Costume Wings

Would you like a cost effective way to make your fancy dress costume stand out from the rest? There is no need to spend a lot of money on a complete costume, adding a set of wings to a white dress makes a fantastic angel and wearing dark clothes with a set of bumblebee wings will make you buzz the night away.

There are many different varieties of wings available to purchase these include:

• Fairy Wings
• Angel Wings
• Halloween and Gothic Wings
• Bug Wings
• Hen Night Wings
• Wings for children also available

You can see from the images on this hub just some of the wings that are available. It is amazing how a set of wings can be added to a dress and it will instantly create a stunning effect with limited effort on your behalf. As these two pictures show, there is a variation to the type of wings which you can purchase, depending on the function. This hub aims to show you the variety of wings that are available on the market that you can buy for adults and children and, also some tips on how to make your own.

Wings are normally designed to be secured with pieces of elastic that are fitted to towards the centre of the wings. The elastic then goes around your upper arm to hold the wings in place. Because of this, most wings will fit all sizes. If you know you have especially large arms, you may need to add some more elastic to get a comfortable fit.

You can disguise this elastic under a bra, or the top you are going to be wearing.

Wings can be used for:

• Hen Nights - very popular as easy to wear on a night out
  
• Halloween
• Christmas
• Fairies
• Fairy Godmother
• School Dress Up Days

Children's wings that are available to purchase are becoming ever more popular with parents to make a quick and easy costume for their child. Within the School Curriculum parents are pressured into many events in which involve their child to dress up. Wings have become very popular for school plays and World Book Day.

Some examples of book character costumes that you could dress your child up for World Book Day are:

• Tinkerbell (Peter Pan)
• Bugs (James And The Giant Peach)
• Butterfly (The Hungry Caterpillar)
• Fairy Godmother (Cinderella)
• Oberon - Male Fairy (Midsummer Night's Dream)
• Archangel Gabriel (The Bible)
• Carabosse - Wicked Fairy (Sleeping Beauty) (The Maleficent character from Disney's Sleeping Bauty was more of a sorceress, originally portrayed without wings, but the recent 2014 Maleficent film tells how she lost them!)

Christmas and Halloween are very popular time for parties, get ahead from the rest and purchase a set of wings. Bad witches or fairies have proven very popular for not just Halloween but Christmas as well. You really cannot go wrong purchasing a pair of wings, they can be used for many different fancy dress themes and make a great base

So, how can you create a wicked fairy (or witch) costume?

• Plain black dress
• Black halo or witch hat
• Black wand or broomstick
• Fishnet tights
• Dark make up
• Optional Eyelashes
• Wings - why not shred a pair you have used before, or splatter them with some blood for a really gory effect?
• Wig

An alternative is to create a Punk fairy outfit. Although the term 'punk' has different interpretations in the US and UK, here you can use any pair of damaged or shredded wings along with mismatched or 'distressed' top and skirt, your wildest wig and weirdest make-up to create a good (bad) impression.

Another Halloween costume in which has proven popular for not just ladies but men as well is a devil (the Devil was, after all, a fallen angel) and again this can be created in a few easy steps. Wings are optional for a devil outfit but they do help to make the costume more effective.

How to create a Devil costume:

• Red dress / Top and Bottoms
• Horns
• Red Fishnets or tights
• Wig
• Eyelashes
• Red & black make up
• Devil Fork/Trident

Wings for Festive & Christmas Outfits

Fairies and Angels are the traditional Christmas outfit and this can be achieved in a few simple steps, you can dress your outfit up or as little as you like.

So, how do I make the perfect fairy or Angel costume?

• Your own dress / Top and skirt
• Glitter spray
• Optional Eyelashes
• Halo or Tiara
• Wand
• Wig
• Fishnet Tights
• Glitter make up
• Wings

The range of wings in this area have grown considerably making easier for you to choose from a range of wings. Within the industry this theme is proving popular for hen nights and girls nights out.

Some of the selection of bug wings in which are available are:

• Lady Bird
• Bumblebee
• Dragon Fly
• Butterfly

Not only can these be purchased separately as wings but many are now coming as an instant kit to make your whole outfit. These are a great cost effective way to have a complete Fancy Dress costume.

Some accessories which can be added to your bug out fit are:

• Fishnet tights
• Eyelashes
• Gloves
• Glitter
• Wig

If you fancy something a bit different and are feeling creative how about making your own wings. By following this easy step by step guide you will be well on your way to looking the bell of the ball.

What you will need:

• 4 Wire Hangers
• 2 Pair of tights
• Elastic
• Sellotape
• Strong Glue
• Glitter, Paint and sparkly bits.

Here we go, first of all cut the hook of from the hangers by the spiral part of the neck, on two of the hangers bend the spiral part to the left and the other two bend the right. Take the two twisted pieces and overlap them sticking them tightly with your tape.

Next...find a picture of the desired wing effect that you are wanting and bend the hangers into the shape, once you have the wing shape you are after stick it all together using your tape, you will now have your wing frame.

We are now going to make the wings.

Firstly cut the tights in half so you have 4 single legs. Thread the tights over the wire frame so the tights are stretched over and the wire frame is inside, once this is done tie a small knot to secure them into place. Measure around the the top of the arm where the elastic will be going and cut to the right size for both arms. Stick the elastic to the wings using your glue and leave to dry.

Now to the fun part!

Using your glitter, paint and sparkles decorate your wings, this part I am going to leave up to you so you can make your individual wings which will stand out and make you be noticed!

You may also want to check out eBay to find yourself some fabulous wings...