Haus of Villains Style Challenge Look 9: Gaston

My, what a guy...

I'm sorry, I'm not gonna lie, but I do not think Gaston is that bad of a guy. I made a Facebook post about this not too long ago and I got so viciously attacked- my political and religious views were questioned, it was honestly shocking. You'd think I wasn't talking about a fictional Disney character. So I'm not going to say much about it, but I don't think that Gaston is the worst guy. Belle is extremely radical in her hometown and literally everyone in her quiet village is confused by her, so why is it so bad for Gaston to assume that she should be a housewife with a strong husband just like everyone else? I just don't think it's the worst thing anyone could do any certainly not the worst thing any Disney villain has ever done. Also, in the Broadway show, Gaston has one of the greatest numbers of all time (Me). When I played Belle in my community's production many moons ago, my boyfriend was Gaston and we got to choreograph the number- so it holds a very special place in my heart, but even if it didn't it's still a hilarious song. 

For my Gaston Disneybound I decided to keep things simple. For this style challenge, much lie for my Summer of Pixar, I wanted to show a wide variety of styles from very casual to very fancy, and this one is definitely on the more casual side. I started with my black high waist jeans from Forever 21, and wore brown boots from BAIT Footwear to mimic Gaston's black pant and brown boot combo. For my top, I actually layered two collared crop tops to achieve the effect I desired- the yellow top being from Forever 21, and the red top being my tie up top from Hemet Brand that I purchased at Vintage Galeria. If you guys have been following my style challenges, you'll note that I use this top for so many bounds. I used this exact one for my Lightning McQueen look in my Summer of Pixar Style Challenge, and I used the same top in black for my Jafar look in this Style Challenge. I really love how versatile this top is- you can dress it up or down. In this particular look I used it very casually, but if you look at my Jafar look you can see how I used it for a glamorous 40's look, and in my Lightning McQueen look I went full pinup. I highly recommend this top as a staple piece in anyone's wardrobe as it's so easy to wear. If you'd like one for yourself, be sure to use code KARAMIADARLING at Vintage Galeria either online or in store at their Temecula location for buy 1 get 1 20% off. To top off this look, I put my hair in a small ponytail with a red ribbon for that classic Gaston look. 

Haus of Villains Style Challenge Look 8: Maleficent

Well, well...

We've finally come to the scariest of all villains, the mistress of all evil, Maleficent. Maleficent has actually terrified me from such a young age, and it's no joke. When I saw her at Mickey's Halloween Party two years ago I actually walked the other way completely around Main Street to avoid her. She's one spooky fairy, no matter what the new Maleficent movie says. I refuse to acknowledge any of that movie. She's not a nice lady and she does not love Aurora. That is all.

Maleficent is yet another villain that falls into that purple and black color scheme, making it rather difficult to differentiate her from other villains like Ursula, the Evil Queen, and Frollo when looking at a Disneybound, so I had to really focus on the exact shades and the overall essence of the character.

For this bound I started with a staple in everyone's closet- a little black dress. This particular little black dress is one from Hemet Brand that I got from the Vintage Galeria. Don't forget to use code KARAMIADARLING for buy 1 get 1 20% off at checkout! I absolutely love this dress because it's so versatile and perfect for all occasions. I especially love the criss-cross neckline (which I actually uncrossed to give the dress an entirely new look in a later bound for this series). The dress is handmade and has a ton of stretch which is perfect for when you want to show off those wicked curves. Over my LBD, I added a purple corset which is slightly more on the costume than the bound side, but it's the Halloween season so it didn't feel too inappropriate. I also added green earrings and a green ribbon headband to represent Maleficent's gruesomely green skin.

For my hair, I tried out some victory rolls which I thought would be a good way to balance out the costumey feel of this outfit. Rather than actually wearing ho

rns like Maleficent does, I thought this would be an excellent way to give a nod to that aspect of the character. To achieve this look, I used my Suavecita Pomade, my favorite daily styling product, which is also available at the Vintage Galeria.

Haus of Villains Style Challenge Look 7: Captain Hook

Never smile at a crocodile...

Captain Hook is a villain that I've never felt a very strong connection to. I don't remember particularly loving or hating him, finding him very funny or sinister, or even sympathizing with his plight. Don't get me wrong, I loved the movie Peter Pan as a whole because of its highly whimsical nature that I feel is only matched by Alice in Wonderland as far as Disney classics go, and of course I loved the movie Hook, and Killian in Once Upon a Time could knock on my door at any time of night and I'd let him in, but the character of Captain James Hook just never compelled me in any way. I just never cared about him. 

