Dexter Halloween Costumes!

I wasn't sure what I wanted to be for Halloween this year until my sister showed me this Dexter & victim costume. Will & I love the show (you can my my Dexter manicures here!)& he already has the official Dexter Kill shirt so we decided to go for it! Also we took these photos at 3 in the morning after going out Saturday so please excuse any fuzziness.

There are so many accessories to choose from for both the victim & the Dexter costumes.This site has lots of great ideas & sources for buying them. I've seen some folks attach a knife & lots of fake blood to their chests, which looks great. But I knew that a dress made of cling wrap would probably be pretty fiddly even without a knife sticking out of it & the forecast also called for freezing temperatures so I wanted to be able to button up my warm coat. We kept my costume very simple but I love the results!

Chances are you probably have everything you need to make this costume work in your house already. I used my trusty Hanes strapless underwire bra, a half slip I picked up for $8 at Target & a pair of hose. Just make sure everything is as close as possible to your skintone. I wanted to make sure that the cling wrap wasn't actually touching my skin very much & I wanted to make sure that there was a distinct top & bottom for ease of mobility & to make sure that I didn't end up looking like a shapeless tube. Other ladies who have done this told me that it tends to bunch up around your waist! Also if there isn't anything between you & the cling wrap, it gets tighter & sweatier as the night goes on. You'll also use a ton of cling wrap!

My version ended up being as comfortable as any strapless dress (not my favorite article of clothing) and only a tiny bit fiddly. Two people can make this costume come together in under 30 minutes. We wrapped about 6 or 7 layers of the cling wrap around my slip, (make sure to keep a wide stance during this step so you can walk easily later!) securing the cling wrap at the top with packaging tape. Super easy!

Next we decided to start with a layer of bubble wrap for the top; we needed only a few layers of cling wrap on top to hide my undergarments this way & the bubble wrap doesn't feel as bad touching your skin as cling wrap. (My hose ended up almost meeting my bra so I had almost no exposed skin anyway.) I decided to go for a strapless dress look. This required about 10 extra minutes for making sure the bubble wrap laid nicely. We used lots of double stick carpet tape & some strategic cuts & folding to basically get what looked liked a bubble wrap bustier. Don't worry about perfection here because the layers of cling wrap will smooth out any small lumps. Be liberal with the tape! Use the double stick just for attaching it to your bra & packaging tape for everything else. Next we started the first layer of cling wrap under my arm, over one breast, then under the other one, & finally around your ribs, back to your starting point. Keep a few inches exposed between your top & the slip. Continue wrapping in that pattern until the bubble wrap is covered. At this point you'll basically have half of a sweetheart neckline finished. Just repeat starting under your other arm. Add more tape anywhere you see fit.

Now you're almost done. I kept that gap in the middle because I was worried about bunching & I'm glad that I did! Before I left the house I added just one more layer to the exposed part (almost like a belt). Think of this as a sacrificial layer that you can easily replace should the need arise. It really kept me from feeling constricted and uncomfortable all night. I readjusted it twice over the course of four hours.

Will & I made complementary facebook headings with these pictures too.

Thanks for reading & Happy Halloween!
Will & April