DIY post apocalypse costume for girls and women
I’ve pondered the thought of whether this year’s costume is a bit of bad taste after going through and living during a pandemic. But hear me out first! I’ve had this idea for the past two years already where I had no idea how this year would turn out. The reason I’ve wanted to come up with my own version of an apocalypse costume is that I’m a huge fan of shows like “The Walking Dead”, “The Rain”, “The 100”, and many others. They are fantasy outfits of what an apocalypse warrior would maybe wear. There is huge freedom with what you can do creatively.
How do you think the fierce survivors would dress? It always fascinates me to see the post-apocalyptic fashion in those types of movies and shows and I have pinned many in the years before. Many of those pins have the person wearing a mask or gas mask and that is definitely fitting for this year.
Last year my daughter wore a dark angel costume and before that a zombie soccer player costume. This year we definitely wanted to stay in the dark, gloomy, and a tad bit scary range of Halloween costumes. I always like having creative freedom and not having to adhere to a specific character. I guess you can also call that cosplay! Those types of fantasy costumes can be very elaborate and expensive and there are a lot of beautiful and unique handmade outfits being sold in various Etsy shops. I wanted to come up with something more affordable and doable for everyone.
The history of the concept of the apocalypse
I thought it would be relevant to include some more details about where the beliefs of an apocalypse stems from and how it has evolved.
Historic apocalypse beliefs
Ancient Egypt they believed in the cyclical nature of time (the belief in a never-ending cycle of birth, death, and rebirth) and the possibility of destruction and renewal, which can be seen as a precursor to the idea of an apocalypse.
The concept of the apocalypse has a long history and refers to a catastrophic end of the world or a time of great upheaval and change. It originated in the Book of Daniel and was further developed in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. In Islamic tradition, it is associated with the “Day of Judgment” or the “Hour” (al-Sa’a). Other cultures such as Hinduism have their own beliefs about the apocalypse.
Current apocalypse beliefs
The concept of the apocalypse is prevalent in various religious and cultural traditions, including Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism. It is associated with tribulation, suffering, judgment, and ultimate salvation. In popular culture and media (science fiction movies and shows), it is portrayed as a catastrophic event leading to the end of civilization, including natural disasters, zombie outbreaks, and alien invasions.
A list of famous apocalypse or the end of the world movies and shows
The following TV series, shows, and movies are always great to watch during the Halloween season. (just to name a few but there are many more)
- The Walking Dead (TV series)
- Fear the Walking Dead (TV series)
- The Last of Us (TV series)
- American Horror Story: Apocalypse, season 8 (TV series)
- The Leftovers (TV series)
- The Road (movie)
- Silo (TV series)
- See (TV series)
- 28 Days Later (movie)
- The Day After Tomorrow (movie)
- Independence Day (movie)
- War of the Worlds (movie)
- Mad Max (movie series)
- Terminator (movie series)
- I Am Legend (movie)
- World War Z (movie)
- The Rain (TV series)
- The 100 (TV series)
- X-Men: Days of Future Past (movie)
DIY apocalypse costume for girls and women
This post may contain affiliate links from which I will earn a commission at no extra cost to you. View my full disclosure policy.
As inspiration, I decided to make her look like she could possibly be part of King Ezekiel’s warrior troop battling zombies with similar clothing you can find in your closet or online. She already owned the black boots, black ripped jeans, shirt, leather bracelets, and mask but no gas mask or helmet (she didn’t feel like wearing that and I wanted to see her face a bit more). You could also add shin guards, patches on the clothes, and steam-punk goggles.
Supplies for post-apocalyptic costume or apocalypse warrior costume
- various feathers (HERE and HERE)
- makeup ( I used mostly my regular makeup and some face paint for the black and red lines)
- tactical military scarf
- ripped pants
- shirt
- black tactical vest (that one fit both of us perfectly)
- tactical drop leg holster
- toy gun
- combat boots
- black face mask (this mask HERE would have looked even cooler but we had the other one and I didn’t feel like spending more money)
- leather bracelets
- clip-in dreadlocks with feathers (the girl modeling them on Etsy has also really cool makeup which would work well for this costume also)
- bullet belt
- toy knife and knife holder
- bobby pins
- cord
- floral wire
- large stick ( I wrapped mine at the top with black macrame cord)
- rope with carabiner hooks (which I used as a necklace accessory)
I purchased the hand-painted skull solely for the photos but now love having it as Halloween decor at home.
