This year my nine year old daughter is going as the Hindu goddess “Kali” which I think is going to kick ass. Blue skin, long red tongue, lots of arms carrying things like bayonettes and severed heads, etc. Last year my (African American) son went as a Sly & The Family Stone type disco guy, with a beige pinstriped leisure suit and a huge Afro wig, gold chains, platform shoes, etc.
My son and I are trying to come up with a good costume for him this year. He nixed my Jimmi Hendrix idea. He’s eleven years old. Any ideas?
When my brother was eleven he won three contests ($50.00, a huge stuffed tiger, and a pumpkin full of candy) dressed as a witch, complete with green skin (by way of food coloring) and a nasty wart on the nose. His black witch dress was ragged enough across the bottom that it showed his obviously hairy boy legs with skinned knees. He taped huge balloon’s to his undershirt for a bosom and used hideously long press on fingernails painted a nasty pooey looking brown.
When my boy was 10, he was Elvis. We took an old karate gi and painted it uop with glitter paint, slicked his hair back, put a lei around his neck, and a toy guitar.
It was relly great, 'cause when people would give him candy, he’d say “thank you, thank you very much” in a fair Elvis voice. A lot of the people would call whoever else was there, and give him more candy. He made out like a bandit that year.
How about a die? Even better, if he can talk a friend into joining him, a pair of dice.
Get a largish squarish box, like from a TV, and paint it white with appropriate black dots. Cut holes for the head, arms and legs, and wear white tights and shirt, and white face makeup.
or maybe, more practically, Pharoah. Like in that Michael Jackson video clip of a few years ago. Or is it too cold to go around with only a headdress, false beard and a wand to keep you warm?
Redboss
I like the grapes, Vanilla. It fits in with the moment of inspiration I had an hour ago: how about a bag of groceries? Make the bag out of butcher paper, to resemble a brown paper grocery sack. Put fake fruit, like you can get at a craft store, and bread and cereal boxes and such in it, sticking out the top. Make the kid’s head a green head of lettuce.
I’m going to try to talk my 8-year-old into this one.
My brother won contests as a Zulu warrior wearing leopard skin and head dress, a Roman gladiator and a Samuri warrior. All very elaborate and masculine images. My friend’s son and his buddy were mimes. Black clothes, white faces, bowler hats and a sign that said ‘Trick or Treat’. They’d flip it over and showed ‘Thank you’.
[ul]
[li]One of the Blue Men (Should be easy, really: black pants, black shirt, blue paint all over him. Also, give him a prop of some kind; perhaps a tube of PVC pipe (like in the Intel commercial)).[/li][li]A high priest of Israel. Make the breastplate out of gold-colored aluminum foil, and use jellybeans for the gems.[/li][/ul]
When I was 9, my dad (who sews) made a “grocery bag” costume with protruding Cereal box, celery stalks, carrot tops, raddishes hanging on the side… all made of material.
Halloween costumes are always a bone of contention with my 7-year-old son and I. Since he’s been able to decide for himself he’s only wanted to be superhero characters or super-mega-tough-stud-guy types, like a ninja. Happily, it looks as though he’ll be Sammy Sosa this year.
Anyhoo, for ideas…how about a traffic light? Spraypaint a rectangular box flat green, cut out three holes in front and cover them with colored cellophane (as well as for the arms, head and legs, duh) and give him a flashlight. Voila!
Sure wish I could talk The Boy into this one. Sigh.
La Principessa, who is in the 6th grade but who feels competent to pronounce upon costume ideas for a Nine, says that last year, for girls, poodle skirts were the “in” thing, but that this year there doesn’t seem to be a consensus yet. She says Barbie is dorky.
For boys:
Bonzo, at the exalted age of High School Freshman, has of course put all those childish things behind him, but he does keep track of it enough to know that the following costume ideas, for a 6th grade boy, are dorky:
Pokemon
Superman
Spiderman
Batman
He says a guy came to a party last year as a barrel of toxic waste, which everyone agreed was way kewl.
Other good ideas, he says, are “really scary monster-type things”, except for the Edvard Munch “shrek” mask from Scream, which he notes has been “done to death”.
Some recent years favorite for my workplace’s Halloween party"
White tights, White T-shirt, a long bolt of cheese cloth (for the torso). A sheet that is torn into strips. Twenty safety pins. Mummy suit. Easy to do. Add blood for those so inclined.
A clear plastic Dry Cleaner bag. Black leotard and tights. A dozen oval balloons in colors. A Bag of Jelly Beans.
Baby in red feets pj’s with a hood. Yellow yarn swirled over him from the neck down. (Lightly tacked down with yellow thread, I think.) Brown blanket folded to be just the same length as the baby, with a white sheet over the inside (also tacked down) . . . A Hot Dog!
A very tall, skinny man in brown leotard/tights, with cubes cut from Styrofoam glued to him. A pretzel stick.
Tris
“Sic transit gloria mundi. And Tuesday’s usually worse.” ~ Robert A. Heinlein ~
