The Woman in Black Costume

I decide to go as the Woman in Black this Halloween because I always want to be something genuinely spooky. I watched the movie recently for the second time and absolutely loved it! The other reason is that this was going to be a challenge to create something authentic looking.
First, I bought some black fabric online. I decided to go for a shiny taffeta style fabric which is tough but cheap. I bought a veil on Amazon and prayed it arrived from HongKong in time! I already had the underbust corset from a previous Halloween costume so I just had to dig it out of the fancy dress box and do some doctoring to it.

To make the dress, I knew I needed some kind of bustle in the back, but didn't want to make the dress a big cake shape as it is meant to be more of a Victorian mourning style which has a straighter shape in the front with the skirt flowing out at the back. In the end, I used a small cushion which I sewed into a gathered section at the small of the back. It made sitting down surprisingly comfy for the whole night!

I sewed a layer of fabric around the bottom of the corset to create more volume to the skirts. I also spent a lot of time "pleating" a front panel to sew into the front of the skirt. At one point I realised the skirt wasn't going to stretch around me at the waist and so I added two triangles on either side of the pleated panel which actually helped make the skirt flow out at the back more.

I sewed in some soft stretchy lace trim around the high neckline and the wrists to stop any rough seams itching me.

With the black makeup around my eyes and the veil down, it was great fun walking home at night spooking passing cars and pedestrians!