I’m not going to let this *waves arms around* ruin my Halloween. I’m still going to dress up. I still decorated. Sure, it’s not the Halloween I wanted but it’s the Halloween I’m going to deal with. This year I’m going as Mavis from Hotel Transylvania. I’ve watched those movies probably 100 times since October started. Did you know that a 4th one is in the works? I can’t wait! They’re such fun and cute movies. Now, I did purchase my costume but most of the items needed to be upgraded. I would have been better off just putting it together myself but oh well. I’m going to show you guys how to come up with your own Mavis look!
Dress:
The dress is a simple black dress with a mock turtle neck and 3/4 length sleeves. I’m sure some of you might have something in your closet that works! If not, here are a few options.
The Drop Women’s Karen Short Sleeve Mock Neck Body Con Mini Dress: This will cost you about $28 on Amazon! But it’s the perfect style and look for Mavis.
Verdusa Women’s Mock Neck Short Sleeve Buttoned Ribbed A Line Skater Dress This one is between $24-$26. It’s a skater style instead of a more fitted dress.
Both of those dresses are on Amazon but if you can easily find similar dresses on resell sites like Poshmark or Depop. It’s a great way to help reduce the amount of waste out there and you can save a few bucks as well. Honestly, it’s such a simple dress you can find it anywhere.
Arm Warmers:
I wasn’t sure what else to call them but you know what I’m talking about. The pair that came with my costume were very small and just didn’t work. Here are a few fun options.
ToBeInStyle Women’s Mesh Sheer Fingerless Novelty Gloves: They work perfectly! These are the exact pair that I ordered and I am very pleased with them. They were $13.95 and fit much better than the picture on the listing.
Seeksmile Spider Web Lace Halloween Fingerless Gloves : These gloves have a fun spider web design similar to the gloves Mavis wears when she gets married. I think I saw gloves pretty close to these at Spirit Halloween as well.
Tights:
In every movie Mavis wears black and red tights! The pair that came with my costume fit OK but I knew I needed something a little bigger. Right now you can find them in person at Spirit Halloween and other Halloween pop up shops. You might even come across them maybe at Target or in other Halloween sections. Here are a few online options.
Leg Avenue Women’s Nylon Striped Tights: Around $8 on Amazon but this is the brand you’ll find pretty much everywhere.
ToBeInStyle Women’s Wide Horizontal Contrast Stripe Tights Opaque Hosiery: These are between $10-15 on Amazon. They have plus size listed as an option but be sure to read the reviews to see how accurate that is.
Shoes:
She keeps it simple with what’s basically red Converse. But you could use any red shoe really! I went on Poshmark and found a pair of red Converse to use. I was able to score a good deal because I didn’t feel like paying $50 for shoes. I almost bought a pair of red wedge sneakers on Amazon but they were obviously trying to be a weird Converse knock off and I felt weird about it.
Wigs:
Mavis has a pretty simple hair style. It’s basically black with a flip and some fun bangs. What wig you buy will really depend on your own skills. You could easily buy just a basic black wig from any cosplay store and cut/style the wig how you like. I’ll list a few of those along with some pre-styled Mavis wigs.
Black Curly Vampire Mavis Cosplay Wig: This is the wig I bought. It’s actually pretty good for $18 but I don’t think the bangs are accurate. But it does have the flip and works for now.
OneDor Women’s Short Black Straight Hair 50s Cosplay Flip Wigs with Flat Bangs: Not a Mavis promoted wig but it’s pretty easy to make work. It again has the flip and the bangs could easily be trimmed. In the reviews someone said they easily used it for Mavis.
Aura: This is a wig from Epic Cosplay but that could be styled to work for Mavis. It already has a small flip and would just need the bangs styled.
Now, if you already have black hair, or hair that can easily be styled but you don’t have bangs I have a simple solution for you! Clip in bangs. I thought about going with that option myself but my hair is a bit of a mess right now and stuck with the wig. But it’s a simple way to make your own natural hair work for you.
See how simple it is! Sometimes she wears a cape and you can find those everywhere. If you want something accurate though, Spirit Halloween sells a Mavis cape online only. The same goes for fangs. It’s not something you “have” to do but you can find various types of fangs everywhere from Amazon to Halloween shops. Once conventions become a thing again I plan on wearing her to one. It’s such a comfortable costume and would be perfect for walking around all day. What are your plans for Halloween?