All that being said, the reason that I chose to Disneybound as Hook for this, the first installation of the Haus of Villains Style Challenge, was because I happened to have an incredible coat that would be absolutely perfect for him. Of course, I did not actually end up using the coat for this bound (it got rolled over to a character I felt a much stronger connection to), but once I set my mind to creating a Captain Hook look, I had to make it work.  

This look is another one that's almost entirely purchased from Amazon, so you're welcome- it's super attainable. And to make it even more attainable for you, I put every piece on my Amazon Storefront so you literally don't have to put any effort in whatsoever. This bound is pretty straight forward as far as directly coordinating the color scheme of the character's clothes to my clothes, just rather than wearing a full costume, I used regular clothes from Amazon. I feel like more than anything this is a pretty basic Disneybounding tutorial because of the extreme lack of creativity I put into this. I started with a pair of purple pants that look like jeans, but are made out of a really weird material and I 100% would not recommend, but they're still available in my Amazon Storefront for purchase if you want them. I added a white sweater that I had in my closet for his white shirt, threw on some ankle boots from Amazon, and topped it off with a purple beret from, you guessed it, Amazon, because nobody would wear a pirate hat in real life, so please don't wear a pirate hat and call it a Disneybound. In an attempt to replace the perfect coat I mentioned earlier with something as high fashion, I went with a cape. I actually really did like this cape and I feel like it could be used in many different looks, so I recommend it. I added a sparkly crocodile brooch on the cape and called it a day. 

My favorite accessory for this outfit, however, had to by my close good friend Allison @allisonzeller, who made the most adorable Tinkerbell and put up with me changing outfits all day. I imagine this bound took place in an alternate universe where Tink was actually working for Hook the whole time and was just secretly spying on Peter Pan but then she fell in love with him. I'm gonna write a book about it so stay tuned.

Haus of Villains Style Challenge Look 6: Hades

I do not think I could express how much I love Hades enough. I absolutely adore him. Is he the greatest villain of all time? Literally no question, the answer is yes. Hades is so hilarious because he is full of the hate that is deep inside us all. We all understand what it's like to have the sibling that always outshines you and what it's like to be cast out to the underworld and become the god of the dead while your brother is hooking up with all the hot goddesses. We all understand that.

Because Hades means so much to me, I knew his Disneybound had to be something special. I hadn't seen a lot of people bound as Hades in the past (again, always forgotten and cast out), so I just really wanted to do him justice. I decided to go with a really high- glam "Hades goes to prom" sort of look. I started with the grey Audrey swing dress from Lindy-Bop to represent Hades' grey robes. Over that I threw on a sheer black cape that really was just a cut up piece of fabric that I made the morning of because my sewing machine just stopped working while I was hemming it. But you would have never known all of that if I didn't tell you. Because Hades is blue, I added an aqua petticoat underneath as well as aqua shoes, and to make it 100% classy, as Hades always is, I added black seamed stockings from What Katie Did.

My hair was probably my favorite part of this look. I settled on an up-do, made possible by Suavecita, and added a blue flower hair piece that I had previously made for a Tinkerbell Disneybound. I love the way this turned out because it was both reminiscent

of Hades' fire hair and kept with the themeing that I had come up with for this look.

Haus of Villains Style Challenge Look 5: Jafar

I must find this one, this diamond in the rough....

Me and you both Jafar, am I right ladies? Tell me one woman that isn't looking for their own diamond in the rough. The one that won't get swallowed alive by their cave of wonders. The one that knows how to rub your lamp. The one that can take you on a magic carpet ride that lasts all night long. The one that knows hoe to pet your tiger. The one that lies directly to your face multiple times even after being questioned about it. The one that feeds you apples and calls you crazy. Isn't that what we're all looking for? And for that reason alone I have decided Jafar is the most relate-able villain of all time and I wish to speak nothing more on the matter. 

For my Jafar Disneybound I decided to do something a little more on the simpler side. I knew that I wanted to incorporate a turban into this look, so I decided to go 40's inspired as it wasn't uncommon for Hollywood starlets to wear turbans with high-glam looks at the time. So I built my outfit around that. You can find the turban on my Amazon Storefront here. For the top I layered a red t-shirt underneath my Black Knot Top from Hemet Brand, which I purchased at the Vintage Galeria. This top is one of my absolute favorite pieces in my wardrobe. It's so versatile and so easy to wear and even has snaps for your convenience. Also, everything from Hemet Brand is hand made in the USA, and the fine craftsmanship definitely shows. You can shop at the Vintage Galeria online or in-store at their Temecula location and use coupon code: KARAMIADARLING for buy 1 get 1 20% off! On my Black Knot Top I added a sparkly snake brooch to represent Jafar's serpent staff. For bottoms, I went with these gorgeous elephant pants from Collectif Clothing to keep with the 1940's vibe I was going for.

