DIY Willow Witch Costume
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Guys, this is such a fun & easy costume idea!! Perfect for Halloween or any Taylor Swift-themed function! It is really a kind of “choose your own adventure” DIY project because you can make it as simple or as fancy as you want! Want super simple? Get yourself a mustard yellow tiered maxi dress & a dark green hooded cape (I like this one from Amazon). Want to get a little fancier? Keep reading for some easy DIYs that really add to this costume!
Supplies (find these on my Amazon storefront!)
Paints (burnt orange, orange, gold, cream)
Fluffy paint brush
Step 1: The Dress
Now this can be as simple as sourcing a mustard yellow tiered maxi dress. I like to search Poshmark for secondhand finds! I stumbled upon the most perfect dress but it just happened to be light pink instead of yellow lol. But me being me, I said CHALLENGE ACCEPTED. One bottle of marigold yellow Rit dye later, and this dress was the perfect mustard yellow color!
I followed the instructions on the bottle for my fabric type & let the dress soak (while stirring) for about 10 minutes before rinsing. I started with half the bottle and tested the color on an inconspicuous corner of the dress & ended up using the full bottle to get the color I wanted! Pro tip: remember your color theory from elementary school - light pink + yellow gives it a bit of an orange tint, which is what I wanted!
When determining how long to let it soak, I tend to go with less time to start since you can always dye things darker but you can’t go lighter! Also, the fabric will look much darker when wet vs. when it dries. Once you’ve reached your desired color, rinse the dress until the water runs clear & then throw it in the wash!
This is where you can stop with the dress OR get a little more creative! If you want to replicate Taylor’s dress exactly, you will need some gold embellishments. I wasn’t able to find exactly what I was looking for, which is why I ended up stopping at the “willow witch” stage! If you want to recreate Taylor’s dress, I recommend finding some sparkly gold trim/appliqués & using strong fabric glue to attach. You will probably need to do some cutting & pasting of the appliqués to make them look like the ones on Taylor’s dress!
Step 2: The Globe
Arguably the most iconic part of the willow set at the Eras Tour is the flaming globes the witches carry! I found a pretty easy DIY solution for this! All you need is a plastic snow globe, some paint, and some fairy lights! With your globe, take the bottom off so you can access the inside. Using a fluffy paint brush, put a base coat of a burnt orange color all the way around the inside of the globe - it’s okay if there are some sparse spots, in fact, you want that so the light shines through more in some places to give it that marbled look! Then, while the paint was still wet, I added some brighter orange, gold, and cream paint and tapped it in with my paintbrush, letting the bristles smush against the globe, giving it the marbled, swirly look like the ones on tour! If it looks messy, you are doing it right!
Now this is where the magic happens! Feed the fairy lights into the globe, turn then on, & put the bottom back on…voila! a magical, glowing globe! The lights should be LED so this probably isn’t a fire hazard but…just to be safe, I wouldn’t leave it on & unattended for extended periods of time lol! Be safe out there!
Step 3: The Hooded Cape & Final Touches
This is probably the simplest part of the costume - just get yourself a dark green velvet hooded cape! I really like this one from Amazon because it is relatively high quality & the perfect dark green color! If you are recreating Taylor’s outfit, make sure to add some glittery appliqués along the bottom hem.
Finally, throw on a pair of brown boots & you are officially a willow witch!
If you try any of these DIYs for your willow witch costume, please tag @stringandhoney - we’d love to see!!
xoxo, maggie