What better a costume for a print and pattern lover, than a leopard? Not only that, but Halloween falls on the same night as PBS’s wonderful nature program “Super Cats”.
Naturally, making this costume vintage-inspired was my next requirement, in order to set it apart a bit from the usual cat costumes of 2018.
Here are some photos that inspired me:
I needed to make a.. what would you call this.. hood? hat? with a “widow’s peak” shape, to make it in true vintage fashion. I found that McCall’s Pattern M6106 fit the bill nicely, however required MUCH alteration to make the hood tight enough. The under chin area is plenty of Velcro. I then added this fantastic gold lame (circa 1960’s) ric-rac that I’d been saving quite a while for the perfect use. (note: an alternative pattern would be Simplicity 2855 if you were doing just the hood).
Here is how the hood/hat turned out! I love it! I actually found this leopard leotard, but layered another leopard shirt under it to make it work appropriate, plus leopard boots that I already owned, and a leopard waist sash as a tail to complete the leopard look.
For the makeup, I used my black eyeliner that I already have, to create a nose and black lip, as well as exaggerated eyes. I bought some under-a-dollar Halloween cream make up in white and brown to create a white muzzle and make some matching dots (outline in eyeliner).
Look at that accuracy!!