I’ve never really gone all out for Halloween, but I feel like I want to this year. I don’t know what I want to do just yet, but maybe I can gain some inspiration from fellow Dopers.
What are you going as? If you don’t know yet, or aren’t dressing up this year, then share some former costumes you think were particularly good.
Major bonus points for pics!
I’d really like to go as Emperor Norton, but I’m not sure where to find the Civil War uniform.
Are you hoping to just buy all costume elements and accessories, or are you willing and able to do your own sewing, papier-mache, spray painting, etc.? What’s your budget?
Is this just you or will you be enjoying the festivities with a friend or partner, who might collaborate with you re. costuming? Will you be throwing a party, attending a party or two, or just answering the door to the neighborhood rugrats and juvie delinquents of the night?
Do you foresee any climate-related restrictions (i.e., very cold temps vs. an immodest fairy costume, or likely rain)?
Do you prefer the old standbys, or are you game to consider current political or pop-culture references?
Tell us a bit about you: gender, sexual orientation (and camp-friendliness), sexual modesty (again, many costumes can get a bit racy or revealing), body type (height, weight, even race)…?
I bought a Superman Logo T-shirt, put on a suit, wore a hat with a home made Press pas in the band, & kept the dress shirt unbuttoned.
Every time somebody walked up, I’d introduce myself as Clark Kent, mild mannered reporter, & opened the shirt to show…you know.
Wow, you are thorough. I haven’t even thought of some of these things myself. I would probably buy some elements of my costume and make the rest. (Anything that doesn’t require sewing.) I don’t see myself spending more than $20-$30 for a costume.
I’m a female in my late twenties, I live in New York City, and I’ll probably just go bar-hopping on Halloween. Oh, and I don’t intend on looking too much like a skank on Halloween. Moderate skaniness is A-OK. I’m 5’7", 155ish, white. This is starting to sound like a personal ad.
I like political costumes and I love the idea of pop-culture references, but I don’t want to get lost in a sea of Sarah Palins. (Scary thought.)
I’m open to hearing about ideas specifically for me, but I want to hear all about Doper costumes in general. I love hearing about unique costumes.
Hey, Marley. I don’t know if you’re in NYC, but you should try Abracadabra if you are.
http://www.abracadabrasuperstore.com/index.html
I’m in NYC and I could get to that store without much trouble. Thanks!
I had an idea for a group this year; everyone goes as sexual positions.
Putting on cowgirl’s clothing backwards: reverse cowgirl
Wearing a dog suit with a suit and tie or tux: doggy style
Wearing a collar and carrying a bible: missionary
Dressing like a nerd and telling people at the party that the music is too loud and people are drinking too much: anal (I think my friend came up with this one)
A woman sitting on an inflatable top (the kind you spin): woman on top (I think this would be tough to pull off, though)
If you have a big group, you can start doing the fake ones: dirty Sanchez, Alaskan firedragon, etc. You could also put in moves that are the stuff of legends, such as the helicopter move. I suppose you could even get a bit esoteric-- carrying around a bunch of stocks and bonds: bondage. Carrying a book of tort law: torture.
Bork! Bork! Bork!
Something a few of my friends thought of doing for Halloween was to go as a group of women from dystopian literature.
The ideas we came up with were:
Julia (I think that was her name) from 1984: Gray jumpsuit, red cloth sash with fancy letters saying “Junior Anti-Sex League” on it, a nametag to help clarify things, and remembering to use newspeak throughout the evening.
The girl from Brave New World (whose name I forget now): Slutty clothing with a lot of zippers, everything bright green. Maybe the Greek letter beta drawn like a brand logo on the clothes. A box of altoids with a label for Soma on it. “A gram is better than a damn!”
I’m sure there are more, but after we came up with these two ideas we got distracted by a fountain that needed to be swam in. Which is sad, because we really needed one more, but oh well…
The handmaidens from The Handmaid’s Tale? The women from We?
