It’s coming up to the end of the year again, when we delight ourselves with dress ups, holidays + theme parties to keep the joy alive. First on the calendar for theme dress ups is Halloween.

Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago, mostly in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1.

This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.

“It’s a full moon tonight, that’s when all the weirdos are out.”

Dani - Hocus Pocus

Why are we talking about costumes?

Well, we love helping you minimise waste and single use costumes are a big part of the problem. Because we live in such a world of convenience, we can tend to opt for the easy solutions off the shelf, but costumes can be so much more than just one wear and then discarded to Papatūānuku.

Dressing up isn’t just about single use clothing it’s also safe to say that appropriation of culture fits into this narrative too. Easy solutions to this are to create a costume that does not create tensions for other cultures, ie: don’t be racist. We recommend creating your own fun ideas for costumes like dinosaurs, animals, a super hero, zombies or creating your own made up character. Being weird is fun and can bring joy and laughter to your days. Let your inner child out to play.

Sometimes its as easy as starting with a mask and creating the rest of the outfit from there, or maybe you’ve got a special piece of clothing in your wardrobe you want to base your outfit from. We love Wintercroft for accessible and affordable DIY masks of all shapes and sizes. There are many different faces to choose from in their repertoire, you won’t be disappointed.

Dinosaurs are our favourite theme…

but making that outfit to look the part can be added stress. We understand the propensity to purchase an easy single use polyester solution off the shelf, it’s convenient. But unfortunately that single use garment isn’t doing Papatūānuku any favours. From the fossil fuels or recovered plastic its made from to the chemicals and dyes that colour it. From creation to end of life and wearing in between polyester has perpetuated the fast fashion industry to become the most damaging and dominant textile produced today. This is bad news for our environment as most of these products break quickly and then end up in Landfill.

How do we avoid that end result of throwing our costumes in the trash?

We create them from something we value, as we mentioned earlier, is there something you already have in your wardrobe you can use as a base to build your outfit from? Or can you find something second hand or possible vintage that can also make your outfit shine? What about borrowing from a friend, we all have wonderful clothing libraries in our own homes to share. We know our kids love to dress up as heroes and if they are willing to share, maybe this year you can swap or trade with your neighbours. Don’t forget you can always hire a costume too.

Wether you’re an experienced seamstress or just a creative dabbler in up-cycling, there are always opportunities to create something unique to showcase your chosen theme. Up-cycling can mean using something that was old, worn or tired and needs a new lease on life, maybe you want to paint or use fake blood to create your look. Using a product that will wash out of clothes and not stain is ideal here but not always possible.

Making your own non toxic fake blood is always a good idea, if you’re wanting to get all gory and explore your creative flair, it will stain though so make sure you’re wearing something old that you won’t mind ruining. We recommend using something made from natural fibres such as cotton that can be composted at the end of its life. If you’re up-cycling be careful its not a poly-cotton blend, this must currently go to landfill. Don’t compost natural fibres in your food compost though, clothing should be composted separately due to dyes and chemicals.

If you do choose synthetic fabrics for your costume remember that when these get washed they do leach plastic microfibres into our water ways. We recommend using a Guppyfriend wash bag available in our shop. You can find more info about these great solutions on our info page here.

If you have sewing skills we recommend creating something you can reuse again and again. Maybe you want to go all out and start from scratch with a pattern or make your own DIY styles. If your in Ōtepoti (Dunedin) you can check out our neighbours Stitch Kitchen at 474 Princes St, for any supplies and tools to get making. It’s always good to make with time on our hands, incase great ideas come through whilst your in creative mode. This also ensures if you run out of something or get frustrated with your process you have time to rectify the situation and take proper breaks. Don’t forget the cups of tea essential to any good sewing project.

Now with a project like this you don’t want to forget the accessories for your costume, They are what make you feel the proper part. Do some research and create from your recycling bin or things you find at home. Cardboard is an amazing substrate and something we all have in our bins.

So a little recap of ideas to minimise your waste during costume creation.

- What’s your party theme?

- Start with a mask

- Check your own wardrobe first

- Hire a costume

- DIY your own costume

- Remember the up-cycled accessories

- Wash any synthetic garments in a Guppyfriend

wash bag.

- Enjoy yourself!