Hallowsweek 2025

    Anyone who knows me knows how much I love Halloween. It always has and always will be my favorite holiday and time of year. I love costumes and dressing up and coming up with ideas of who I want to be and how it should look. It is all very fun and fulfilling to me that I can never get enough of it. I think there is something so exciting about planning out a costume and trying to make it as accurate as I can. My only toxic trait about costumes is I will do my best to be as exact to the character or design as I can. Some may call me extra, others will call me crazy, but I call myself brilliant and innovative. And honestly, I always have so much fun with it so who's to stop me. 

    Last year on a whim I decided I would dress up the week leading up to Halloween. It was a way to get me in the spirit of the season and have fun with my outfits. Every day I would choose a simple theme and create a look around that. At the time, I was working a warehouse job so my outfits couldn't be too extra as I still needed to be able to move around and breathe in them. Yet, despite that I still had so much fun with it and loved being able to share my outfits with my friends every day. I loved this idea and knew I had to continue it into the following year, but this time I wanted to bring it up a notch. 

    I knew I wanted to have a little more cohesiveness with my costumes. I didn't mind having ideas that were all over the place, but I wanted to have costumes that were still in the same category. So, a theme it was, but I didn't quite know what theme I wanted to do. There are so many things I love and a multitude of worlds I can pull ideas from that I was stuck on concepts for a while. I was originally planning on doing classic Halloween costumes but ended up scratching that idea as I knew I could come up with something better. It didn't come to me until one night in September when I was watching the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, that inspiration hit me. The thing I love most about that film is its wacky characters and designs, which was brought to us by none other than the brain of Tim Burton. Now, I'm nowhere close to being a film junky but I do have my favorite directors who's films I love, and Tim Burton is one of those beloved directors. I adore his work and style; its uniqueness is very him and I get drawn into it every single time. And, with knowing his film discography like the back of my hand I knew this would be the perfect theme for Halloween as I'd have so many characters to choose from. 

    I had my theme, now I had to decide on which characters I would bring to life, which was hard. Burton has so many classic characters and films that it was troublesome to whittle them down to seven, especially since I didn't want to repeat any movies. My list of character ideas went through a multitude of changes and drafts due to a rule I made for myself to not spend a lot of money on any costumes. I have a good range of clothes that I could use from my closet and didn't see the need to go out and buy an outfit that I'd most likely only wear once. So, when deciding on the characters to choose from they had to be something that I could mainly create with the things I already own. And after immense deliberation and planning I finally had the full list of characters I would be dressing up as. 

    I am proud to finally introduce my 2025 Hallowsweek character lookbook. 

Friday, October 24th

Friday's costume is none other than Lydia Deetz from the movie Beetlejuice. When I hear the name Tim Burton this movie is the first one to come to my mind. I could talk hours on why I love this movie but that's not what we're here for, so let's talk about the costume. I loved this costume, I feel like I was able to nail the outfit perfectly. I own a lot of black clothes, so it was easy to assemble this outfit. I also had the perfect necklace, which earlier this year while on a trip with my family, I ended up in an antique shop. The owner of this store pulled me aside and showed me her black costume jewelry she owned. None of them were even priced or set out yet, she pulled it out specifically to show me and I have never felt more honored. I of course had to buy one and ended up getting this gorgeous necklace that perfectly matched the costume. I feel like I accurately depicted the look of Lydia Deetz and I'm very happy with it. The only thing I wish was different was the length of my bangs. I had a difficult time styling them because they were so long. But I was still able to make them work and I am extremely satisfied with this look and its final result. 

Saturday, October 25th

Saturday's costume was Delores Laferve from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the second movie in the franchise. Whose character is also recognized as Beetlejuice's ex-wife. Now, originally this was not the costume I had planned for this day, but I unfortunately had to make some last-minute changes. I was planning on dressing up as Katrina Van Tassel from the movie Sleepy Hallow, whose character is most commonly depicted in a white and black stripe dress. I did not have anything in my closet similar to this dress, so I tried my best at thrifting something close to it or finding a dress online. This quest gave me a run for my money, anything online was too expensive, and I could find nothing similar in stores. So, I made the decision to sadly scrap this costume idea. I was panicked due to this decision being made the week of, but I was determined to make something work. Thankfully, Burton has a ton of characters who wear black and my closet is full of that. With a bit of research, I settled on this character and knew that the costume would be easy as I had a dress that would work perfectly. The dress doesn't match exactly, but it's similar enough that I was happy with the attire. I actually had a blast with the makeup; the stitching was easy and fun to draw on, and the eye look was messy and all over, so it fit perfectly. Even though most of the people at the party I went to didn't know what my costume was, I did and it was on theme, so it worked for me. I could say a lot about Delores's character in the movie, and how I felt like she wasn't really necessary and was more there to be stunning. Ultimately, she came in clutch with a costume, and I can't be mad at her due to that. 