With some Depends®, pepper spray, latex gloves, a black wig, a hooded tan trench coat, and that all-important rubber tubing, you could go as moderately-skanky, totally-wierd, flash-in-the-pan pop-reference former astronaut Lisa Nowak. She’s got that possibly over the edge crazy Halloween murderess vibe, too.
My original plan for this year was to be a 1950’s carhop, but I couldn’t find my old roller skates in my parents’ attic. So I decided to go with a Hollywood classic: Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch. Three weeks after I decided on the costume, my company’s HR department announced that this year’s Halloween festivities would have a classic movie theme. So I’m very excited about my costume.
My original plan was to buy the white dress from the local costume store. Good thing I tried it on, because that dress was completely inappropriate for work (anyone who’s seen my previous costumes realizes the full impact of that statement). So I’m making a more work-friendly dress in a similar style – I need something more conservative to fly up over my head.
Leticia? I know it was something with an L…goes to wiki
Lenina! That’s it!
Okay, as for myself, I’m torn between a geisha and a 1940s-style pin-up girl.
It won’t be easy buying a complete costume for $20-30 that won’t look cheap, pre-fab, and exactly like many other women’s costumes.
Let’s try this approach: working from your wardrobe to a costume. Do you have any unusual/striking/dramatic/outdated/weird articles of clothing or accessories that won’t be too cold to wear (or cumbersome to carry around) on a night of NYC bar-hopping?
[For ex., if you happened to own an old yellow tracksuit, you could be Uma Thurman’s “The Bride” from the Kill Bill movies. Even if you had to buy a cheap blonde wig and plastic katana sword, it wouldn’t break your budget. It’d also kick ass! Or, if you’ve got a heavy, velvet, full-length ball gown or skirt, that could be the basis of a Tudor, Mary Queen of Scots or Queen Isabella type thing… A thigh-high pair of boots, a funky hat, vintage sunglasses, a leather whip – anything stand out?]
I’m going as a goth Little red Riding Hood this year, wearing this dress http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160284285617&ssPageName=MERC_VIC_RCRX_Pr4_PcY_BIN_IT&refitem=160273154935&itemcount=4&refwidgetloc=closed_view_item&usedrule1=CrossSell_LogicX&refwidgettype=cross_promot_widget&_trksid=p284.m183&_trkparms=algo%3DCRX%26its%3DS%252BI%26itu%3DUCI%252BSI%26otn%3D4 and this cape http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=360080878329#ebayphotohosting.
Last year hubby and I went with another couple as the villains from Batman: Joker, Riddler, Catwoman, and Harley Quinn. We looked AWESOME.
My favorite costume from the past was gardener/farmer’s daughter. I wore a big straw hat with a sunflower, a shirt with flowers embroidered on it and a pair of jeans. And pigtails.
The first time I wore it I carried seed packets, a weeding tool, and a pair of gardening gloves.
The best part was being able to be in costume and be comfortably and conveniently dressed.
Get one of these, strap a box to your back, and you are a wheelbarrow. I’ve done it twice.
You have to convince a friend to pick up your legs and push you around, and your arms get really tired.
My sister did something similiar her freshman year of college-she went as Little Red Riding Ho’.
Here I am in my clown costume. I sewed the hat and coat myself. They were originally a bathrobe. Ginger Of The North gave me the fabric I used to make the pants.
I have to get pics of my Cultist Of Cthulhu out fit and my Tomorrow Knight mark V.
This year, I’m on an even more limited budget than usual. So I’m wearing a black and white outfit.
Tiny satin black hat from a doll.
A white ascot.
A very nice black tuxedo jacket
A black and white striped t-shirt.
Striped leggings made from the sleeves of another shirt
One black glove, one white
a black and gold cane I made from a table leg
and a black and white striped loincloth made from the hood of a shirt.
Oh, and a white domino mask.
