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You know that opening scene from the most recent James Bond film? You know, the sexy one (okay, they’re all sexy)? The one where James Bond is walking through Mexico City during Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) wearing that sexy skeleton tuxedo with a sexy bond girl on his arm? Yes, that one. What a beautiful scene and a beautiful couple. There may have been wine involved but I looked at my husband and said “you need to wear that!” …which meant I needed to make it for him. And duplicate his arm candy for myself. This blog post contains my build on her costume, specifically. If you want to see the build on his costume, it can be found here.
Other than wanting to see my husband wear this (hello!), this one spoke to me on a creative level. I wanted very much to paint that skeleton tuxedo and I did exactly that! I painted the tuxedo for him, modified a Mexican dress from the 1970s for me, made a flower crown, and assembled the rest of the accessories from Ebay, Etsy, and Amazon. We wore these costumes to Comicpalooza in Houston in May (Photos by my super adorable niece, Brittany https://www.instagram.com/invasionsofthestuffies/) and at DragonCon in Atlanta earlier this month. They may also be resurrected for a local Day of the Dead event and/or Halloween. They’re just so much fun (and comfortable) to wear and very easy to make! Here’s how I made and assembled the Bond Girl costume:
Mexico City Bond Girl from Spectre: The Dress
I found a purple Mexican Wedding dress from the 1970s on Etsy Vintage that was kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinda close. Ideally, I wanted the color to be close to the Bond Girl’s in the film, and it needed to have lace panels. In retrospect, I could’ve found one closer in white and then dyed it plum. But for a party dress or Halloween dress, close is close enough! Besides, no one would be looking at me anyway. Not with my husband’s stunning skeleton tuxedo right next to me. To make my dress more like hers in the film, I removed the sleeves and moved up a lace panel to become cap sleeves. I also removed the ugly ribbon around the neck and waist. And I shortened the dress by removing the bottom panel under the lace. Close enough!
Mexico City Bond Girl from Spectre: The Flower Crown
The flower headband was the fun part, since deep down, I’m still a hot gluer at heart. I assembled a black satin headband, felt and silk flowers, black netting, black rooster feathers, and black ribbon. And then I just cut/glued/copied what I saw on screen until mine looked like hers in the film.
Mexico City Bond Girl from Spectre: Accessories
- Gold earrings: Gold Tone Lightweight Filigree Floral Teardrop Metal Cut-out Earrings
- Black lace choker: Zivyes 6pcs Black Lace Floral Choker Punk Gothic Tattoo Necklace for 90s Women Girls (6pcs Set)
- Skeleton key: Antique Skeleton Key
- Gold bangle bracelets: GUESS “Basic” Gold 7 Piece Mixed Bangle Bracelet
- Black lace finger-less gloves: Fingerless Gothic Wrist Gloves Black
- Black under-bust corset: (Camellias 26 Steel Boned Corset Short Torso Heavy Duty Waist Training Cincher Black Large
)
- Black shoes (pumps or flats)
)
Anna of Darkstar Photography and Costuming snapped these photos of us at DragonCon. More of her photography and costuming can be found on her Facebook page.
For my husband’s James Bond’s costume, read Costuming James Bond from Spectre (and scroll through the intro, which you’ve already read).
Other costumes from James Bond on the blog:
Costuming James Bond from Spectre
Costuming Vesper Lynd from Casino Royale
More costumes made and worn by me here:
https://redshoesredwine.com/category/geekery/costuming/
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I know this is an old post but how did you do the mask?
I found a vendor on Etsy that made one for me. Artisanmaskers (from Utah) doesn’t keep that particular mask in their shop but made a special listing for me several years ago: https://etsy.me/2d6HHXa. There’s also this listing on eBay from a vendor located in Greece: https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F322816305105. I searched “Spectre mask” and it looks exactly like mine.
Hi Sheila, these costumes are amazing! My husband and I were watching Spectre and thought that I would be really cool to host our annual Halloween Party this year in these. I’m finding that I may need to make these myself although time is not on my side at this point. How long did it take you to make both of these? Is one month enough?
Hi Kimberly! Thank you! I think one month is enough. Supplies and accessories took several days to arrive from amazon and Etsy. The ladies mask took the longest because it was painted for me by a vendor on Etsy, so I’m not sure about her mask specifically and what listings are currently available. Painting my husband’s suit took a few days, tracing the skeleton from the pattern took a few hours, then one evening per each color paint, let dry overnight each color. The Bond Girl dress was a couple hours to modify, a couple hours for the flower headband. I hope this helps!
Yes that helps for sure! I’m feeling more confident that I can pull this off. I think I will give it a try. With the instructions, links, and the skeleton pattern you’ve provided, I definitely feel it’s possible. I am having trouble finding the girl mask so I’ll think I’ll also give it a try at making my own. Thank you for sharing and all the helpful tips! I’ll keep you posted on my progress. That is unless you are ready to part with your wonderful creations and they are for sale?!!
My husband loves his suit so I think we’ll keep it for a while 😉 Please let me know if you have any questions during the process, and do share when you’re finished! I’m on Facebook and social media @redshoesredwine. You can do this!!