Ah, Halloween. Our Wiccan friends celebrate it as Samhain. Many Pagans believe this is the time of year where the veil between the living and the dead is thinnest. I gotta say, that has been my experience. I feel a mighty pull by bonds to loved ones on the other side right about now. Always have.
But I’m not gonna get heavy on you today. I’m gonna get reminiscent. I didn’t dress up this year, but I still love thinking about costume ideas. I was invited to a costume party last weekend with a “comic book†theme. I wore street clothes and went as Mystique. Hey. Who was gonna tell me I wasn’t Mystique?! Anyway, every year when I contemplate Halloween costumes, I recall my glorious costume past. Oh yes, it was glorious. The truly sad part about me reminiscing is that in some cases, my memories are all that I have (and my memory is sketchy!). My mom and sister have been looking for old photos, but can’t find them. I’m starting to worry they were sacrificed to Hurricane Andrew.
Here are some of my shining Halloween moments. You’ll just have to use your imagination for the costumes we can’t find photos of. If my kin ever do find the photos, I will post them. Where there are photos, you can click to enlarge.
♕ Charo. If you don’t know who Charo is, you haven’t watched enough 1970s variety shows. My mom made this costume for me. I was…what?…seven? That my parents would let me go as this sexy TV personality screams volumes about what is wron…I mean, explains why I’m so fabulous. Note: Purple beams are added to this photo to emphasize the awesomeness of this costume.
♕ Dice. My childhood best friend and I went as a pair of dice. It was inspired. I think it came to us during our umpteenth viewing of The Blues Brothers. [Don’t ask. We were obsessed with Jake and Elwood.] One of our neighbors owned an appliance store and he gave us TV boxes (I think). We painted them white, then added appropriate dots on each side. We wore black body suits and stockings. Our heads were the center of the five side of the die. A brilliant idea for pre-tweens if you ask me.
♕ Cinderella. Every girl wants to be a princess. Fortunately, I still am a princess. But when I was young, I felt more like a tomboy. My mother — who has an artist’s soul — designed and crafted this costume for me. It’s not Disney, which adds to the awesomeness. [Nothing against Disney, but their princess were not da bomb when I was a kid like they are now.] And I’m not done up in traditional princess with make-up and poofy hair. This is Ella al natural. Way to go, Mom! [Although, she may have wanted make-up and poofy as part of her artist vision, but the tomboy in me wouldn’t have it. Even though I wanted to be a princess. Ah, the duality of youth!]
♕ Smurfette. Don’t judge me. Smurfette was cool. I was blonde and still had bangs from the oh-no-you-di-in’t haircut incident of 1982. I had a white skirt, a sailor-type blue and white striped shirt, and a white hat. Blue body paint, and I was rockin’. Those other obnoxious teens didn’t have smurf on me! <No picture for this costume.>
I’ve had some pretty good adult costumes, too. Here’s me as a Bad Fairy at one of Jax’s first Halloween dinner parties. Not that you can tell how “bad†I am with that goofy smile. The crowning feature of this costume is the wig k! let me borrow (our wonderful webmistress). I went to the Zombie Ball last year with my niece and Mr. Awesome. I was pretty damn proud of this Katrina costume — the clothing and jewelry portions of which were all from my everyday wardrobe.
Admittedly, I haven’t been as excited about Halloween costumes as I used to get. Maybe it’s because I’m (finally) growing up. Or maybe it’s because…as my friend J put it, “I get to dress up all the time in beautiful costumes that I love. Halloween costumes just don’t mean that much anymore.†This is a reference to bellydance costumes. I wear one at least once a month. J is right, dressing up frequently takes a bit of the buzz out of dressing up once a year. Not all of the buzz, mind you, but some of it.
What is your fondest memory of Halloween costumes gone by? If you have a picture, please share it on our Facebook page!
+ Featured image, Trinity, Lara Croft, and Bad Fairy (aka k!, Jax, and GG) photographed by CecilyJo.
2 comments
Lori says:
Nov 9, 2013
My mother made greek goddess costume for me when I was about 8, and a gypsy costume when I was 9. Explaining the greek goddess one was kinda difficult for an 8 year old (it was a white one-shoulder dress wrapped round with gold braid; my hair was up and wrapped in gold braid & grape leaves).
But the thing I remember most about Halloween in the ’60s was the KIDS EVERYWHERE- look up and down the street and see gangs of kids running everywhere. And NO ADULTS. They were supposed to be at home opening the door and handing out the candy. We all carried pillow cases and filled them to the brim… I feel sorry for kids today with the sanitized Halloweens….
GG says:
Nov 16, 2013
Hi Lori! Welcome to the realm. Yes, my childhood memories of Halloween were of streets flooded with children, of houses decorated to the nines, and parents getting into the spirit of the day as much as children.
I was Halloween-age in the late ’70s and early ’80s. There were some parents walking the streets with their kids, but mostly they just stood in the middle of the street with other parents and gabbed. We ran around like crazy people having an unedited blast.