Costumes and Festival Outfits

LIFESTYLE · GLOBAL

Costumes and Festival Outfits

Planning ahead, comfort over hours, safety with materials and reusing pieces

Costume shopping happens at the last minute and the results reflect it. A little planning produces something better and considerably more comfortable.

Comfort decides the night

You will be in it for hours, frequently indoors and warm, and usually standing. Anything that restricts breathing, vision or walking gets abandoned by ten o'clock.

Check you can sit down, use a bathroom and get through a doorway. Masks that limit vision are a genuine hazard in a crowd.

Build from clothes you own

A strong accessory, good makeup and one well-chosen piece usually beat a full packaged costume, which is frequently thin polyester that fits nobody. It also costs less and leaves you with wearable clothes.

Fire safety

Many costumes are made from thin synthetic fabric that ignites quickly and melts. Keep away from candles, fire pits, sparklers and cigarettes, which is where most costume injuries happen.

Check children's costumes carry the relevant safety marking, and note that a costume is not nightwear and does not meet those standards.

Makeup and contact lenses

Patch test face paint on the inner forearm a day or two before, since reactions are common. Never use anything not intended for skin.

Cosmetic contact lenses are medical devices requiring a fitting and a valid prescription, and novelty lenses from unregulated sellers have caused permanent sight loss.

Festivals specifically

Layers, because a warm afternoon becomes a cold night. Proper footwear rather than anything new, and something waterproof.

Group costumes

Agree the level of effort in advance, since mismatched commitment is what makes group costumes awkward. Give everyone something they can put together from their own clothes plus one bought element.

Check what the venue allows, since many prohibit full face masks, props that look like weapons and anything obstructing exits.

Cultural dress

Wearing the traditional or religious dress of a culture that is not yours as a costume causes genuine offence. Choosing something else is not difficult.

Getting home

Plan transport before going out, since costumes and late nights are a poor combination with improvising. Keep a phone charged, keep money accessible and stay with people you came with.

Carry something warm for the journey home, since a costume is rarely designed for standing outside at two in the morning.

Buying or hiring

Hiring costs less than buying for a single event and gives access to far better quality. For anything worn once, it is usually the sensible choice.

Afterwards

Keep pieces that work rather than binning a whole costume, since accessories and base layers reappear for years.

Check any glitter is biodegradable where the event requires it.

WHERE TO BUY

Ready to shop Abracadabra NYC? Use the link below to visit the official store.

→ Shop Abracadabra NYC — official site

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