Haus of Villains Style Challenge Look 4: Ursula

Don't underestimate the importance of body language...

Name a more iconic villain than Ursula. Go ahead. I'll wait. Ursula is the very first Disney villain to sing her own song (notice I said to sing her own song. I know Cruella has a song written about her. Don't attack me), and rightfully so. She has so much personality and she's really the fist primary female villain that we see have her own character rather than just being evil for the sake of being evil with zero plot or redeeming qualities. Of course this has to do with the time period that The Little Mermaid was made as well. Ariel was the first Disney princess to truly find her voice (pun intended), and therefor Ursula had to be just as exemplary. The Little Mermaid was the beginning of what was known as the "Disney Renaissance" where Disney really began to make a comeback with their movies, and this is a direct result of how bold their character choices were. Gone are the days of evil for the sake of evil and kindness for the sake of kindness and may they never return.

This was not my first crack at an Ursula Disneybound. The first time I attempted a look by this iconic character was way back in 2016 with my Fall Dapper Day look, so for this outfit I wanted to do something completely different to show that there are so many ways to interpret a character. I, of course, kept with the same color scheme of purple, black, and white, but this time I opted for a more day time look, and something slightly more understated.

For the base of this look I went with my black peasant top from Pinup Girl Clothing and a light purple skirt from Hell Bunny, which I got at Sidecca. I really loved the way this top gave the bare chest look that Ursula is known for, while the flow of the skirt gave a nod to Ursula's tentacles. For shoes, I stuck with my classic TUK starlet heels in lilac. This time for my hair, rather than wearing a white wig (adorned by my beautiful custom fascinator from Enchanted Candy Carousel), I went with a more wearable look while still representing Ursula's white hair by adding a white hair scarf to my up-do. More than any other look so far, I was very happy with my accessories for Ursula. I absolutely had to wear my gorgeous shell necklace my wonderful friend April gifted me (find more amazing accessories on her Etsy store here). I also decided to give a little nod to the original inspiration for Ursula, queen of queens Divine, by wearing my Hanky Code "Drag Queen" pin from my friends at Prick Pins. This tiny accessory felt like the absolute perfect way to whisper "I know so much more about Disney than you" without being obnoxious about it- and the color matched perfectly with the bound no less, Almost like T-Ray designed this pin specifically for this bound.

Haus of Villains Style Challenge Look 3: Queen of Hearts

Enough with the scarlets and rouges, vermilions and rubies and cherries and reds. Off with their heads!

The Queen of Hearts holds a very near and dear place to my heart as I once got to play her in a production of Alice in Wonderland. I got the part because I was the only person at the audition who was willing to physically scream in the director's faces, so truthfully it was a part I was born for. In an effort to provide proper character research for the role, I read both Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass, and watched nearly every version of Alice in Wonderland I could get my hands on. In case you're "curiouser and curiouser", my favorite version is the 1985 two park made for TV movie starring Scott Baio, Sammy Davis Jr., Ringo Starr, Carol Channing, my close good friend John Stamos, Beau Bridges, every other celebrity you can think of, and the girl that plays Jenny in Oliver and Company as Alice. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend renting it at your local Blockbuster.

Having seen so many beautiful, elaborate, over the top versions of the Queen of Heart's costume, I decided to take this bound in the completely opposite direction and wear something I've never worn for a bound before: a graphic t-shirt. This particular t-shirt was designed by my close good friend Traci Hines at Adorkable Apparel  Traci designs all kinds of Disney inspired merchandise that is absolutely perfect for those casual Disney days. I paired this with my red capri pants from Pinup Girl Clothing in the queen's favorite color: red, and threw on a wide black belt to show off my curves. For my shoes, I went with none other than my black starlet peep toe heels from TUK footwear. Because the outfit was so simple, I figured I could go all out with the hair, so I created what turned out to be a sort of cascading rose bush by pining every rose I owned to my head and praying to God it looked good. I was definitely pleased with the result.

Haus of Villains Style Challenge Look 2: Anastasia and Drizella

Sing sweet nightingale...

