Daryl Dixon Angel Wings Vest

In my last post I showed you how I DIY’d my leather vest to look like Daryl Dixon’s from The Walking Dead. Click HERE to view that.

But now I’m going to show you how I pulled the whole look together to become MRS. Daryl Dixon.

Create a bloody/dirty/worn out shirt…

to make it look like you’ve been slaying zombies left and right.

What you will need…A light colored shirt, paper bags, fake blood, cotton balls, a bowl, some bronzer, red food coloring, and a paintbrush.

First lay your plastic bags down before working.

Spread out your shirt.

Pour some of the bronzer powder into a bowl (I used bare minerals warmth).

Take your cotton ball and dip it into the bronzer and sparingly make your “dirt” marks all over your shirt.

My shirt was very sheer and actually had a shredded back to it so it looked really warn as is, and because it was sheer the markings went through to the back as well, which saved me some time.

Focus on the armpit areas and the neck to convey a worn sweaty/dirty affect. You’ve been traveling through a zombie apocalypse. This is not the time to be a fashionista.

Next… bloody it up.

I didn’t go too crazy. I’m not the zombie…

#BeenThereDoneThat

I’m the slayer.

So I was going for a more splattered blood #IJustKilledAFewWalkers look.

The fake blood I bought was a bit too thick to create a splattered affect so I used red food color and dipped a paint brush into it and shook it onto the shirt sparingly.

The more noticeable blood drips were achieved with the fake blood, and a paintbrush.

My brother took care of that part.

So once you get the right bloody/dirty look you hang the shirt up to dry over night. The thinner your shirt the quicker the dry time.

Now that you’ve made both your angel wings vest and your bloody shirt…you can pull from your own wardrobe for the rest of this look.

Including:

Vest

Leather Jacket

Sleeveless plaid button down

Bloody Shirt

Black jeggings

Black combat boots

The Full Look:

(A closer look at ) The Make Up & Hair:

I went for a really natural (grungy) look.

[Because let’s be real ain’t nobody got time for smokey eyes and bold red lips in the apocalypse.]

I did a basic face

bb cream

under eye concealer

curled lashes

very small amount of mascara

pinkish blush (flushed cheeks…run girl run save your ammo)

Fill in the eyebrows (no time for tweezing either haha)

Using bronzer to deepen all your features…basically highlight every crease in your face, cheek bones, nose, under eyes, etc. Basically darkening your features to make yourself look like you’ve been on the go weathering the struggle just trying to survive. Imperfections are okay.

For the lips I used a combination of a concealer stick and some darker burgundy lipstick, to create a flushed look.

For my hair (worked best on second day hair)

[ain’t nobody got time to wash their hair luxuriously when your tryna stay alive]

First I curled lightly with a straightener/curler

Then I went over with a curling iron

Hairspray in between as usual

Adding products as you see fit

Then once you get a wavy curl flip your head over shake it out

Comb out to loosen and give a more messy natural wave.

I ended up tying it into a side pony tail and leaving some pieces out

I look pissed…haha #stayingincharacter

Accessories:

Handkerchief (I tied it to my belt hoop)

Some leather rope bracelets

A silver chain with a saint on it (because you still need to keep your faith in the zombie apocalypse)

fake tattoos (Daryl has a few)

I did start the night with a pair of lace “biker” gloves but eventually those came off, (Daryl wears leather ones sometimes and I had the lace pair so I made it work)

I chose to put this one on my fore arm…

Daryl’s tattoo

And if you really wanna commit to the role of Mrs. Daryl Dixon…throw in some fake bling 😉

Hey if Maggie got a ring…Daryl’s girl can have one too…didn’t cost a thing 😉 P.S. I didn’t actually wear these out! haha

I stuck to clear nail polish because I wanted to stay as close to character as possible.

And can’t forget… a weapon of choice #fakeofcourse

I went with a fake bloody knife

Oh well I guess she was bitten…

So there you have it…how to transform into Daryl Dixon’s wife.

It was fun playing the part, after all that’s what Halloween is about right….immersing yourself into a new character for a night and owning it.

AMC give me a call…Daryl deserves some love too!

Who’s ready for tonight’s episode…we finally get to see what happened to Beth!

Happy Watching!

-<3-

So now that I’ve been a zombie and a zombie killer…who’s next…maybe I’ll take on Michonne next year… What do you think?

