The Broke Costumer: 1960's Golden Artemis

Sunday, October 27, 2013

1960's Golden Artemis

Happy Halloween! This year I went to a gods and goddesses party. We each had to chose a specific mythological character. I chose Artemis for several reasons. She is also known as Diana and Cynthia, which is my name. She is goddess of the moon and the hunt, and carries a bow and arrows. I also do archery. And I am a Sagittarius, who also carries a bow and arrows.

I wanted to put a twist on my costume this year. Since I grew up watching those great 1960s movies such as Jason and the Argonauts, Sinbad, Ulysses, Hercules, and even the later 1981 Clash of the Titans, I wanted to do a mod version. I also wanted another costume to go with my long, red beehive wig.

I had just watched Goldfinger again, so I decided to do 1960's Golden Artemis. Groovy! The first thing I did was to go on Amazon and find - GOLD gogo boots! I found these, made by Funtasma. They are so comfy. Of course, these will be part of some future costume :)

Next, I wanted to find a simple goddess toga pattern. I found several, but not a short one. I finally found this one: Can't beat that price! Very easy, a front and a back, with elastic.

Next, I went to Party City to see what they might have. I found a wood bow in the cowboy & Indian section. I bought a little bottle of gold acrylic paint, and painted the wood. It came with three arrows and I painted them too. I wrapped the handle in gold ribbon, and also tied the arrows onto the bow string with gold bows.

The fabric was fun to buy. I got 2 1/2 yards of liquid gold lame. Took no time at all to zip out a shell. It had to be lined (scrap sheeting I had) because the gold was super stretchy. Here is the shell, trying on with boots so I can cut the hem. A no sew hem! No raveling.

I thought it looked too much like a regular dress, so I added a gold drape across the front. It made all the difference. Now for accessories. I borrowed big hoop earrings from my sis in law, and three gold bracelets from my friend at work. I got white fishnets for $2 at the swapmeet. I got gold glitter nail polish, gold creme eyeshadow and gold tinsel eyelashes. For the "crowning" touch, I found a gold leaf tiara in the Halloween store. Here is the end result.