Witch Costume

Overview

Inspired by many different cultural representations of witchcraft, this costume is a modern reinterpretation of what it might look like to be a witch in the twenty first century. The staff contains Arduino components that cause it to glow when the handle contacts skin, giving the costume a magical feeling.

Background

I have been known to get over-excited about Halloween in the past. It is after all, my favorite holiday! Who doesn't love to dress up as something that may or may not exist, and run around eating candy for a whole day? The Halloween of 2019 was a little different for me though. I was in NYC, and I had the chance to walk in the NYC Halloween Parade with my class. And so my witch costume was born!

I didn't want to create your average robed, wand-wielding witch though so I set out to create a unique character persona to begin my costume project.

My childhood was heavily influenced by mythology and fictional creatures, especially witches, and I settled on the idea of a witch after finding an old wand in my belongings. I didn't want to create your average robed, wand-wielding witch though so I set out to create a unique persona to begin my costume project. My chosen persona is a young witch in the modern world, who has recently received her magic staff after passing her final magic exams. The staff is a representation of her magic specialty: crystal resonance. On the day-to-day she would appear a normal human girl in our world, but on special occasions or during magic events she dresses in her formal garb (which my costume shows). The hat is a long-held tradition, while the rest of the outfit is chosen by the individual witch.

Process & Research

Based on the constraints of the project, I chose to create a staff that would light up through capacitive touch. I did this by attaching a red sequin LED to a Gemma Arduino board, and running a wire from the input down the side of the staff. When the wire came in contact with my hand, the LED would light up. The hat and corset parts of the costume were sewn from various fabrics using a sewing machine, and the hat clip was made of oven bake polymer clay. Once all of the custom parts were made, I rounded out the full costume using found and bought items such as a red scarf and a black handkerchief hem dress.

Challenges

In order to get class credit for this costume, there were a couple constraints I had to work with.

1. It had to include an Arduino component

2. Some portion of the costume had to be hand-made (sewn, crafted, 3D-printed, etc.)