Need a Last-Minute Halloween Costume? Channel Your Inner Lady Gaga, Sookie or Farrah
by People tend to fall into one of two categories in most things in life: Traditionalists or Modernists. Where do you fall on Halloween costumes? Do you go traditional and pile on the monster gore like these nasties captured by blogger and photographer Aimee Greeblemonkey during the Denver Zombie Crawl.
It's certainly the season to get creative, like blogger Adam Avitable who hosts an annual art happening/Avitaween party, with an open invitation to the entire blogosphere. Bloggers Britt and Hilly attended as Madonna and a Queen. Classic!
I tend to be a modernist. I say never turn down a chance to call yourself a V.I.P, channel the zeitgeist and celebrate your favorite media stars or characters. Don't worry if you are afraid it's too late. There are plenty of easy red carpet ideas inspired by movies and television to help you rock out with your pop culture out on All Hallow's Eve.
The buzz is that this year, Kate Gosselin and Lady Gaga costumes (tutorial from Threadbanger) are the frontrunners for Most Topical Costume Oscar. I love the Kate Gosselin or Octomom costume concept, because you can rope your family members and friends into dressing as your children and then you can make them get your drinks for you all night long. Or just stuff your shirt with a bag of oranges and go as Pregnant Octomom, and then you can eat candy for two, plus two, plus more. Nadya Suleman dressed as a pregnant nun herself, in a fine bit of self-satire. On the other hand, Renee at Womanist Musings wasn't amused by the racism inherent in the Octomom costume publicized on The View.
Maybe you'd prefer a motherhood costume that is more fiction-driven. If you have a few minutes, a grand Benjamin Button costume would be to mount a photo of Brad Pitt's face to a doll, for you to carry dressed as an old, old, old Cate Blanchett or his nurse Nana.
A gorgeous idea for this year is to go as a swank Mad Men lead. If you have a beautiful dress or Don Draper suit, you probably are thrilled for the excuse to wear it. Or you can not go wrong smoking a pack of cigarettes in a smoking Betty Draper nightgown. Even better, I would give all of my Skittles and most of my chocolate to a partygoer dressed as Joan in a red wig, structured Playtex bra and slinky slip. I don't know if she has ever appeared in Mad Men with this part of her outfit fully showing, but you know it's there.
The big movie costume theme this year is Where the Wild Things Are. If you are worried you don't have enough time to pull off an actual Wild Thing like amazing Sarah Clark, take the easy way out and simply add ears and a gold crown to a hat or a hoodie for instant Max appeal. I'm guessing you won't be alone in your rumpus making.
Some more easy no-Zombie-brainers include:
Serena Williams --Tennis clothes and a racket with a sign attached (words of your choice or Serena's).
Star Trek --This year's film may not have been your father's Star Trek, but you can go ahead an borrow his costume or Spock ears
Balloons -- You can pick between Balloon Boy or Up for your theme with this must-have 2009 accessory.
The Box -- Another prop costume that you can play two ways. BECOME the Box, or just CARRY one. I would issue "Morality Tickets" to anyone who chooses to push the button telling them who died because of their greed. Charo? Walt Disney's brain? E.T? Perhaps Elvis--because he WAS alive until the button was pressed.
Cheerios' Coach Sue from Glee -- Track suit + bullhorn + stopwatch = you get to say things like "You think that's hard? Try being waterboarded. That's hard."
Derby Girl from Whip-It --How can you turn down a chance to wear torn fishnets, a Girl Scout uniform and a lot of eyeshadow? In public?
Dead Celebrities are a specialty within the Modernist genre. Paying homage to Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett or Billy Mays would be very sweet. Also, not dead, but her career may be: this might be your last year to go at Paula Abdul, so go girl!
Of course, you can have the best of both Traditional and Modern world with vampires, the master monster of 2009. I'm sure every party will have enough True Blood and New Moon vampires to drain a blood bank. Don't forget the option of dressing as Vamp Lover Sookie Stackhouse, in short shorts, a Merlotte's T and a cute little gap between your front teeth. But if you like flowing robes, scarves and fruit, play it as Maryann. As a benefit you may find you have the power to shake like an egg timer and incite a Bacchanalia to keep the Halloween festivities rolling on through El Dios de las Muerte and on towards Thanksgiving.
Unless you are keeping it a masked surprise, I'm dying to know who you're dressing up as this year. Even IF it is a surprise, I want to know. I won't tell a (living) soul!
Contributing Editor Deb Rox is trick-or-treating as Don Draper. She expects to get a pumpkin full of cigarettes and airplane bottles of scotch.
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Comments
I'm going as a very cold,
I'm going as a very cold, very snowbound witch... the kidlet is Hannah Montana (her choice) and the husband a grim reaper. But since her school is cancelled tomorrow (as it was the past 2 days AND is Monday & Tuesday apparently) not sure how much we'll get out since that was the big Hallowe'en event.
Saturday itself will be neighborhooderiffic.
Lucretia (aka GeekMommy) Raising a child in a digital world, still a digital girl
Snow witch!
Snow for Halloween. I remember that as a kid in Chicago, and being sad that no one could see my nurse dress under my coat. In Florida, it's the opposite. It's humid and 80s. Kids in wigs will have sweat streaming down their faces.
