There’s an annual ACL kick off party in Austin that we attend, the theme this year was Incandescence. The mood board that came out gave nods to 1800 attire, antique circus type looks, and a little bit of everything between. Initially I was thinking of doing a carousel costume or hat then starting thinking of something more along the lines of a chandelier costume and hat. But, after thinking through how uncomfortable those would probably be for a dance party, I ended up realigning myself to a candle themed costume in light (hahaha) of the theme name.
There aren’t a lot of candle costumes I could find for inspiration. I did come across a few people trying to recreate the Gaston look from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast but that’s a different vibe than what I wanted. With the help of AI, I created a few photos for inspiration. Obviously nearly none are realistic but it’s still a great start!
I decided to start by making candle shoulder pads where it looks like the wax is dripping down because it seemed the only part I was certain on. I wanted it easy to wear so I could put it on whatever outfit I decided to wear (as I wasn’t really sure on that part either). I gathered some LED candle lights from the Dollar Store, more hot glue than I initially had (I went through 2 large packs for the whole project), parchment paper (not wax paper), and 16 gauge wire.
After gluing a few lights together and realizing it would probably work I needed a base to connect it to the subject. I looped the wire together to go around the back and under the arm pits and back, taping the ends together. I then affixed the candles to the wire. These were faux epaulettes and the general structure was set.
After some finessing I worked out the shoulder pieces, a bracelet, and a purse within a few hours. The next day I finalized those pieces and worked on the necklace as well as the headpiece. The headpiece used a headband, more wire, and 2 hair combs. Shockingly everything was light weight, comfy, and easy to wear. If I had more time, the headpiece could have used more glue to make the drips look bigger. I also had aspirations of adding 3 candles to each of my shoes (but couldn’t find a comfy pair of boots I was willing to destroy for the cause).
When it came time to pull the look together, I opted for sexy circus ring master vibes. We made sure to keep all the light on/off switches accessible when I was using the hot glue and finally turned everything on when we arrived at the party (luckily they all worked!). I called myself the essence of incandescence. People loved it and our friends used me as a beacon to reconvene all night!
