All year long, the days on my calender are ticked off with anticipation for my friend Tom's soirees. He's flamboyantly gay and lives off campus so he throws real parties that always have themes that require dressing up in less than conventional party attire. And, of course with me being a huge fan of costumes, I embrace the theme to my very core. Since I'm usually the only one dressed according to the theme, Tom bugs me all week to see if he can squeeze my costume idea out of me, but to no avail! I live for the wolfish grin on his face when I walk through his door. Anyway, two weekends ago, he threw his last hurrah and the theme was Trashy or Trash: Wear anything but clothes or dress like white trash. I took on both themes and decided I would attend Tom's bash as Britney Spears (fulfilling the white trash requirement) in a dress made of Cheetos bags (...trash).


Why Cheetos?

Dlisted.com, my favorite celebrity blog, loves to point out how Britney's favorite snack is Cheetoes and has dubbed her "Our Lady of Cheetoes" with her children "the cheetolongs." If you don't read the blog, check it out, if not just for the Britney Spears coverage that is unparalleled. The famed image Ms. Spears has repeated many times was my inspiration.

Lets do it y'all!


So step one was buying all the bags for the dress. I bought 9 bags including traditional Cheetos, Puffs, and Twisted Puffs. On Monday of that week, I gave each of my friends a bag and demanded that they finish it by Friday. Most of them did, even my suite mate with IBS.


Here she is hard at work.

They are well aware my costume productions tend to be major events. Still, I had leftover puffs on Friday that needed to be removed from the bags, so I put them in my shopping bags.


This photo is indicative of my life, I think; classy on the outside, but full of artificial cheese on the inside.

Ehem, moving on.

I began assembling the skirt and the bodice based off of my own measurements, but I couldn't do much until that night. The dress would have to be taped to my body. I had managed to cut the bodice and tape half of it, though, one of the finer architectural feats of this garment.

Finally, after listening to the Oops album and half of Blackout, the dress is complete and I'm suited up for the night! Add a blonde wig, Carerras, and my friend Rachael's trucker hat and Britney was ready for the clubs!

I wish I had more pictures of it because it was pretty impressive for someone who has no dressmaking abilities, if I do say so myself. The skirt had vents in the sides so I could bend and sit down. It didn't come apart all night, nor did I smell like week old cheese balls. It's my greatest costume to date, but expect me to one-up it the next chance I get.