Sunday, October 26th

The costume idea that started it all, Mike Teavee from the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Mike is a menace, and I think that's why I've always found him entertaining. Each of the kids in this movie show entitlement in different ways and I guess his is the one I could relate to the most. As a game lover, I could also find myself being attracted to the idea of digitally implementing myself into the world of entertainment and game software's. And ultimately that's what drove me to his character and was the reason I wanted to dress up as him instead of the others. His costume was by far the easiest of them all, I was originally planning on bleach drawing a skeleton t-shirt but later decided against it due to time. Despite that, the costume still worked, and I felt like I did him justice. I did have a friend comment on this costume saying they were disappointed I was not wearing a goofy wig to match his hair. And trust me I get that, but I was balling on a budget this year and wigs just didn't make the cut. Plus, it was a Sunday, and I wanted to be as casually dressed as I could. I wouldn't put the idea behind me, but I wasn't really feeling like showing up to family dinner in a detailed costume. Though, it would not shock any one of my siblings and I could absolutely get away with that. Perhaps I'll accomplish that idea in another year, guess you'll just need to stick around to see it.

Monday, October 27th

Monday, I dressed up as one of the iconic Burton characters, Jack Skellington from Nightmare Before Christmas. This one was definitely one of my favorites to do, I conveniently have a three-piece pin stripe outfit that is perfect for Jack, so I obviously had to dress up as him. I love his character, and I love this movie, it was one I would watch all the time growing up. And though it is claimed to be a Tim Burton film, I do have to give a shoutout to Henry Selick who was the director for this film. He's created some of my favorite Claymation films and I have a deep respect for him. Back on track, Jack is a character that I have actually dressed up as for the past two years, so he is a classic in my rotation of costumes. Every year I seem to improve the costume to be even more accurate and fitting. This makeup look was definitely my favorite to do. Truthfully, I have absolutely no experience when it comes to makeup, I had just been winging it this entire week and hoping it looks good. So, with the talent I have, I feel like this eye look turned out really well and I'm happy with it. And a skeleton mouth is a classic to do as I have a tradition of dressing up as skeletons so that part was very easy. If I had to change anything about this look, I would get a proper bat bowtie to match the one that Jack wears. Maybe one day I'll go all out with this costume and get a bald cap and paint my entire body white, but that is a lot of work and would need to be for a more appropriate party setting.

Tuesday, October 28th

On Tuesday I dressed up as Mrs. Lovett from Sweeny Todd. Which, in my opinion, is one of Burtons more underappreciated movies. The thing that shocks people most about this film is the fact that it is a musical. Which really shouldn't come as too big of a surprise as Burton has multiple movies that are filled with singing and music. But I absolutely love this film and the adaption that Burton created. He did a phenomenal job at bringing a gothic slasher musical to life, and it has some iconic songs in my opinion. I will say that this costume was actually the one I was most worried about. I didn't have any matching pieces to what the character wears throughout the movie and was fairly close to scraping this idea. But I powered through that doubt and was able to assemble an amazing costume. Which I will say I'm very impressed with my abilities as I absolutely love this costume and the look and had a blast with it. I've also never worn my hair in two buns so that was a fun style to experiment with.  And the eye look on this is one of my favorites, you can't see it too well in the photo, but I feel as if I did a great job on blending. Again, going into doing my makeup all I had was a girl and her dream to nail the look. And I feel like I was able to do just that and felt amazing all day long with it. 

