Thread: What to do with this costume?

I recently purchased this off ebay for $26 :-D it fits wonderfully and is a very well made base. I don't care much for the decorations, even though I do kind of like the funky vintage feel it's got. Problem is, the colors really clash when it's on a body. Does anyone have any ideas for embellishments?

Looks like you got a great deal! I see what you mean about the color though. My first thought was to take off the decorations and recover the base with a better color and put back together. An awful lot of work. Be interesting to see what other Bhuzzers think of that would be easier.

$26!!!!
Congrats!

Qamar

Yeah! And I didn't even have to pay shipping since the seller was close by and let me pick it up!

I like the base color - it's really pretty silver - and I don't happen to have a silver bedlah. The gold is just too brassy though.

what if you just removed the gold pieces that are in the 'body' of the belt (not the coins on the top or bottom), and added something silver there instead? those particular pieces really bring up the yellow in the coins for me, maybe when they're gone it would look less gold???

How about applying this whole belt on a new base of bright red or pink fabric a little wider though, so you have about half of inch or inch sticking out from underneath silver? like a background, I don't know if it makes sense, but it could work. Will be hard to do it on a bra though. But I think you can work it out

I like it as is. I think it would look nice with a silver skirt. It's gives you the opportunity to mix your gold and silver jewelry as accessories, to play up on the gold and silver theme.

I think if you replaced the gold medallions with silver they would just blend in with the base fabric and spoil the symmetry of the design.

add some more silver coins?

Wow $26???? Good find! Colours look ok to me in the pic but I agree that the only other option is to replace the base fabric.

i think it needs more. can you add a color that looks really good on you? maybe use that color to fill in the undecorated portions, edge the bra and the belt in that color. add a skirt of the same color, add bling in that color? that would tie it together and make it look better on you color-wise

It looks like the problem is the clash between the shiny silver base and the antiqued brass of the embellishments. I don't know of an easy way to reconcile the two. I don't think you want to get involved with trying to spray paint the chain and coins to change their color or finish, and since you like the base, it wouldn't make sense to antique it with fabric paint in order to dull it up to match the embellishments. You could try mixing in some antiqued silver pieces, but I'm not sure that will be much of an improvement, because you're still going to have that clash of finishes.

The good news is that the majority of craft materials for jewelry making on the market are in silver tone, so it would be fairly easy to make a replacement for the brass embellishments, and you could just save the brass pieces for a different project with a better-matching base.

Add some AB crystals?

There's a great product called Rub 'n Buff for creating faux metallic finishes, in all looks from shiny to antique in a wide variety of shades--maybe you could use that with a paintbrush to change the color of the embellishments to something that matched better but still stood out. Looking at the photos, the only ornaments that I would change are the kind of lacy looking brighter gold ones--I think the more antique ones look just fine against the silver.

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Maybe adding a third color to it would help, such as sewing some bold blue or red beads or stones. It would leave the bedlah versatile because it will still mostly be metallic, but sometimes adding a third color helps make designs flow together better.

Thank you all so much for the ideas! I just paired the bedlah with a white chiffon skirt and ZOWIE I went running for George Abdo! It's amazing how the right color skirt can make or break a costume. I think I will definitely be adding some crystals for extra pop. I'll post a pic when the family comes home.

It's hopeless and you should sell it to me for $30! Okay, if you want to keep it, okay. I might be tempted to add several pieces of copper to the mix and make it a true precious metals set.

Originally Posted by Karnak

Maybe adding a third color to it would help, such as sewing some bold blue or red beads or stones. It would leave the bedlah versatile because it will still mostly be metallic, but sometimes adding a third color helps make designs flow together better.

That's a nice idea, too. i didn't realize you had mocked it up until I clicked on the thumbnail. Blue would be great, I think. Or amber or green or any color you liked, really.

Maybe add turquoise scarabs for a splash of color. I prefer the old gold metal over bright and brassy. If you want to stay with the same theme you could add a bit of copper metal and chain accents to the base fabric embellishments and lower edge for accenting movement. It's a lovely set with great bones. Very versatile as-is and has the potential for fast and easy changes. Plus the price is awesome.