With Halloween tomorrow I thought I'd talk about Halloween costumes. I've been a lot of things over the years. But don't worry, I can't barely remember every single year, so this won't be an exceedingly long post... I hope. Not a lot of photos survived through the years. I'd always dress up on Halloween to go to school and there was trick or treating afterwards with a party at our house later that night, because my mom was really big into Halloween. Most of the time, though, she'd want me to dress as something sweet. The Sister most of the time dressed as a witch. Mom dressed as nothing but a witch; and the horrible hag kind at that, with the fake nose with warts and green makeup. Honestly, she always looked like a dork. My Aunt, however, while it's awesome, it's also nightmare fuel, man. She's the scary looking thing in the right photo. Luckily I was a baby bunny that year and didn't find her scary. The other photo I'm a little older. I'm in the blue dress type thing next to the clown and Dracula. I was a little shepherd boy. Yes, I said boy. I never wanted to be a biblical era shepherd in the first place, but my mom insisted. Those were the sad years, I tell ya. I couldn't be what I wanted to be, which isn't that really the entire point of modern Halloween besides the candy haul? Yes, it is. Or, well it was in the eighties. Once I was allowed to be someone from Morocco because my maternal grandmother had brought me back an outfit from her travels. I did want to do that, so I was OK with it. Once I hit thirteen though, I never took her advice on costumes again. Sadly, there aren't any Halloween photos from my teen years, but my very first, chosen by me, costume was Erik Draven from The Crow. The film was popular. He was super hot. I could pull this look off easy peasy, so I went for it. I remember the photo that was taken, I was standing in the wooded lot where that new house now stands and for a thirteen year old cobbling together a costume with no money, it was brilliant. No, I strike that. It was brilliant, regardless. It was a really great imitation. I had a long black shirt that looked pretty much like this. And instead of black leather pants, I had black jeans that fit about the same on me as his pants do on him in the film. I wore my dads military issue combat boots. I used my mom's black eyeliner and foundation to make myself pasty with all the black colouring on this face. I got my hair wet and let it air dry (because it's naturally wavy like this and dark brown). It was one of my all-time favourite costumes because it was my first decision and it came off without a hitch. I do know that the following year, when I was fourteen, I dressed as a zombie. I painted half my fingernails and part of my fingers black to show they were rotting. Did buy some cheap green Halloween make-up to put on my face. It was not a bad costume, but nothing too memorable. I think when I was seventeen I dressed as Queen Nefertari. I wanted to be Hatshepsut (and still do one day), but didn't have enough time, nor did I find anything so I could make her pharaonic beard or crown, so I chose Nefertari instead. I also can not recall any of the other costumes during my teen years. I just remember that I still wanted to trick or treat from thirteen to fifteen, even though my friends were shying away from it. Not even because they didn't really want to still, because they did, but because it was "not cool anymore" and they were afraid a cool kid would see them. I got some resistance from adults when I'd knock on their doors, but only a little. The year I was fifteen though, not one single person would give me candy, bitching that I was too old to trick or treat. That was the last year I was a kid at Halloween. But we move to either I'm nineteen or perhaps I am twenty. I dressed as a Maiko, a Geisha in training if you will. I did purchase some things, but my budget was about $10, if not a little less. I found a cheap Geisha Halloween wig at a discount store and bought it. Then I came home and completely re-did it. I guess not completely, but it was an abysmal wig even for a Geisha hairstyle (which is more simple than Maiko), and I had to style it in the fashion you see above. I needed the side sweeps, a top front bun and a top back one and the hair had to be split open like that at the back with red fabric in there. I worked to get it pretty accurate. Then I created hair ornaments that were pretty cool for working with what I had at home. I found fabric for the under kimono and the actual kimono and for the obi; I even already had blocky wooden shoes similar to what they wear. I had to have The Sister help with this because it was quite a huge undertaking to get it all perfect. She had to help me get dressed so that the layers were correct and of course she had to tie my obi in the back and to paint my neck white in the same fashion. It wasn't fine silks, but it was not a bad rendering of the style of dress and the make-up and hair were perfect. I was portraying a person here, it had to be as perfect as one could create. There was no "Sexy geesha girl" about it. Nor was there any terrible Vietnam War era racism of "You love me long time", though people certainly said these things to me while I was in costume. It was the complete opposite spectrum of "sexy" girl or even the horrendous Japanese neighbour stereotype as portrayed by Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's. Sure, no Japanese person would have mistaken me for Maiko, mainly because I'm clearly not Japanese, but also because the finishings weren't sumptuous, but I probably wouldn't have been given a second look if I were in a Noh performance or in an extremely well put together, classy play put on somewhere else in the world that would just happen to feature a girl in Maiko garb. Or like a really nice documentary re-enactment. I completely stepped into the role and held myself with great poise and walked