My Halloween costume: Betty Draper, with a tan (aka "17. Attend a themed party")

Betty/Alterna-Betty

For Halloween this year, I was a character from one of my favorite shows at the moment: Betty Draper-Francis from Mad Men. One would think because this character is so cold and WASP-y I'd have to go through great lengths to recreate her as a costume. Au contraire, mon ami:

For the hair, a blonde wig was most definitely in order. I don't think locs even hit America 'til at least the 1970s, and Mad Men is set in the 1960s. I added a black headband to make the look more retro.

The string of pearls, evening gloves, and clutch: courtesy of my closet raid. Who says you have to drop mad $$$ on a costume, when you can just make one out of stuff you already have?

Betty smokes like a chimney on the show, so I'd definitely have to pick up a pack of ciggies to carry around. Problem is, I don't smoke cigarettes. And so the urbanization of Betty Draper (at least for the purposes of this costume) continues: grape cigarillos, please.

Betty has a number of different looks on the show; for my costume, I pulled a vintage cocktail dress I've had in my closet for YEARS (so pretty, but nowhere to wear it ) out of hiding and bought a frilly petticoat from a party store to wear underneath it. Insta-poof!

For the shoes, I once again raided my closet for a pair of suede and leather pointy-toed pumps from Aldo. Parfait.

I think of my Betty as regular Betty's alter-ego: way more chill, not relegated to the suburbs, and certainly not WASP-y.

Stay tuned for the follow-up post on how I did my makeup!