Bedazzled Halloween costumes

Why costume fabric is the hard part

A shop-bought costume is built to a price: thin polyester, often with a shiny coating, sometimes glued rather than sewn. Heat can melt or pucker it, so a hotfix applicator is a gamble — test on an inside seam before you touch the front. Glue works, but the coating is what it has to grip, and a flexible adhesive handles that better than a rigid one. If the costume is stretchy, treat it like a dance costume: stretch the fabric over a form while you work.

If the party is tonight

• Gem stickers on the bodice, collar, cuffs or a mask’s edge — no curing time.
• Face and body gems for the Y2K and “cosmic” looks, with adhesive made for skin.
• Stick-on gems along a hairline, jawline or collarbone read best in photos.
• Press every sticker down hard and carry a few spares plus a dot of skin-safe adhesive.

If you have a few days

Glue 3 mm resin flatbacks with a flexible E6000-type adhesive, working in small patches and letting the whole thing cure flat overnight. Build sparkle where it catches light and not where it catches on things: shoulders, cuffs, a collar, the outer edge of a cape. Full coverage on a big surface is a thousands-of-stones job, so outline a shape instead and fill the middle loosely.

Masks, wings and props

Hard plastic masks and props are the easiest part of a costume to decorate — the method is the same as a phone case. Keep stones clear of eye holes, breathing holes and anywhere the mask touches your face, and don’t add weight to the top of a mask or a pair of wings: it tips them forward all night.

Taking it all off

Face gems come off with an oil-based makeup remover, never a pull. Gem stickers lift from a costume with gentle heat from a hair dryer and a fingernail. Glued stones on a cheap costume usually come off with the coating attached, which is worth knowing before you decorate something you want to wear again. More in How to remove rhinestones.