The Dopey Vegan x Revival Collective - Ethical Halloween

Halloween is my ultimate favourite time of year. I’m all about spooky season! But it’s also a time of year when people spend a lot of money on cheap fast fashion and costumes that they are likely to never wear again. “Halloween spending in the US hit $9.1 billion,” in 2017 “according to the National Retail Federation” – Business of Fashion. I teamed up with The Revival Collective, to show you just how easy it is to have an ethical and sustainable Halloween.

We sourced clothes and jewellery from ethical brands, vintage and charity shops, and pieces we already owned, including things from my rather extensive dressing up box. All the makeup we used was vegan and cruelty free, and all the glitter was biodegradable. I spent a long time looking online for vegan and cruelty free SFX makeup and face paint brands. I found Mehron makeup, who do ship to the UK via Treasure House of Makeup. I also already had ruby red face paints. Both brands are quite pricey, and the shipping wasn’t cheap, but I splashed my cash for this super special shoot. Only to find Revolution, who sell in Superdrug, have released a completely cruelty free and vegan SFX line, which is actually really good and very cheap. A bottle of latex and fake blood were £3 each, and a decent pallet of cream coloured facepaints, perfect for zombie looks, was £6. Yeh I played myself. It’s also important to note all the SFX makeup I found came packaged in plastic, I did my upmost to avoid it, but I didn’t find a single brand who didn’t use plastic packaging. I guess Halloween has a way to go before it’s completely sustainable! We went for five looks, all inspired by the awesome clothes we were lent. Thanks so much to everyone involved, and for the brands for trusting us with their beautiful items.

All makeup was done by Phoebe and Alice Douglas,

Styling by Phoebe Douglas and Hermione Brendt Photography by Phoebe Douglas Look 1 – Witch All you really need for a witch is a hat, and a boho dress. We teamed a gorgeous black slip from rokit and this gorgeous dark red lacey number from Ilk and Ernie for a real layered witchy vibe. Finish of the look with some celestial jewellery and boots.

Dark red dress – Ilk and Ernie Black slip dress – Rokit Boots – Secondhand (owned by another model) Necklace and Earrings – Hummingbird Hawkmoth Hat – From my fancy dress box

Look 2 - Devil Everyone loves a sexy devil! We paired these fabulous vintage tasselled trousers from Plus Equals with this gorgeous structured red velvet top from Adorned. The flame shoes found in Traid add that extra spice. And we polished off the look with edgy jewellery from Hummingbird Hawkmoth and homemade horns. The horns were super simple to create, we cut the shape we wanted out of a large old sponge, paper mache’d over them and then painted red with acrylic paints.

Top – Adorned Trousers – Plus Equals Heels – Traid Necklace and Earrings – Hummingbird Hawkmoth Bracelet – Charity Shop Horns – handmade from an old sponge and paper mache

Look 3 – Zombie Prom Queen This fabulous dress from Plus Equals was one of the first pieces we really knew we wanted to include in the shoot. It screams 80s prom queen, and from there we let our imagination run wild. Zombie makeup created using liquid latex, tissue, fake blood and cream paints add the spooky vibe. Meanwhile delicate jewellery from Hummingbird Hawkmoth, shows us this queen was a real gem before she was bitten.

Dress – Plus Equals Shoes – Models own, brought secondhand on ebay Belt – Models own Necklace and Earrings – Hummingbird Hawkmoth Crown – from my fancy dress box

Look 4 - Dead Cowgirl Western style is having a real fashion moment, so if you want to achieve this look it should be fairly easy to recreate. Try looking at what you already have in your wardrobe and head to vintage stores, who nearly always have a good selection of cowboy boots. This gorgeous vintage Ralph Lauren western shirt from Rokit was the inspiration for this look, and the rest just fell into place. I handpainted the sign on some cardboard recycled from some packaging. I used tea and coffee to age it, and burnt the edges.

Shirt – Rokit Jeans – Vintage (already owned) Belt – Rokit Bolo tie – Rokit Boots – Rokit Hat – from my fancy dress box Sign – handmade

Look 5 - Fortune Teller Adorned are a brand I have been in love with for a couple of years now. There hippie boho clothes just scream celestial fortune teller. Paired with this killer pair of heels from Rokit, a headscarf from my grandma’s closet and some cute glittery makeup you’ve got a very wearable Halloween outfit.

Wrap Top – Adorned Kimono – Adorned Trousers – Adorned Shoes – Rokit Jewellery – Adorned Star Bracelet – charity shop Headscarf – borrowed from my grandma

Happy Halloween from everyone involves, and may your spooking be sustainable!