How to make a (sorta) Elvis costume

On to the next costume already…

I’m trying to put something together for this race this weekend with this girl.

So this was my inspiration for Sunday’s race in Vegas:

I wanted to do “female Elvis” because I already had a white running skirt and didn’t really want to run in the pantsuit thing.

First, I started with a white tank top.  I went to Walmart and found this golf shirt and bought it for $15 because it was V-neck and had a little collar and the collar is the jam.  (They had cheaper white V-neck tanks for $8 but they didn’t have a collar.)

And then I started ironing on jewels all over the place for lots of bling.  I bought this iron-on design at Walmart for a little less than $5.  Of all the the sparkles, it was actually the easiest to put on.

I also bought a package of strips of rhinestones and added those to my collar and the hem of my skirt.  These were a little harder to work with and didn’t stick on as well; I had to re-iron them a couple times.

For the wide belt I bought some cheap gold fabric from Walmart.  I folded the seams in and glued it together and then glued more rhinestones and gems on it.

I was just going with “the more crap, the merrier” and gluing on as much stuff as I could.

I wanted a red cape but didn’t want to spend a lot of money on fabric and this red tulle was only .99 a yard at Walmart.  Unfortunately I think it veered a little more into bridal than cape so I’d probably use a different fabric next time.

Walmart’s fabrics, by the way, are much cheaper than JoAnn’s.  I went there to make my Minnie Mouse costume and spent a ton more on fabric and ribbon.  Like I could have bought part of Disneyland with how much money I spent.

{My big helper}

I tied the cape around my neck with an extra strip of fabric since I don’t know how to sew.  It would have been nice to have it sewn to the collar, but that’s way beyond my skillset and pay grade.

I also bought a couple sparkly necklaces from a party store for $2 but didn’t end up wearing them since it was so windy on race day.

I tried to do a little pompadour and then layered a gold BIC band on top of a gunmetal one for extra sparkle.

And Pro Compression white socks – 40% off this month with the code SOM12.

{The worst Rock On sign ever}

Even with the super windy conditions, everything stayed in place and I didn’t chafe at all.  I was expecting to get some serious neck burn.

But a lot of spectators didn’t recognize me as Elvis.  Maybe if I was doing a half, I would wear a wig with sideburns which would definitely help, but I didn’t want to deal with my toupee flying off in the wind for 26 miles.

Anyone have any elf costume ideas?  Or just holiday costume ideas?

MOTIVATION

*If you’re looking for some December motivation to get your workouts in, join the #ChillyChallenge with either Team Giraffe or Team Escapades.

*Keeping the train going, sign up for RaceEpic now, a New Year’s virtual run started by a group of bloggers.

Tagged as: costumes