Book Blogger Trick or Treat: Bookish Costumes

It's almost Halloween! And we at Ageless Pages are so excited to be part of Great Imaginations’ Blogger Trick or Treat, because do you know what the best part of Halloween is? Skittles. And expressing your personality and likes through a carefully thought out and elaborate costume. But mostly Skittles. (You're all bringing me my favorite candy, right? That's what I signed up for?)

Do you know what the worst part of Halloween is? Running to the costume store because you forgot your carefully thought out and elaborate costume, and only finding...this.

I know the joke, but it really does seem like the only costume options for women are "sexy noun". It's super frustrating, not to mention you're going to freeze your Horcrux off. Luckily, we've come up with a few bookish costumes based on Take Back Halloween's special brand of realistic and fully clothed costumes.

Jane Austen (Or Elizabeth Bennet. Or Emma Woodhouse. Or literally any another Regency character.)

Take Back Halloween has done all the work for us on this one. You need an empire waist dress, (their suggestions are still a little pricey for my blood, this one on Etsy serves or check second hand stores for a cap sleeve dress you can tie a sash around,) a bonnet, cap, and slippers. Prepare your favorite Austen quotes and spend the night looking for your Mr. Darcy.

Katniss Everdeen

The good thing about beloved books being turned into monstrously popular movies, you can buy Katniss costumes that don't suck. This is the Mockingjay version, but I prefer the more iconic original costume, which is out of production but readily available on Amazon. 

Just make sure you pick the right one. Katniss would not approve of your footwear or cutouts, madam.

If those don't do it for you, or you can't find them, here is an excellent resource on making your own. You'll need tan cargo pants, a black windbreaker, a mockingjay pin, and a braid. You can probably source that for $20 if you have good second hand-fu. 

Hermione Granger (Or other Hogwarts students)

Like Katniss, you can buy Hermione costumes. Especially for adults, they look more like the one at the top of this post, than Emma Watson in the movies, but if you search for Harry... A robe is a robe, after all. (You can also find the other houses on Ammy.) Then you just need a collared shirt, black pants or skirt, and a tie in your house colors. Of course, if you want a better quality of robe, Universal offers more authentic (and expensive) options. If you don't have access to Olivanders, this wand tutorial couldn't be easier. Remember it's levi-OH-sa, not levi-o-SAH. 

Karou

From Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Karou is a blue haired, tattooed teenager with eyes like a silent movie star and a mysterious link to another world. Luckily, it's easy enough to dress like a Prague artist, (not so easy to dress as Madrigal.) You're going to want a lot of black: black pants, black jacket, black boots. Add a blue wig, (I like this one in electric or indigo blue.) Don't forget to draw on her tattoos, especially "True" and "Story" on each wrist and the indigo eyes on her palms. Finish the costume off with a wishbone necklace and you're done. Just be careful about breaking that bone.

Linh Cinder, Scarlet Benoit, and Crescent Moon

The girls of the Lunar Chronicles are super easy to dress as and would make a great group costume! In fact, they're almost too simple, but with a few accessories, you'll be recognizable to other Lunartics. 

Cinder is a mechanic, so put on your cargo pants, your tank top, some dirt or grease smears, carry a wrench and you're almost good to go. Slip one of these gloves on your left hand and grab Iko. Try not to let your foot fall off.

She's an android. Android? I kill me.

Scarlet works on her grandma's farm, so she always wears a red hoodie that clashes with her curly ginger hair, a black tank top, torn jeans, and boots. Done. Because she's such a simple character to dress, I would paint "Benoit Tomatoes" on the side of a cardboard box and carry a stuffed wolf in it, but that's totally optional. 

The most important part of a Cress costume is the hair. You need a long, long, wavy, tangled blonde wig. This in light blonde is probably your best bet; it's popular for other Rapunzel costumes. Unlike the other girls, Cress' clothes aren't as important. I suggest something like this or this to play up the fact that she's from Luna, unlike the other characters. The other option, of course, is to follow the fan art and pick up a blue baby doll dress with a ribbon for a sash. But if you find Thorne at the party, hands off. I called dibs.

Lola Nolan

For Lola, every day is Halloween. There is literally nothing off the table, which makes Lola the perfect last minute costume. Got a wig? Got something vintage, off beat, or colorful? Got boots, ballet shoes, or heels? Congratulations, you've got a Lola costume! If you can work a pink bottlecap in somewhere, so much the better! Be Lola. Get your best friend to be Lola. GO AS AN ARMY OF LOLAS!

So there we go, eight bookish costumes that will keep you stylish, comfortable, and above all warm this Halloween. Did we forget someone super obvious? Do "sexy" costumes make your eye twitch too? Have you ever dressed as a book character? Let us know in the comments!