October 16, 2006

DIY Halloween.

Enough of that mother whining about the bad costumes on sale for Halloween. Make your own costume. With a little makeup and castoff clothing, you can always come up with cooler stuff than you can find in the store. Witness one of my old creations:

13 comments:

stephenb said...

impressed.

JohnF said...

Ann, shouldn't you have worn some makeup?

Ann Althouse said...

I'm the photographer, not the subject.

Anonymous said...

I swell my demeanour's natural importance and go out as Colin Firth.

Eli Blake said...

As I just posted on your other board:

Best costume I ever had, and the cheapest:

I bought a deck of cards and safety pinned all the spades onto my clothes. Then I got a piece of paper, wrote

SCORE 14-14

on it and taped it in the front of my shirt.

Black suit and tie.

Joan said...

When I was a freshman at MIT, my pledge class and I went to the house Halloween party as a nitrogen molecule, which basically involved getting t-shirts printed up with the various electron's names on them. If I recall, I was 2Py(Up).

The best Halloween costume in more recent memory was one I came up with for my husband that he actually agreed to wear: black jeans, black turtleneck, black beret, and a penciled-on skinny mustache: a Beatnik. His business partner showed up at the same party in full-on toga with laurel wreath, which made my husband much more comfortable with his choice.

My oldest has been the Grim Reaper for 3 years in a row now. I made him this huge, very creepy-looking robe with hood and long sleeves. He loves it.

KCFleming said...

One year I went as a stagecoach, made of a box, sheet and lotsa work. I was 17. Wore it to school, down the halls, yelling Yeeee Haaaaah. Teachers loved it. Not really.

Another time I made a silver tray out of cardboard, with a hole cut out for my head in the center. Body covered by a bedsheet, I was John the Baptist. Not considered funny at a Catholic school.

My sister wore a simple lampshade on her head to an office Haloween party, and said she was 'The Life of the Party'. They didn't get it.

Ann Althouse said...

I remember the writer Lorrie Moore saying that she'd wear a belt with a lot of clocks attached to it and go as a "waist" of time.

Doug said...

Last year, I bought a blond mullett wig, put on a NASCAR t shirt that I won at a golf outing, and wore some ripped up jeans and went as Joe Dirt.

Anonymous said...

That's actually really good. For years, my parents bought me those cheap plastic things - the Hulk, Spider-Man, etc. - that they sold in supermarkets. Those things sucked! The Hulk costume actually had a picture of the Hulk on the front of it. Even a kid knows that is totally ridiculous. Who the hell is going to buy that you are the Hulk in a get-up like that?

Now they've got really cool Hulk costumes for kids with inflatable Hulk-ish musculature, green makeup, ripped clothing, and no stupid Hulk pictures on the front.

Kids today. They get everything. I hate them.

JohnF said...

Just a joke, Ann. I actually knew it wasn't you.

West Coast Independent said...

This year for our annual Halloween party I'm dressing up as Mr. Incredible. Much to the horror of my boys 14 and 11.

:)

Kev said...

My favorite DIY costume was when I wrapped myself in aluminum foil and went to a party as a baked potato. I recycled it (the idea, not the actual foil) a year ago when the Chipotle burrito chain had a "dress up like a burrito, get a free dinner" promotion.