like I was floating on air and didn't act a fool or even like myself. No one appreciated it but it was a really dedicated role and costume and I think was done beautifully. The first Lord of the Rings film had just come out and I wanted to go as an elf, but didn't feel I could pull that off... so I went as a hobbit. I think this is the following year. I used dad's brown 70s wedding vest and actually had cropped pants and a flouncy dress shirt. I borrowed a cloak from a friend. The only thing I purchased (for about $5) was Halloween facial hair which I did totally put on my feet, and some pointed Halloween ears. Oh and the hair was easy. Remember my hair is wavy naturally, so I just washed it and let it dry naturally and boom instant Hobbit hair as it was shoulder length already. Sometime in the early 2000s, The Sister and I dressed up as the Aunts from Practical Magic. She was Diane Wiest's character and I was Stockard Channing's character. We cobbled together flouncy, old fashioned outfits from pieces of clothing around the house and I found these new hair extensions at a discount place (so like 20 of them for 50 cents or something) and we pinned them in our hair so we'd have long hair. In 2003 or 2004 I went as T'su Shi. I had just read Imperial Woman and she sounded beyond awesome. Then I did more research on her and knew I had to recreate her clothing, hair, and adornments as a costume. If I go as someone from history or a different culture, it's always as authentic as I can manage and an educational and learning experience for others. I mean take Nefertari or Maiko as an example. It's always tasteful. And it's fun for me to research and create it. So, it's debated whether the last Emperor of China was really the last ruler, because he sort of had a puppet rule and the whole Manchurian debacle and that was that. She was The Empress Dowager and ruled in his stead until he was old enough, but that's strange too, because she never should have even been Empress Dowager, much less any type of ruler of China because she was one of the lower concubines. Anyways, this costume was a lot of work too. My slight flaw is that my dress came out pink instead of red. It was a white sheet with delicate flowers in the pattern. I used red RITT dye, but it came out pink. In red it would have been a pretty nice dress. I couldn't obviously do a whole lot of applique sewing or have a jacket, but I had my Godmother sew it in a way that it became a dress with wide sleeves and actually wasn't a bad overall finish. I used pieces of fancy cloth laid over my shoulders to emulate the fancy collar and front work. I did craft her headpiece though. I cut cardboard in the same shape, covered it in nice black cloth we had and affixed costume jewelry pieces to it to create the look. Also dangly bits from the bottoms of the sides. I found different, younger photos of her and did my make-up in the same style. It wasn't as perfect as I would have liked (the whole pink fiasco and I really wanted to do a jacket) but it was a really impressive costume. People that saw it almost wanted to kneel down for me like I really was some great royalty. That is not too shabby, eh? In the mid-2000's I went as T'Pau from the Star Trek TOS (The Original Series) epi Amok Time. I don't do sexy, so I wasn't going to be one of the many sexy girls from the show. I couldn't cobble together Lt. Uhura's outfit, nor any Starfleet outfit. Plus, this old lady was awesome! Wait let me go back. A year (possibly two) before this I went as something I dreamt. A machine gun toting nun. I did dream that. I dreamt that I was wearing your typical nun habit (the black and white one) with the head piece and the dress part (whatever it's called), only it was cut off at the knees with ripped fishnet pantyhose and combat boots. And in the dream I had long black hair not tucked into the head piece. I did totally dress up as that dream, much to the chagrin of our Catholic family friends. haha. Anyways, so I borrowed and found items at discount places, including a long black wig. So, when it came time to be T'Pau, I reworked the wig into a fancy updo with braidwork and the side swoops of hair around the face. I was rushed for time to get out the door, otherwise I would have made sure my wig was straight or that my mom captured a full shot, but I didn't. Anyways, I picked up some white hair pieces at a yard sale and braided those and affixed them onto the black wig. It's a shame my wig had slipped (it was kind of heavy), because it actually did turn out pretty well. I used my Hobbit ears to be a Vulcan and purchased some cheap green Halloween make-up for my face. It was too pricey to buy latex, so I couldn't cover my eyebrows over completely and I wasn't about to shave them off just for a Halloween costume. Also the clothes I wore were pretty bad ass, so again it's a shame there wasn't a better photo taken that year. This was somewhere between 2006 and 2009? We were going to spend Halloween with our friend which was fun because it was a mini holiday, we got to scare kids on a haunted hayride and pass out candy to trick or treaters (We never get trick or treaters. I'm sitting here typing this on Halloween night, an hour into the allotted time for Trick or Treating and no one has shown up. I always have something because some years one kid would show up and I'd have nothing and they got food items. Don't remember what the little tiny kid got, but the two teenage girls got a package each of cookies, so they scored, right?) Anyways, so I was Aja from Jem & The Holograms. I always liked that cartoon growing up and I always liked her the best. Really, I just remember that I liked the colour scheme of The Misfits (pink and green), but that the blue haired girl was my favourite. Didn't realize The Holograms were so international and that Aja was Japanese, until I was looking her up online so I could emulate her make-up. I dressed in something