The evil step sisters from Cinderella have to be some of the most fun villains of all time, and I'm not just talking in Disney's version. Across the board these characters are iconic- whether it be in one of Disney's many versions of Cinderella, in Sondheim's Into the Woods, or in Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella on Broadway, these two sisters will have you rolling with laughter.

Now this Anastasia and Drizella bound is one of the only bounds I've ever done that I can not take full credit for. It truly was a collaborative effort between myself and my friend Autumn, @autumnontuesdays. A few months back (far before the Haus of Villains challenge was even a glimmer in my mind), Autumn messaged me saying that she wanted to do a collaborative bound and that she was dying to do the step sisters, and so began one of the most fun bounds I've ever done. The difficulty with this bound in particular was finding outfits that matched but also came in both pink and green.

The piece that we decided to base our outfits around was our enormous sun hats. Wearing enormous sun hats as part of a bound has been a dream of mine for so long, and I've attempted to incorporate one to many looks, but it has just never worked out. The particular hats we settled on were from Amazon and can be found in myAmazon Storefront. Since the hats were going to be such a statement piece, we then decided that we would go with pants rather than dresses for the look. My pants were from Pinup Girl Clothing, and Autumn's were from Unique Vintage- we're sisters, not twins. for out tops we layered some cute tie up tops from Le Bomb Shop with cropped sweaters from MAK so we could really achieve the two toned look that is so iconic from Anastasia and Drizella.

Haus of Villains Style Challenge Look 1: Evil Queen

You all asked for it so here it is! An official style challenge for the short remainder of the month of October. I don't plan to do every single Disney villain as that would be a monstrous task that I am just not up for. Plus, I have to leave some of them for next year, right?

In all honesty, this style challenge started completely by accident. I was on my way to Disneyland with nothing to wear, so I looked in my car and tried to see what I could pull together and low and behold- it was an Evil Queen Disneybound. It was a definitely a sign from the gods that the Haus of Villains series was an absolute necessity and would be my gift to the world for this Halloween season.

Something I love about the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is that it wastes zero time with exposition. You get a 30 second book scene in the very beginning that establishes our villain and our hero immediately, cut directly to the Queen demanding Snow White's death upon seeing the Prince proposition her, and that's really all you need to know about these characters, and honestly- all you will know. So far we haven't gotten any type of canon backstory for the Evil Queen or her motivations. We know that shes' fueled by jealousy for her step daughter- but why? In the film it isn't even established that Snow is her step daughter, it just says she's the Queen and Snow White is the princess, so we can only assume they're blood related. However, if you ever meet the Queen in a Disney park, she refers to Snow as her step daughter, which really I can only assume was an after thought when Disney realized that it's a little too morbid to have a mother try to murder her own actual biological daughter because she's upset that she's no longer the most beautiful person in the world. But we've all been there right?

Regardless of whether or not the Evil Queen is the fairest of them all, she's still an absolute hottie. She has the ability to be completely covered from head to toe with the exception of her face and still be drop dead gorgeous, which is something Snow White does not have going for her. Also, the Queen must be a science wiz because she has all sorts or equipment in the basement of her castle- she has Bunsen burners and beakers and she can make potions to make herself ugly and to poison apples so she definitely got the smarts in the family. Meanwhile Snow White is getting nearly murdered, basically exiled from her kingdom for fear of her life, and chased by anthropomorphic trees and she APOLOGIZES- so she has next to no brains let's be honest. She's a great baker, she's got a beautiful voice, but she is for sure not the shiniest diamond in the mine if you know what I mean.

For this Disneybound I started with an eggplant jersey dress which reminded me of the Evil Queen with its color, length, and classic cut. To represent her cape I used a modern faux leather jacket. One of my favorite pieces of this outfit was the true vintage belt, The outfit screamed for a belt and this one in particular reminded me so much of the Queen's magic mirror. I decided to accessorize the outfit with apples, using both a poison apple brooch and am apple purse. I have always disagreed with using an apple as Snow White's symbol because it's literally what's used to try and kill her? So I just don't understand? For my hair I went with a classic bouffant to represent the Queen's cowl, and I added a zig-zag gold headband for the crown to top off the look.

ADDITIONAL AUTHOR'S NOTE: The quote goes "Magic mirror on the wall" not "mirror mirror on the wall" so please just stop. I've seen them use the incorrect quote on actual Disney merchandise sold in the parks and it's beginning to drive me absolutely bananas. If I see or hear anyone misquoting this, I will personally come and cut up your annual pass. You have been warned.