It’s 5:00 and I don’t have a costume for Porter Tinsley’s doctor-themed birthday party at the Waffle.
A trip to the Salvation Army was fail, so I looked across the street at a hardware store and immediately thought “DUCT TAPE.”
I’ve never really sewn a dress before. How hard could it be? When I got home I pulled out a corset, and tried to make a pattern onto a grocery bag. It wasn’t looking good. I dug through my sewing boxes and found an old dress Heather had given me, which still fit snugly and had the shape I was looking for. Simple! I could just tape directly onto the dress, which had a slip attached underneath, and it should fit perfectly.
This wasn’t really the case. As much as I thought the lacy fabric didn’t stretch, it must have, because duct tape does not stretch at all. When I tried to put it on, it was probably about three sizes too small. So I cut panels of fabric and taped them on, until it fit. Somehow the dress had acquired a sort of lolita-style poofiness, so I made it a bit poofier and went with full-on anime styling for the outfit. Red sharpies were used to draw crosses onto the tape.
I needed shoes, too. I had a pair of six-year old slim Sketchers sneakers, and I put pantyhose on over it. I taped over the pantyhose and built some tall white boots, which ended up looking 1980’s and slouchy as the night progressed.
The amazing thing was, until I said something, people didn’t realize that the outfit was duct tape, and I was getting compliments.
We took a lot of pictures. To see them, visit my flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinguino/sets/72157623350539235/
