When one of my blogcrushes wrote about her Halloween past, I immediately wanted to do the same.
The good part for you, dear readers, is that in my doing this, you’re going to get a handful of Halloween costume hints. Aren’t I sweet?!
So, last year. . . I envisioned myself an Afro’d, skinny/sparkly pants-ed roller disco queen. However, I knew I’d be attending a party at my friend’s post pad, affectionately dubbed the “Cockroach Penthouse,” where I’d be a) drinking copious amounts, b) descending and ascending a spiral staircase several times an hour, and c) hanging out on the roof of a building whose height exceeded my vertigo-allowance level when sober, let alone when tipsy. So I decided to forgo the roller skates in favor of stilettos, prompting quizzical “What are you supposed to be?” looks from the other party attendees. This year was one of the closest years I’ve ever had to engaging in Slutoween outright.
In 2004, I donned a striped dress, pushed my flat-ironed hair back on one side with a plastic barrette, hid inside my fur coat and sucked on an unlit cigarette. Yeah, that’s right…I was Margot Tenenbaum! From The Royal Tenenbaums! Because she’s adopted, see! And I am too! And I’m a poor, tortured writer/recovering genius like her too! During Halloween, I hung out at my then-boyfriend’s house, and his parents gave me quizzical “What are you supposed to be?” looks. Later I’m sure we went out and caused some havoc somewhere in the streets of Louisville.
In 2003, I dabbled in Slutoween once again. I had been in charge of a Halloween event at my college, and I felt like a bad leader if I didn’t show up in costume (despite having spent much of the day lugging around decorations and candy and making frantic calls to ensure the pizza would be delivered on time). So, having recently purchased some vintage nylon short-shorts (which were nowhere near as cool as these), I wore sunglasses and feathered hair and some kind of skimpy tank top and went as Roller Girl. Most of the people at the event weren’t familiar with the movie, so I was able to escape all the “Oh man, you’re dressed as a porn star!” comments—mostly, they were just impressed that I arrived at the party in shorts and skates without freezing my arse off. (This was a non-drinking event. Clearly if I had intended to indulge, my thought process might have been similar to what it was last year.)
In early college and throughout high school, I didn’t really participate in Halloween dress-up, except one year when I wore a homemade genie costume to ballet class on costume day. My mum, being the choral conductor for her school, had tons and tons of costumes she’d made herself for almost every musical imaginable, so I had access to almost all of these as long as I promised not to ruin them. This genie outfit was pink and gold lamé, with really great beadwork and a matching hat. My ballet teacher was impressed. Also in high school, I once dressed up as a go-go girl for a school project, though not for Halloween—I was part of a group giving a video presentation on 1970s culture. I wore flat-ironed hair, short shorts, fishnet tights, black eyeliner, glitter gel all over me, and go-go boots. (I seem to remember the other girls in this video dressing a little more like hippies than like go-go girls. Hmm.)
Before high school, I attended a summer study for young actors in my hometown. The curriculum included a lot of acting-type classes, but the classes where I gained the most were the ones where they taught us how to put on stage makeup to horrifying effect—bruises, gashes, bumps, and scars. I took that knowledge and went as Bloody Mary for something like three straight years. What I wore was unimportant—some kind of black shift dress or something. What was important, though, was the fact that each year, I carved a slice across my throat and gashes all over my cheeks and head so that it looked like I’d been decapitated. I did this when I was still going trick-or-treating, and I’m pretty sure I made some little kids cry. I can’t really remember. (Remembering this, I think perhaps I missed my calling. Maybe I should have been a makeup artist on the horror-film circuit.)
What are your favorite ancient Halloween costumes? Link to pics!
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