I’ve decided to go as famous Gregs for Halloween from now on. My first choice was Greg Louganis (cheap costume), but I first need to work out a bit and lose 20 years to be able to pull it off. So, I’m going with Pope Gregory XIII as a fallback this year.
Here he is in Wikipedia. The white robe, red mozzetta (*), and Santa beard I can manage, but the red (velvet?) hat is giving me trouble. Most pope costumes come with a mitre, and I don’t even know what to call this hat. It must have been common at one time, because all the popes of the era are pictured wearing one.
I figure I’ll also carry around a Gregorian calendar, wear a name tag saying (ha ha) PG XIII, and then maybe persecute any Huguenots I can find. What else can I do? And where can I get one of those hats, or at least find out what it is called?
(*) I had to look that up, and for sure I’ll be calling it mozzarella by Halloween.
Since you’re only going to wear it once, (right? right?? We don’t need to warn modern Huegenots, do we?) craft foam sheets would be your friend here; lightweight, can be snug w/o being constrictive, comes in many colors. Have you looked on SCA sites for advice as well? Here, also.
It’s a neat idea to have a Halloween Party where everyone goes as a famous person with their first name.
Perhaps it’s a bit too literal, but you could somehow display the October page from a calendar with Oct 5th - Oct 14th crossed out. Or slightly more subtle, mock up an October page that just jumps from Oct 4th to Oct 15th. All nerds will get it, in combo with the getup.
I think you need a red Peruvian hat. If you can only find one with a pompon and strings, cut those off. Or check out this one on amazon that doesn’t have those features. You just need to deal with the label. Color over it with a marker.
Flammi Men/Women’s Fleece Earflap Hat Beanie (Red) Amazon.com
I once went to a party where it was “come as your favorite saint” One guy painted on a dog face and hung a brandy keg around his neck, he was St. Bernard. Our student from England had a dry sense of humor, he wore evening clothes with a top hat, at Yves-St. laurent. And the guy in the bunny outfit was St Peter of the Cottontail.
Thanks everyone, this is really helpful! I knew someone would know the name of the camauro. jayjay, mad props, yo! (As they said in the middle ages.) The fleece hat seems like it might work, and Amazon has a red a white pope costume (with chasuble, not mozzarella, but oh well), and I like the crossed-out calendar idea. Oh, and Baker, Gregor Mendel is definitely going to be in the rotation, as is Gregor Samsa if I can find a cockroach costume, and Rasputin too, because Grigori is still Greg. I’ll also accept famous Krikors.
How about Gregory House? All you have to do is walk around and insult people, and occasionally deliver brilliantly insightful observations about their medical condition.