Wednesday, October 29th

For Wednesday I had no other choice but to dress up as Wednesday Addams from the tv show Wednesday. I have always been a huge fan of the Addams family; they are strange and unique and that is what makes them so loveable. I may have some critiques on how Burton portrayed the family dynamic in his show, but despite that I still love it. And the show made it possible for me to dress up as Wednesday with the theme of this year. A fun thing that I love is when people tell me I look like Wednesday Addams. It is most likely because of the fact I have dark hair and predominately wear black clothing, but I still take it as a huge compliment. Mostly because I love her as a character and am obsessed with Jenna Ortega and think she's gorgeous, so I take any comparison that I get. The outfit for this was extremely easy, I could have tons of different outfit renditions and each of them would work perfectly. But I decided to do an outfit that is a bit more similar to the original design of Wednesday. And luckily, I was able to find a similar outfit that she wears in the show so no one can say that I'm not dressing up as the Burton version of Wednesday. I do get a bit of imposter syndrome when looking at the makeup photo I have for this character card, but it really was due to the lighting and angle that makes me feel like it's not quite myself. But it accurately shows the makeup and hair, so I am okay with it. I had a lot of fun with this costume as it is so fitting for me that there was no way I wasn't going to dress up as her. 

Thursday, October 30th

Thursday, I dressed up as another iconic character, Emily Merrimack from the movie Corpse Bride. Another film that I love dearly, the story is devastating yet inspiring, and I love every second of it. Emily is a tragically beautiful character, and I will always lover her narrative. Now, I have some conflicting opinions on this costume. My original plan was to thrift a wedding dress and design it to be similar in detail to Emilys. I was very eager with this and was sprinting with ideas but ended up running straight into a brick wall. Do you know how hard it is to thrift a wedding dress? Because I didn't, I felt like growing up I would always see dozens of wedding dresses at thrift stores but when I attempted to find one, I did not have such luck. Anytime I did find one they were crazy expensive, which is unreal for stores to upcharge an item that much when they got it for free from a donator. I was coming up short with wedding dresses and was looking for one until the week of. I had to cut my losses and ended up buying the cheapest white dress I could as I had no time to workshop a new character costume. And with the little time I had I did my best to make it work and look good. And truthfully, I hated it, this costume is my least favorite of the set. I think the thing that makes me dislike it the most is knowing how good it could've been with the ideas I had for it in my head. But I ended up being forced to last minute change course. Now this is completely my fault, I should've started hunting for a dress earlier that way I wouldn't have been as panicky. At the end of the day though it is just a costume so I'm not too upset, and I only ended up wearing this costume for an hour due to working an event that day. On a positive note, I will say I love the eye look and had a ton of fun with it. The blue was fun to work with, and it compliments my eyes very well. And I got to have fun experimenting with the sparkles and placements for that, so I can't hate the look too much because of that. I would redo this costume in the future if I had the chance to give it the justice that I believe it deserves. 

Friday, October 31st

The finale costume, Edward Scissorhands from the movie Edward Scissorhands. I absolutely love and adore this movie, it's strange and compelling and tragic all at the same time. The story of Edward is heartbreaking, and I only ever wanted a happy ending for him. He was the scapegoat for some lousy boys and deserves the justice he is rightfully owed. No one could ever make me dislike this poor boy who just wanted to be useful and loved. It was an honor to dress up as him and showcase his character. The costume was once again super easy, just a black base with additional belts and buckles. I did purchase a corset for this outfit which came in clutch for a previous costume on this list. I added some beaded necklaces to add additional texture and glam. The scissor hands were made from rolled up tinfoil; do not judge me I was once again working on a budget. I will confess I did not wear the fingers the entire night, mainly due to the fact that anything that came in contact with it made the tinfoil warp and change shape. I feel like I did not do justice to Edward in this regard because he could not just remove his scissor hands, but this is also a costume, so I won't get too crazy about that. I really loved this costume and could see me doing this again in the future with proper fingers and his alternative button up outfit. 

    I hope you enjoyed the experience of Hallowsweek 2025; I had a ton of fun planning all of these looks and piecing the costumes together. Dressing up just brings me so much joy and creating Hallowsweek was the perfect way to get to experience the fun of Halloween for a bit longer. I plan on making this a tradition I'll do every year as it is good to have something to get excited over and look forward to. Call me crazy, but I already have my theme for next year planned out and have some costume ideas floating around. It's never too early to get on top of some things and there is no harm in it as well, so I have no shame. And hey, maybe this will inspire some of you into joining me for Hallowsweek 2026, or maybe that's just wishful thinking. No matter what I appreciate you for reading this and hope you enjoyed getting a little peak at the way my brain functions. 

Thank you for being here and adding to the collective. <3