After posting this photo of Ita as Winnifred Sanderson from Hocus Pocus, I was blown away by the response. Mostly because we all know Ita isn’t the biggest Halloween fan, so this was the only character she wanted to be… and because buying this costume in the UK is completely unattainable, I put this together myself.
I received so many messages asking whether I would consider selling the costume but the truth is, it was a DIY job and is just not good enough to sell on to someone!
Instead, I am going to try and help you to put together this costume, or a very similar and recognisable version anyway.
Firstly, the most recognisable part of Winnie’s outfit is definitely her ginger curly hair and her green cape/dress. These were the first 2 factors that I started looking for. The cape was relatively easy since I had resided myself to the fact that it wouldn’t be the exact same as the one from the movie.
CAPE:
I used this one from Amazon priced at £8.99. You can find similar versions on eBay and Wish for about £5.99 but these could take a long time to arrive and I didn’t think it was worth the risk.
I am sure this is the same cape for slightly cheaper;
You will see that in Winnies costume, she has elongated sleeves but I could not replicate this. Instead I decided to cut the cape so that the bottom curved and then use gold paint to draw on the symbols – again, just like Winnies. I hoped this would distract from the sleeves and I think it did the job!
The paint was Dylon in GOLD 43 and was around £2.50 from ebay. I totally winged the symbols so who knows what they mean!
I did also intend to glue gold robe along the edge of the cape but I did not have enough left after creating the bodice on the dress. I don’t think it makes a huge difference but if I had some I would have definitely added it. I think it would have created weight to the cape (which is very light) so it would have flowed better.
I then simply used an old brooch to tie the cape together at the front and used a slight bit of elastic at the back to create the illusion that it was more fitted then it really is.
HAIR:
Winnies red curly hairstyle is really synonymous to Hocus Pocus so I knew I had to get this part right to make the outfit recognisable. Many of the wigs were simply way to expensive. One from America was over $130 so it was totally out of the question. There was one for £40 on eBay but I did think it was slightly too expensive so I decided to make my own. It was actually far easier than I expected.
I cannot find the exact same one that I used but if you search ‘ginger curly wig’ plenty of options will come up and you will be able to choose the best option based on your budget. The one we used was approx. £12.
This one is very similar. One with a long fringe is ideal because it provides you with the ability to make it look a bit messy.
Ok so making the wig into Winnies hair…
You will need LOTS of hairspray and pins for this. LOTS. I also wish that I had used 2 small doughnuts for this too as I think it would have been far easier to pin into place.
Essentially the goal is to create two space buns and cover them with curls.
Start by separating the hair into pig tails. Tie one section to keep it separate.
Take the first side and (keeping the fringe and some strands separate), tie it into a high pig tail. Once tied up, you can either curl the wig on a lower heat or you can twist strands into a curl and pin this way. I curled much of the wig because I felt it looked better. Then repeat on the other side.
You might find it ends up looking surprisingly neat. So gently pull the hair from the front to create more of a bouffant look.
I know this sounds difficult, but it is easier than you think! You can keep adjusting it until it looks right. Use plenty of hairspray to keep it in place.
I have googled Winnifred Sanderson countless times and in almost every photo her hair looks different. It just has to be recognisable.
DRESS:
Under Winnies green cape is a purple dress with a gold laced bodice. This was so hard to find and the closest I came to it was this below.
I removed the silver buckle and using the gold rope that I bought from eBay, hot glued it along the already existing black bodice.
MAKE-UP:
I think it goes without saying that for Winnie, its all about the lips. So I simply used a bit of red lipstick drawn only in the middle of Itas lips to create the look.
So as you can see, it was quite a bit of effort. Ita absolutely loved it though! So much so that I took around 50 photos just trying to capture one of her not smiling!
Garcia Family UK 