your star-crossed lovers into a couple of zombies. Nothing says "Halloween is here, baby", like a pair of famous dead lovers.

You will need:
- Medieval/Renaissance costumes (local costume store) Extra points if they match
- Vile of poison
- Toy sword

This one is all about the makeup. Check out some videos on how to create a zombie look. If your costumes aren't too expensive give them a tattered look. Your Romeo will need to have a greenish or bluish tint to his skin, especially around the mouth, to give him a poisoned look. Get some fake blood over the chest and don't forget the bloodied sword for Juliet.

Do you have some great Shakespeare inspired costume ideas? Please share!  

Costuming for the Stage: Chemical Imbalance: A Jekyll and Hyde Play

It's no secret that I'm crazy about theater. I love almost all aspects of it - directing, acting, managing, writing, and especially costuming. Right now my theater group is putting on a production of Lauren Wilson's Chemical Imbalance: A Jekyll and Hyde Play and I had volunteered to create the costumes.

Chemical Imbalance by TA. Image Tiia Tuominen @ Helsinki University Museum

The thing with amateur theater is that there's always a shortage of time and money. Most people have full-time jobs or studies and just don't have the time to make costumes from scratch. And fabric and other material can be pretty costly. So we have to make do with what we have - borrow stuff from friendly theater groups and buy old clothes, altering them to look period.

The play is set in pseudo-Victorian England so I could take quite a bit of liberty with costumes. So I decided we won't be using any corsets (it's a slapstick comedy, and corsets are just too restrictive) and we'll set it at the turn of the century, early-Edwardian era.

Edwardian couple

I went through our storage and found a few fabulous dresses. They just needed a bit of jazzing up to give them the feel if not the look of the era and a bit of visual comedy value. So, this is the story of a dress. A dress for a rich lady with horrible taste - Lady Throckmortonshire.

Lady Throckmortonshire

This is the dress I started with. The sleeves were puffy and the cut was all right. The wine red color worked perfectly for the character. It just needed more trimmings.  

My first attempt was unsuccessful. The gold and brown trim that I'd chosen made the dress look medieval. I tried following the sharp pointy waistline, but it was just not right for the Edwardian style.

I realized that what a Belle Époque gown really needs is lace. Lots and lots of lace. I wish I had more time to trim the hem as well, but I was a bit short on lace.

Lady Throckmortonshire is painfully overdressed. So I added some bows. With pearls and a cameo this was going to look great.

Lady Throckmortonshire and Caliope. Image (c) Stuart D. McQuade

The final result.

If you want to read my musings on costumes for this play, you can find the full post HERE.