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Corpse Bride
Reference Photos:
Costume Photos:
Based on: Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride
Costume made: 2005
Worn at: Halloween, DragonCon 2006
About this costume:
I wanted to do the Corpse Bride character before I even saw the movie, because
I really liked the outfit and have always been a fan of Tim Burton’s work. I used
a movie poster for reference while making the costume. I thought this would be
a fun costume to wear, but I didn’t anticipate what it would be like to drag around
a wedding dress with a long train. I nearly got sucked into an escalator at
DragonCon. I still think it is a great costume for Halloween and I’d like to make
it again with some improvements.
How I made the costume:
Outfit:
I got a damaged wedding dress on eBay for $10. It was in bad shape and six sizes too big, but it had
all the elements I needed to work with. I cut the top off of it to make it strapless, then took out the back
zipper and extra fabric and created a corset style back. Then I soaked it in tea in the bathtub to make it
look a little old and dirty. It was made of satin polyester, so it only dulled the white a little bit. All the
details are painted on with purple watercolor. I cut up a skeleton suit for all the exposed bone parts.
Shoes:
Regular white pumps
Accessories:
I made the veil and the bouquet was actually my mom’s old wedding bouquet.
Hair & Make-up:
The Corpse Bride is a light blue color, so I mixed regular blue liquid make-up with a little bit of white
and a little bit of regular foundation. I’ve found that adding foundation, particularly Revlon Color Stay to
body make-up usually cuts down on cracking. Her eyebrows are always curved in this odd way, so I
drew those on. Unfortunately, the effect was that I looked worried or concerned in all the photos. It’s
amazing how the shape of eyebrows really conveys an expression. For the hair, I wore a purple wig.
Costume made: 2005
Worn at: Halloween, DragonCon 2006
About this costume:
I wanted to do the Corpse Bride character before I even saw the movie, because
I really liked the outfit and have always been a fan of Tim Burton’s work. I used
a movie poster for reference while making the costume. I thought this would be
a fun costume to wear, but I didn’t anticipate what it would be like to drag around
a wedding dress with a long train. I nearly got sucked into an escalator at
DragonCon. I still think it is a great costume for Halloween and I’d like to make
it again with some improvements.
How I made the costume:
Outfit:
I got a damaged wedding dress on eBay for $10. It was in bad shape and six sizes too big, but it had
all the elements I needed to work with. I cut the top off of it to make it strapless, then took out the back
zipper and extra fabric and created a corset style back. Then I soaked it in tea in the bathtub to make it
look a little old and dirty. It was made of satin polyester, so it only dulled the white a little bit. All the
details are painted on with purple watercolor. I cut up a skeleton suit for all the exposed bone parts.
Shoes:
Regular white pumps
Accessories:
I made the veil and the bouquet was actually my mom’s old wedding bouquet.
Hair & Make-up:
The Corpse Bride is a light blue color, so I mixed regular blue liquid make-up with a little bit of white
and a little bit of regular foundation. I’ve found that adding foundation, particularly Revlon Color Stay to
body make-up usually cuts down on cracking. Her eyebrows are always curved in this odd way, so I
drew those on. Unfortunately, the effect was that I looked worried or concerned in all the photos. It’s
amazing how the shape of eyebrows really conveys an expression. For the hair, I wore a purple wig.
