Girl with a Pearl Earring by Meg Hahnenberg

Girl with a Pearl Earring

In 1665, Johannes Vermeer put brush to canvas and created his arguably most famous painting: Girl with a Pearl Earring. This painting shows a young Dutch girl with, as the title suggests, a pearl earring. I love this painting; the soft glance the young girl throws is so gentle and realistic.

This year, I had the chance to dress up as an art piece or an artist for my portfolio class on Halloween. After sifting through some favorite famous pieces, I settled upon the Girl with a Pearl Earring. I decided this would be the most recognizable piece I could recreate.

How did I create the costume? I knew I needed fabric, so my first step was to take a trip to Michael’s to see what they could offer. I found two t-shirts: one blue and one a light shade of mustard yellow. The colors weren’t perfect, but they were the closest I could find. Next were the earrings, the most important part of the entire piece. I was originally planning on taking a pair of Styrofoam balls and painting them with metallic paint, but whilst strolling up and down the aisles in Michael’s I stumbled upon their Christmas decor. In the Christmas section I found just what I needed: small white ornaments. The ornaments were perfect, because I only had to slide them onto a pair of hoop earrings to wear them! The last thing I needed was an outfit. This was the most difficult part. I eventually decided upon a tan jacket that I found in my sister’s closet. With the acquisition of the last element, I was ready to begin assembling my costume.

I must’ve spent an hour this past weekend trying to wrap t-shirts around my head in different ways. I eventually found it easiest to secure the yellow t-shirt around my ponytail and then layer a strip of the blue t-shirt on top. It wasn’t perfect, but in my opinion it was pretty close. I clasped on the “pearl” earrings, threw on the tan jacket, and I was ready to go!

Believe it or not, this is probably one of the easiest Halloween costumes I’ve ever done. It may not be my favorite, but it was fun to recreate!

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