Costumes Cost Money

I like to sew. I particularly enjoy sewing ruffles and ruching, flounces and bows and lines of beads and pearls....the kind of sewing that goes on things you can't wear around town on a normal day. So I make Halloween costumes of historical figures..I've done Marie Antoinette costumes 3 times in my life and this is the last one. I promise, honey! No more knocking things off end tables test driving my 'pocket hoops'. No more rigging things up on my bar stool dress form in the livingroom because, I NEED MORE ROOM! I'm going to make less huge things from now on. I promise.
That said, I need to finish the one I'm working on now. A black and gold mess, hopefully looking like 1770's but done with foam and tulle and $2 a yard costume satin from WalMart. Why spend a lot of money? You wear it one day. Then you have to store it, then you lend it to a friend to wear it on Halloween next year, then you give it away to someone who's into Renaissance Faire stuff. What else can you do?