garishly 80's and had a blue wig and did my make-up like hers, though you can't see in my make-up in this photo. It was a fun costume and cost about $2 for the two shirts at a thrift store. Then I went as a Gelfling. I had a lot of various wings and Halloween bits from the various years of shopping at discount stores. Perhaps $20 total was spent on all the wigs or hats or specialty items like make-up or ears, etc. So, I had just read these Dark Crystal manga's and they're set before the film and they have all sorts of Gelfings in there. So, I could pull off that look much better than that lone girl Gelfling Keira from the film. I just wore some tights I had and a short skirt and a blue tank top layered over a 3/4 length plain shirt. Acorn necklace, some earrings that look like symbols on thra. Braided an orange wig like one of the girls in the book and pulled out the faerie wings I had in my closet. It was easy and technically I didn't buy anything for it, that year, because the wig and wings had been purchased years before. This costume was great, even there isn't a full one of me. It was 2011 or 2012. I went as a Lion Tamer. The hat was picked up for a quarter and I used a scrap of red velvet that I had to put around it. I had this ribbed, 3/4 sleeve white shirt that looked kind of old time-y and this great blue short coat that was fitted. I wore black pants and boots. I used black eyeliner to put around my eyes and the fancy moustache. I also had this old whip that I carried around with me and a cute lion plushie. I may have been and old time-y showman, but me and the lion were super BFF's and the whip was just for show. That's how I like to think about things. No lions would ever be harmed if I were a lion tamer, and since I was, then they weren't. I loved this costume! This was in 2015, I believe. We all had to dress up as art. So, I went as a Matryoshka doll because that is art. I just have this scarf that reminds me of Russia that I pinned around my face (it was too bunchy when tied and I wanted it to fall over my shoulders. Covered my face in moms foundation (she's lighter than me and I don't wear that), then I just exaggerated all of the make-up. Rimmed my eyes in black liner and drew on some large lashes and used a lighter shade of lipstick for big rosy cheeks and then a darker shade for my lips; an exaggerated cupids bow design. Then I just wore all black clothes. I did like this costume, but getting the make-up off was terrible. In 2016, The Sister and I went as Sam and Dean Winchester complete with anti possession tattooes that we drew on ourselves in Sharpie. She chose to be loungy Dean after they find The Bunker and he's walking around in the old man bathrobe because she likes comfort. She wore her Dean pin and carried some salt. I wore what they typically wear; Jeans, t-shirt, and plaid button down shirt that's opened. I was wearing my Sam button and carried the rifle we'd need the salt for (salt bullets, ya know?) We didn't buy anything for this, as the rifle was mom's Dale Evan's pop-gun rifle from her childhood and the bathrobe was dad's from the 1970s. Oh that plaid shirt was dad's too. I did too costumes that year, because why not? So this one was The Crazy Cat Lady. Super comfy black pants and a tank top with some Converse. Then I styled my hair super messy, added some feathers and a real cat toy (a pink mouse that our cats play with) into my hair with bobby pins. I was wearing mis-matched earrings because I have so many cats who has time to figure that out and my mascara was smudgy and my lipstick was a complete mess. I used my old lady carpet bag purse that had kitty cookies and cat nip in it (no seriously, it did!) and carried around my plushie of Lucifer the cat from the animated Cinderella. I don't go out looking like this ever, yet there were people in town who didn't even realize I was dressed up. *rolls eyes* Last year I was an Undead Avon Lady from the 1970s. Mom gave me her Avon Calling door knocker pin that she had in the 1970s and my imagination just exploded. I knew how to do this and good. I was immediately reminded of the suicide lady in the kitchen in The Sixth Sense and put it all together. So my back story was that my husband was terrible, so I committed suicide by slitting my wrists. They patched me up at hospital, but then I just came home and took a whole bunch of pills chased with alcohol. This is why I'm the 1970s, have slit, but fixed wrists, and my make-up is all askew and messy. I didn't die in a classy way and now I'm this crazy Undead lady wanting to sell you Avon. My hair actually looked pretty good a nice flippy 70s look, but you can't see that in the photo. Then there's this one from Saturday where I'm Astrophysicist Vera Rubin and The Sister is the Dark Matter that I discovered. Didn't buy anything and just used real make-up and body glitter that we had to draw the cosmos on me and wore something that looked like the 1960s, but nice, so a blue sleeveless top and a skirt.
I also dressed up as a black cat today, because today is Halloween and I can't not dress up, right? So, I just wore some long comfy black pants, that I folded up twice to my knees, black knee high tights and then my dad's military issue combat boots. A black sleeveless top that's kind of Greek looking with a vintage black cat button pinned on in the middle. I rimmed my eyes in orange eyeliner to emulate that I would have orange cat eyes. I'm still wearing it, but I don't want to put the boots back on for someone in my family to take a photo, which is not something they're willing to do at the moment anyways. An hour and a half until Trick or Treating is over. I'll be thoroughly surprised if anyone shows up. But, if they don't then I get some snack size Twix all to myself! Mwhahaha!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorA girl from South Mississippi who finds herself in exploration. Archives
November 2019
Categories |