I LOVE LUCY - LUCILLE BALL COSTUME

Every year the law firm I work for holds a Halloween Costume Contest. In the past I've always done "original" costumes such as ghoulish monsters, the bat outfit...I could name a whole bunch. From years of not winning the "prizes" I've learned that in my working environment that what wins is more often than not "corny"... Last year I took first prize with my Elvis Costume and first for the second consecutive year with my Lucille Ball outfit...which, of course, was not store bought and already made. This is how I did...

I looked through my closet for a 50's like dress.      

What screams 50's more than polka dots? I found this dress but it needed sleeves (Lucy always had sleeves) and it also needed frills.

I found my black bolero int the closet at well. Figured I could wear it under the dress just to get the sleeves I wanted. But it needed to look more "50's" still... (the right side is the original look of the bolero)

 I still needed frills and a red wig. Obviously due for a trip to the dollar store. I found some doilies...they were two for $2. Perfect...that's all I need to create a collar and cuffs. I didn't want to sew it on the dress and bolero though so I used my friend Velcro. He worked out fine...and I can easily take the collar and cuffs off ...or back on.

The doily in its original state...just so that you know what to look for...

Had this apron handy too...and although the flower details are beautiful, I've opted to fold it in as to not take away from the polka dot dress and frills ;)

 Now, for the hair...I searched online for a Lucy wig. Found many but the shipping costs were more than the wig itself...So I decided to make one. It didn't turn our perfectly but it ended up costing me $6.00 instead of $40 give or take with the shipping fees. I found this wig at the dollar store (yes, again) and bought two of them. Why two? Dollar store wigs are usually skimpy on the hair thickness and since it wasn't a genuine Lucy wig I knew I would have to modify it...and I did! To my surprise the hair was already curled (unlike its presentation picture)...yay, one less thing to worry about. Now I just had to pin it up like Lucy's. I ended up cutting the second wig in pieces and sewing them to the sides so that it would "sort of" look like Lucy's. I've  also cut the bangs really really short in front. Used hair combs to hold the hair up in the back and also added a Lucy-like bow in the hair.

 

The accessories are easy to find - Fake pearl necklace and earrings. On hindsight, I really should have taken off my modern looking watch...yeah. Also, talked my friend Monette into dressing up like Ethel (she took in third prize)

 Here we are...the three prize winners. Looks like a retro year at the firm...20's and 50's are new again... The Flapper girl is Angela...seriously, I would were that to a X-mas party. She looked amazing!