A few Halloweens ago I made Bjork's white swan dress costume, and it remains one of my all time favorites. To follow it up, this year I thought I'd go the other direction with The Black Swan. I'm a big Aronofsky fan, and while I didn't love everything about the movie I did love the costuming. I had to remind myself to maintain a very very serious face for photos, for maximal authenticity
Without further ado, here it is:
The cats always want to be in my photos. They are great photo props.
Please excuse the cluttered shelves-o-crafting in the background.
Detail shot
Side by side comparison--juxtaposing oneself next to Natalie Portman is perhaps not the best way to make an unflattering photo more flattering, but hey, my self-esteem is pretty resilient.
I built the dress on an existing black bustier, using tulle, black grosgrain ribbon, fabric scraps from a repurposed skirt, feathers, and rhinestones. The tiara is a cheap dollar store tiara with fabric leaves, spray paint, and more rhinestones.
I tried to make the dress as close to the movie costume as possible, however since I made it wear to a work party I changed the skirt from a possibly-butt-revealing "pancake" tutu to a longer, "bell" style tutu. Doing the black wing eye makeup was one of the most fun parts--I wish I had more costume parties to go to just to play around with black eyeliner more!