Deb
www.debontherocks.com blog
www.3smartgirlz.com consulting
Elderly Couple
My husband I are going as a elderly couple with our best outfits from the Goodwill. The party we are attending is actually themed for the 80s (the decade). We are going and saying we misunderstood and stressed up as the 80s (the age).
LOVE THIS
My husband is going as Billy Mayes, I am dressing in a Snuggie and our 5 month old is going as a bucket of OxyClean. :)
costumes
my boyfriend and I got onesies (adult-sized PJs with feet) and are going as big kids.
Amazing Costumes!
These are terrific. I love the couple/team costumes. Can Not Wait for photos. OxyClean!!!
Deb
www.debontherocks.com blog
www.3smartgirlz.com consulting
Pancakes and bacon have given way to...
Sue Sylvester and Puck. I think we'll be hawt. (Don't tell me you don't know who I mean! http://is.gd/4HJJ3)
Lisa Stone BlogHer Co-founder Surfette BlogHer is non-partisan but our bloggers aren't! Follow our coverage of Politics & News.
Not dressing up
But I just wanted to say that I love the costumes that they are going to wear on Saturday! I hope you all have fun and that the weather isn't so cold!
P.S. I love the Sue Sylvester idea! Maybe I can still pull that off.. Gotta love Sue... or just have a container of Lysol wipes and a cute sweater outfit and become Emma Pillsbury! Glee rocks!
The gifts and trials of raising a Christian family in a secular society
Love that everyone gets into
Love that everyone gets into the spirit. It's hard to compete with a snuggie costume, but we'll try.
My husband is going as Captain Dick Sully, a play on, well, you know. He will be decorated with many obscene awards, which I MADE in an Etsy workshop. Yup, I'm taking this "make my own shit" and feel better mantra seriously.
I will be C. harlotte Hudson and will be dressed as a stewardess. I have a great scarf and retro earrings, a cheap way for me to get into the spirit.
I too want to hear more so keep 'em coming.
http://www.thecluelesscrafter.com/
that counts as crafting? awesome
Hilarious names. And I want to do that kind of crafting. Sounds, well, expressive.
Deb
www.debontherocks.com blog
www.3smartgirlz.com consulting
Heeeeere's Johnny!
My 13 y.o. son is wearing his new black pea coat and a black knit winter hat and going as Jack Torrance. We still need to find him a plastic axe :)
My girls, 6 and 8, are going as a baby (strictly for the excuse to walk around with a pacifier) and a devil (um, no comment).
My 10 y.o. son is totally over Halloween every year until about three minutes before Trick-or-Treat time, so his costume is still a mystery.
And I am still trying to decide on mine, so thanks for all the links!
Lil' Jack Torrance!
Please type him up a page that says ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY.
Love that!
It's printing now!
Thanks for the GREAT touch! hahaha
Props
These are great. More Team Sue, more better! And Jen, I totally get the vision of cleverly getting to claim a pacifier all day. That's what it's all about!
She's got a bottle, too
The funny thing is that she was never a pacifier baby! Silly kid. :)
Last-minute change of plans... many times.
The original plan was to go as Lady GaGa back in July, but earlier this month I realized everyone was going to be le GaGa, and I didn't want to buy a blonde wig, so I decided to switch gears.
I was then thinking of a Greek nymph/muse etc., but couldn't find the right crown/didn't have access to a sewing machine, so that was out...
And then I thought, why not a stegosaurus? Dinosaurs are awesome! I bought all of my dino-gear last weekend and started on it on Wednesday night... only to realize that my ambition was too much for the time I had left. (My mom's volunteered to help me next year, since I already have all of the dino-stuff, anyway.)
Thus I'll be Edie Sedgwick, with my boyfriend as Andy Warhol. We're going to a party at SFMOMA (Museum of Modern Art) tonight, so people will definitely recognize us. (And sure enough, after swearing up and down that I will never again go to the Spirit store on October 29th, guess where I found myself last night...)
-- Jeanne - The Periodic Elements of Style: http://periodicstyle.blogspot.com
Edie's been my default costume once or twice
too
But you'll be the perfect Youthquaker!
Part of it is for the matched set!
I told the boyfriend that if we couldn't find a wig or white spray for Warhol, he could be Bob Dylan. A harmonica is probably even harder to find, though...!
-- Jeanne - The Periodic Elements of Style: http://periodicstyle.blogspot.com
He could sing Christmas carols! Strangely!
Or just play them on the iPod. Christmas Bob Dylan with a Santa hat would be really funny.
Since the invention of the iPod I have pondered costumes with a musical element but I realized it would drive me insane to listen to the same music all night. I think Super Mario and Cooking Mama kind of require the theme songs, though.
Love the Edie!
Why not a stegosaurus? is my new catch phrase. Yeah, why not?
Deb
www.debontherocks.com blog
www.3smartgirlz.com consulting
Dino in the MOMA!
I probably would have done Edie for the MOMA party anyway, if just because it would have been the wrong museum for a stegosaurus to go stomping around.
-- Jeanne - The Periodic Elements of Style: http://periodicstyle.blogspot.com
If I dress up this year (and sadly that's a
big if)
My ridiculously mustachioed spouse will be Super Mario and I will be Cooking Mama. Easy enough to do last minute. Luckily I have a badge press for the "Don't worry. Mama will fix it" messaging which is crucial.
Deb, I was Joan Holloway last year! I'll try to find a pic for the photo gallery ...
Team Joan
Yes! Must have photos!