Goodwill Industries has become known as the place creative people shop to find a huge assortment of materials to piece together fantastic costumes. To provide inspiration to people wanting to construct their own costumes, Goodwill invited McKinney Gough, a talented up-cycler designer that participated in the Color Me Goodwill event, to use her inventive talents to create Halloween costumes. McKinney was given a budget of $35 and asked to make as many creations as she could.
“Appalachian Runaway” $7. The slips and suitcase are from Goodwill and the shoes were a spray paint redo from the Outlet bins, as well. Model is Amie
As an up-cycler, she was well aware of where to look for bargain pieces. Her first stop was Goodwill’s Outlet store on Patten Avenue in West Asheville where she scoured the bins for interesting fabrics. Then she popped into the retail store next door. Her gorgeous and innovative costumes demonstrate what one can do working with even a small budget, time to shop Goodwill and a large dose of creativity.
“High Society Flapper” $20. The burgundy dress and brown 20’s coat are made from a velvet scarf and chair cover found in the Outlet bins. Modeled by Molly. Photo by Ken Lane
McKinney had a good deal of fun with this project. She even came up with names: “High Society Flapper” was her most expensive outlay costing $20 for materials, and the simpler (but still effective) “Appalachian Runaway” was put together for only $7.
“Gin Joint Ginger” $7 made from reclaimed pillow cases and curtains. Model is Amie. Photo by Tempus Fugit Design
For more DIY ideas on how to create one-of-a-kind costumes, visit Goodwill’s Pinterest page at pinterest.com/goodwillnwnc. On Halloween, stop by the Goodwill tent at the Heart of Brevard Halloween Fest, to show them off. It will be a full day of family fun from 10 am to 10 pm in downtown Brevard. Visit halloweenfestnc.com for more details.
Before and after of shoes. Total cost was $1.50 plus paint and doodads McKinney had on hand.
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About Alli Marshall
Alli Marshall has lived in Asheville for more than 20 years and loves live music, visual art, fiction and friendly dogs. She is the winner of the 2016 Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize and the author of the novel "How to Talk to Rockstars," published by Logosophia Books. Follow me @alli_marshall
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The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.