Putting the apocalyptic costume together
For this costume, there isn’t much crafting and DIYing to do. Besides the hair accessories, there aren’t really any handmade pieces. The rest is literally just putting the clothes on.
For the stick, I only wrapped it with some macrame cord and hung feathers from it. As I said, you could stick the skull on top too which would look cool. I didn’t want to ruin it though because I like having it as Halloween decor for the inside of our home.
I told my mom that I found the skull at the river and thought it was so cool. She lost it and couldn’t believe that I didn’t call the police right away. I sent her the below photo of the skull in the grass LOL. And I can’t believe that she bought the story. Of course, I would call the police right away if I a found human skull somewhere. Oh mom!
Apocalypse makeup tutorial video
Use the triangle on the image to turn on the video. If you have trouble watching it here in my blog post then you can also see it on my YouTube Channel instead.
The makeup is also done rather messy since there wouldn’t really be any makeup stores in the apocalypse. I used mostly dark brown and dark green. I also tried to make the face look dirty, and a little bruised.
Apocalypse hair
For the hair, I twisted separate strands of hair and pinned it back with bobby pins. This is a style I actually used to wear in my late teens and early twenties. I had planned on wrapping those twists with some yarn yet which would look really cool but I couldn’t find my blunt plastic upholstery needle to thread it under the twists and then just decided to knot the yarn at the end of the pins to hang some feathers and dreadlocks as hair accessories.
Below are the clip-in dreadlocks. You can add some more feathers to the dreadlocks by sliding the feather shaft under some of the beads.
I wrapped some of the larger feathers with wire which I formed into a loop at the top of the shaft and then tied that loop to the yarn that I knotted to the end of the hair twists and bobby pins as shown in the video.
Finished apocalypse costume
I had so much fun taking photos of her again in the finished apocalypse costume. She is really good at getting into character and the location was perfect too. This is an abandoned house in a wooded area that has since been torn down.
Here is the picture I showed my mom of the skull 🙂 It looks so real!
When my daughter was little she couldn’t have handled tight jeans like this due to her sensory issues and that’s why we always had a Halloween costume that started with a plain black or white dress like the suagr skull costume, sad clown costume, and Queen of Hearts costume. Just in case you are interested in checking those out.
Unfortunately, I think my daughter is done after this year with the Halloween costume posts unless she changes her mind again until next year. She’s a full-blown moody teenager!
Since she isn’t really into dressing up anymore. We are back to making costumes for ourselves. Check out the scary scarecrow Halloween mask that I recently made. (video tutorial included)
Happy Halloween everyone!
Tschüß,
Looks fantastic! Love it, very creative. Sadly it looks like this will become the norm outfit…lol…
Ugh I hope it will only be the mask and not the weapons. Thank you!
Your costumes are amazing, and your daughter is so beautiful (even with the scary face paint!)
Happy Halloween!
Thank you! And I hope it will never come this far in reality
Bravo! You nailed it! She definitely looks like she came right off the set of the Walking Dead. That used to be one of my favorite shows back when the original cast was on it. By the way, your daughter looks just like you!
One of my favorite shows too. I actually ended up loving “fear the walking dead” even more. Thank you
Another great job by you!
With her mask one she is almost indistinguishable from you.
Thanks, part of me likes wearing the mask because you can’t see the bottom have of my face that is wrinkled 😉
this is SO freaking epic- love it! the hair and feathers… YES!
I wanted to do much more to her face but she didn’t want me to. 😉 thank you
I’m going to a steampunk convention soon, and I wanted to do more of an apocalypse warrior look. I have the outfit, but couldn’t figure our what to do with my hair, but this looks like exactly what I want/need! She looks great!
Hi Jenni, thanks so much. I’m glad you like it. Have a great time at your convention, it sounds like so much fun.