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.

DIY apocalypse costume for girls and women

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!

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!

Happy Halloween everyone!

Tschüß,