Whether it’s for Halloween, a costume party or a school drama production, creating appropriate costumes for teenage girls can be tricky. There is a fine line between costumes that are too racy and costumes that are too juvenile. The right mix lets the girls express themselves, feel beautiful or powerful and have fun at the same time. Try to avoid overplayed costumes, such as a princess or a witch. Feel free to borrow from pop culture and create costumes based on real people
Cleopatra
Cleopatra usually is depicted in a white toga-like garment that you can easily make yourself using a white bed sheet. Start with a white tank top and white tights or leggings as undergarments, then use a white bed sheet wrapped around the body to create the toga. Use safety pins at the neckline and waist to hold the toga in place; pin from beneath the tank top so the pins won’t show. Next, drape her arms in gold bangle bracelets; costume shops and many mall jewelry stores offer these in mass quantities for just a few dollars. Use black pencil eyeliner to line her eyes, flicking the tail out in a cat’s eye; Glamour Magazine suggests dragging the tip of the liner up and out toward the brow to create the right effect. If you have a few extra dollars (or a prop department to foot the bill), add a faux-jeweled collar from a costume shop.
Flamenco Dancer
This is a fun costume to wear because of the traditional Spanish headdress, the mantilla. First, start with the dress. Choose a red or black dress that hits anywhere from the knee to the floor. A ruffled or asymmetrical hem adds flair to the look, but it isn’t necessary. Since Flamenco dancers need to stomp many of their steps, dress her in thick-heeled dance shoes or Mary Janes–no stilettos or ballet flats. Slick her hair back in a bun, and give her a thick coating of dark red lipstick. You can make your own mantilla with three yards of inexpensive black lace from a fabric store and a piece of cardboard. On the cardboard, draw the shape of a mantilla comb: a rectangle on top of a four-pronged claw. Cut it out, and press the claw end of the comb into her hair; use bobby pins to secure it if needed. Drape the lace over the rectangular end of the comb, arrange it so it falls over her shoulders, and cue the castanets–she’s ready to dance!
Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly
Perfect for the budding fashionista, the Holly Golightly character from the film “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” is iconic and easy to recreate. She’ll need a simple black shift dress that is sleeveless, close-fitting, and around knee-length. Give her simple black pumps, preferably with kitten heels. If she isn’t a brunette, she’ll need temporary hair color and spray-in temporary blond highlights. Pull her hair into a French twist updo, and secure it with bobby pins; Seventeen Magazine suggests backcombing the hair to make sure it gets the proper volume and texture. Make sure one streak of blond-highlighted hair shows in the updo. As for props, slip a small tiara onto her head, drape her in a multi-strand faux pearl necklace, and she’s ready to gaze, starstruck, into the window of Tiffany’s jewelry shop.
Oscar Winner
This is by far one of the easiest do-it-yourself costumes for a teenage girl. It needs one simple prop–an Oscar statuette–and a formal dress (parents, here’s a great opportunity to re-use one of her favorite prom or winter ball dresses). To create the Oscar, buy an inexpensive Ken doll from a toy store or thrift shop, and attach it to a small canned food item (tuna cans work well). Wind packing tape around the doll’s feet and the can to keep the two attached. Next, cover Oscar and the base with gold foil; if you can’t find gold foil, use regular aluminum foil to cover everything, then spray paint it gold. All your girl will need to do is prepare her acceptance speech!
