This costume started as a center piece. Literally. I went to a friends cousins bas mitzvah at a reception hall in Long Island. As we were arriving another bas mitzvah was ending next door and they were taking down the decorations. The theme was Circe De Soliel and there were tons of pink and purple plumes in all of the centerpieces. SCORE! I started ransacking the place like it was a fire sale at Bloomingdale's! I got about 40 plumes before someone recognized that I was not with the party and asked what the hell I was doing. At which time I bolted for the door, saving myself about $200 in feathers!
I sewed the corset type top and engineered a piece in the back that held the feathers straight up. It looks a lot like those ski holders that go on the side of shuttle buses at ski mountains. Is that too obscure? Basically it had slots sewed into it so the end of the feathers could slide in vertically. The front just has pink craft feathers from a bag hot glued onto it. (I burnt my fingers SO many times!)
The headpiece:
Its made from plaster infused gauze, craft foam, glue and paint. The plaster gauze is a fun but messy project. First you cover your head in plastic wrap. NOT YOUR FACE! Just your head so the plaster does not stick to your hair. Then dip the plaster gauze strips in water, let some of the excess water drip off and lay on top of your head. Add layers until you achieve the desired shape and thickness of your headpiece. Leave it on your head until its dry enough to retain its shape when you take it off. Then find a safe place covered in newspaper for it to dry. Basically you are making a custom fit base to build off of. I covered the plaster with pink craft foam from my favorite store.. you guessed it, MICHAEL'S! Then I added another layer of craft feathers. Did you know the feathers in a bag from craft stores are actually turkey feathers?! Kinda gross, but what did you expect, they go pluck rainbow birds?
Anyway I think the key to a successful flamingo costume is LOTS of pink! Pink Tights, Pink feather eyelashes, Pink facepaint and pink eye shadow, Pink Hot pants and Pink shoes. My pink shoes are from a cheap shoe store in Manhattan Mall. They were only FIVE dollars. WHAT?! Totally worth it. And of course I hot glued magenta sequined elastic and MORE feathers to them.
The Picnic in the picture is my friend Nicole, another terrific costume maker. She bought food for her costume at Toys R Us and sewed the dress from a table cloth!
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