Dress up in a DIY Halloween Costume of Alina Starkov from Shadow and Bone
By Elaine Selna
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Fans of Leigh Bardugo’s books had been waiting a long time for Netflix to premiere its adaptation of her first YA novel, Shadow and Bone. Now that the Grishverse show has been out since April, we suspect new fans from both the books and the show will want to dress up as the lead character and Grisha Sun Summoner, Alina Starkov, played by Jessie Mei Li, this Halloween in DIY costumes.
Grisha is someone who can use the small sciences, magic, and wears long bulletproof coats called kefta. Each kefta is one of three colors to denote the Grisha’s order, while the embroidery represents their abilities in that order. The Corporalki, those from the order of the living and the dead, wear red. The Materialki from the order of the fabrikators wear purple. The Etherealki, those from the order of summoners, like Alina, wear blue. The only one who doesn’t fit into a category is General Kirigan, also known as the Darkling, who wears black. Though Alina is first given a kefta in black with golden embroidery to denote her high status, she opts for blue to be on familiar ground with other summoners, but later, at the Winter Fete, she reverts to black.
A version of the blue kefta with golden embroidery that Alina wears while training at the Little Palace is now available on Amazon. Compared with the one that Jessie Mei Li wears in the show, the resemblance is uncanny. The royal blue color is as vibrant while the length of the coat hits just below the knees, and the buttons start just below the waist. Both feature prominent black leather belts with large golden buckles with the symbol of Ravka, a double-headed eagle. Most importantly, the golden sunburst embroidery, though not identical, is unmistakable that you’re representing the Sun Summoner.
Though the kefta is over $100, it’s worth the investment if you’re a fan on the books and show and want to wear this multiple times and feel like you’re practically Alina Starkov from Shadow and Bone. Check out the DIY Halloween kefta costume here.