Okay, so anyone who knows me knows my whole world is soft pink, ribbons, and thrifted lace. I am a coquette girl through and through. So when I tell you I zipped myself into a matte black catsuit this Halloween, please picture my own face doing a little double take in the mirror. Every year I promise myself I will do a proper costume, and this year I finally committed — I went as Black Widow, and honestly? I had the best time playing dress-up as someone who is the total opposite of my usual self.
There is something so freeing about stepping outside your own aesthetic for one night. I love my pastels, but Natasha is all sharp edges and quiet confidence, and slipping into that felt like trying on a completely different posture. My shoulders went back, my chin went up, and suddenly I was doing the little smoulder I would normally be far too giggly to pull off. Halloween is basically permission to be a version of yourself you do not usually let out to play, and I took full advantage.
Why Black Widow, and doing the look as a redhead
I will be honest, part of why I landed on Black Widow is deeply practical: I am a natural redhead, and she is one of the few icons I could do without a wig fighting me all night. The universe basically handed me the hair, so it would have been rude not to. I kept my waves loose and a little undone rather than sleek, because I wanted it to still feel like me and not a costume-shop version of me.
The makeup was where I had my real fun. I usually live in fluttery, rosy, doe-eyed everything, so doing a proper smoky eye and a bolder brow felt almost rebellious. I went a touch cooler on the lip, deepened my eyes, and kept the skin glowy so I did not disappear into all that black. Pro tip from someone who learned the hard way: set everything, because a catsuit gives you nowhere to hide a melting face.
The little rooftop mini-shoot
I could not exactly do a spy costume in front of my usual pink backdrop, so we took it to a rooftop at golden hour. City lines behind me, a bit of wind being dramatic in my hair, that slightly moody blue-grey sky Natasha would absolutely approve of. It was freezing and I was doing my best serious-agent face between fits of laughter, which is very on brand for me. If you want to see how it actually turned out, it lives over on my Instagram — and yes, the phone camera did not do the sunset justice, hence my caption confessing I got a little nerfed by cam quality.
Even in full spy mode, I could not help sneaking in the little things that make it mine. A dainty gold necklace peeking out, my rings I never take off, that soft romantic hair instead of anything too severe. That is the whole trick to a cosplay you actually feel good in, I think — you honour the character, but you leave a fingerprint of yourself in there somewhere. If you want the longer story of how a thrifting, upcycling, pink-loving girl ended up here, I share more of that on my about page.
Will I be back in ribbons and rosy blush by the time you read the next post? Absolutely. But I loved this little detour, and I think I needed the reminder that trying on something unexpected can be its own kind of playful. Tell me who I should be next Halloween — I am already scheming. #liviasloves