It’s no secret that I’m a Walking Dead fan, and it’s even less of a secret that I love Daryl Dixon. So when Halloween costumes began rolling around in my brain I was considering being either Michonne or Daryl. However I didn’t like the quality of the Michonne wig they were selling and I knew I wouldn’t keep it on the whole night so I opted for Daryl. But Michelle you’re a girl….yes I’m well aware of that. But it’s Halloween and I can do and be what or whomever I want. You make your own rules. So I am [Female] Daryl Dixon….or Mrs. Daryl Dixon if you will. I even have the vest to prove. I’ll show you how I transformed into character…come along!

Phase 1: Materials & Creating the Wings

What you will need…A leather vest (not too cheap in quality), some light colored fabric (preferably a beige color) that can be easily manipulated and cut, some white computer paper, and some tracing paper.

The fabric I bought was actually flexible/easier to cut and durable and glued nicely because it had a felt type back…keep that in mind when choosing your fabric.

The faux leather vest I used was from spirit Halloween…I found it in the “biker” section.

CLICK HERE for link.

Here is the evolution of Daryl’s signature wings…

First I found a printable template of his wings online. CLICK HERE for link.

Then I had my brother draw them out to scale.

***BE SUPER CAREFUL CUTTING THESE WINGS OUT, it’s a pain in the ass because it’s so intricate.***

Then I traced them onto the tracing paper and was able to rub that out onto the fabric giving me an outline to work with.

Don’t mind my cookie monster shirt/my niece’s book haha

Next the bro came in and traced over the stencil markings with a fine tip black sharpie marker and free handed the shading and details….thanks dude,

Should look a little something like this…our tip for the opposite wing…turn over and trace the opposite side of wing and repeat process.

Phase 2: Gluing the Wings to the Vest

What you will need…Hot glue gun, glue sticks, ruler, white crayon, and cardboard to put between the vest, to protect the other side when gluing.

First place the cardboard between the vest.

Lay your wings onto the back of the vest and center them…using a ruler you can measure the distances from the sides, the top, the bottom, to make sure it’s all even.

When you’re all set, mark key points of where the wings go with the white crayon, this will help guide you if the wings shift during the gluing process.

Last but not least start gluing!

I recommend putting a dot of glue in the middle of each wing somewhere as to keep them in place while you glue the edges down and remember to be quick and careful. The clue dries quick and it’s hot as hell! [you will burn yourself about 5,000 times but it’s the price of wanting to look like a badass zombie killing genius]

Glue and stick, Glue and stick. Don’t try and glue too much at once, because the glue will dry before you get to do so. Seems like common sense but I just wanna cover my bases here.

And when it’s all said and done it should look a little like this…

Phase 3: Distressing the vest…

to ya know make it look like you’ve been through the zombie apocalypse

I got some of my ideas from HERE

You will need…A wire brush, sand paper, and that cardboard again.

Start will the sandpaper first making sure to scrape gently…too much will create more damage then you are looking for

Next use the wire brush…when using both tools focus more so on the seems…by the neck, the armpits the bottom…this is where it would be most worn out

There’s really no precise method I went back and forth between using these two tools and I was pretty satisfied with my distressed look…

It’s a little bit difficult to tell in these photos…but the vest did get distressed and the texture is rather nice now…and there’s definitely less shine. ALSO I left he wings alone….too much effort went into those suckers!

***********

QUICK PRICE COMPARISON:

The Daryl Vest in Spirit Halloween (too big on me anyway, it just looked silly) is cheaply made, and the wings aren’t that detailed and it’s $29.99

The Spirit Halloween biker vest was $16.99 and the fabric I used for the wings was $7 in a local fabric store (for a yard of material) putting me at around $24…so I saved a few bucks and even though it was more work, I still think mine looks better and a hell of a lot more realistic I enjoyed doing it and creating something I can use and be proud of … 😀

So there you have it…my Daryl Dixon Vest DIY tutorial.

Shout out to my bro for helping me with the wings….it was definitely a team effort! 😀

What do you think?

I will be rocking this on Sundays!

Stay Tuned for my FULL outfit as I transform into Mrs. Daryl Dixon for Halloween.

Got my Cross Bow…

Mom…I’m married for the night! 😉

-<3-

Michelle Leigh Writes

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Becoming Mrs. Daryl Dixon

DIY Daryl Dixon Angel Wings Vest