Dress You Up
Boo… Did I scare you?
It’s October, and as everyone knows, I absolutely love this time of the year. It probably has something to do with that fact that I grew up in an Orthodox Jewish community where Halloween was never on our radar. So, I was always envious when I would go into a Toys ‘R Us or Child’s World and see the floor to ceiling Ben Cooper costumes and not be able to get one. So, when I got older, I started to go all out and dress up for Halloween.
Speaking of dressing up, I was thinking about how much I enjoyed looking back at some of my most iconic outfits (including a few ghosts from Halloween past) in last year’s blog called In the Closet, and I thought what could be more fun and appropriate for this month than to do it again with a Halloween twist and talk about some of my past costumes.
So please join me in taking another stroll down memory lane as I reminisce about Halloweens gone by…
1999: This picture was taken at my friend Andrea’s house. For this Halloween, I originally bought myself the official Scarecrow costume from Wizard of Oz at the Warner Bros. store, but my sister wanted to come with me to the party. So, I let her wear the Scarecrow outfit and decided to do a 50’s look, a la Grease.
I should point out that this is from the second Halloween I ever celebrated. The year prior (also at Andrea’s house), I dressed up as Eric Cartman from South Park with a giant latex mask, full on padding and a box of Cheesy Poofs, and then changed into the killer outfit from Scream. I’m hoping that one day Andrea finds the pictures from that Halloween because that Cartman costume was EPIC.
PS: The leather jacket in this picture was made by Andrew Marc and had a removable fur lining. My mom bought it for my grandfather in the 80’s and bought a matching one for herself. After he passed, I started to wear the coat and eventually let my mother have it because hers ripped or something. After she passed, I went to find it in her storage, but unfortunately, that coat was never seen again.
2004: This was actually taken at a Purim party at my first job in New York, which happened to be at a synagogue (the first of three I would work in over my career). Even though it’s not technically from Halloween, I wanted to include this costume because it brought back great memories.
So, this was a fun period in my life because I was hired as the assistant to the Hebrew School, and part of my job was to decorate for Purim. Every year, I created a theme that revolved around the letter “P.” Some of those themes included a pajama party, Persia, purple, and in this year, polka dots and 80’s pop culture. Usually, I spent days making all the decorations myself at home because I wanted it to be a surprise, and I would decorate the synagogue the night before after everyone else went home. In this picture, if you look all the way to your left, you will notice a famous Keith Haring painting that I drew and adapted to the holiday and theme.
As far as my costume goes, I really wanted to wear skates that year and roll around the synagogue, so I attempted to go for a Studio 54, disco-inspired vibe. Unfortunately, I think I may have missed the mark here and mixed decades because this has a little bit of the 60’s, 70’s and early 80’s going on all at the same time.
2005: OK, although I tried to make up for my disco look from the previous year, I should point out this is NOT the same wig from the previous picture. HOWEVER, the sunglasses are, and if I remember correctly, they were Elvis glasses that I bought from a street vendor.
This picture was taken outside of a club called Splash, and it’s from the first Halloween I spent with my first husband. Attempting to get the 70’s right, I bought a pair of bell bottoms from a thrift shop called Cheap Jacks. I also bought a pair of these ugly tan platform shoes that were two sizes too small, and after about an hour of dancing, I ended up taking them off and walking around the club barefoot. There is a picture somewhere of me taking them off, as well as a picture of me with a woman who was dressed nearly identical to what I was wearing, but I can’t find them at this time. I may have deleted them because my ex was in the picture as well, but oh well.
I should probably also mention that the fake ass gold chain and bracelet I’m wearing that night made my neck and wrist green, and it was the one and only time I ever wore cheap jewelry.
2006: So, I should probably point out that I have a silly habit of stealing my Halloween costume concepts from a Madonna concert should I not be able to think of anything else. Case in point, my costume this year was inspired by the opening equestrian look from her “Confessions Tour.”
For this look, I took a pair of old dress pants from my closet and had a tailor add a tuxedo stripe down the side and then take them in to an inch of looking sewn onto me. I mean, they were taken in so much that she had to sew the pockets shut. I also bought myself a pair of fake knee-high equestrian boots from a costume shop and bleached my hair out.
The hat was a pain in the ass to put together because I couldn’t get the hair to stand up enough that you could see it on the top of the hat. To achieve the look, I ended up buying two packages of fake hair (which was not cheap I might add), slitting a small hole into the top of the hat, putting the hair through, and knotting it on the inside, and then knotting it again on top to give it height.
In the end, I did achieve the look I was going for, but nobody had a clue what I was supposed to be until my ex-husband and I were walking to the club (again Splash), and somebody on the street shouted OMG, Madonna’s Confession Tour. It then became one of those moments that after you saw it, it couldn’t be unseen.
2011: This picture was taken by my then stepdaughter and was the last Halloween we spent together. We are sitting in a pizza place which used to be on Broadway and 8th Street, and if I remember correctly, I think a guy hit on me while we were sitting there (at that point, my first husband had left me for a girl almost half my age, but his daughter lived with me for a full year after he moved out).
At the time, I was working as an office manager for a pediatric therapy center in Gramercy, and the owner decided to buy a bunch of these ears for the entire staff. They were bendable and labeled as cat ears (I still don’t see it), but I decided that I wanted to be a mouse instead.
Not necessarily one of my most memorable Halloween looks, but I put it here because I really do miss my mohawk period.
2012: We are now entering the Real Housewives of Long Island phase of my life, which lasted about 3 years, but involved Halloween fun out on the island for the next five or so Halloweens. I was dating someone who was on the board of a theater out there, and this was taken on our first Halloween together where I was going to meet his besties for the first time.
I really wanted to impress these people, and I was very toned at the time, so my original plan was to dress up as a skeleton and loosely base my look on the outfit Madonna wore while singing Keep it Together in her “Blonde Ambition Tour.” Legend has it that when Jean Paul Gaultier designed the vest she wore in the picture to your left, he was thinking of an exoskeleton. For some reason, that stuck in my head, and when I was putting this together, I added the necktie to act as my clavicle bone.
Unfortunately, everything changed once I tried to mimic the top of my cane and paint my face. As much as I tried, and that included watching a tutorial, I couldn’t get the face paint just right, and I decided to tell everyone I was a witch doctor instead. I should also point out that although you can’t see it in the photo, I have on black Chanel nail polish. I figured that since I was going into unknown territory, I needed to show them who they were messing with.
You will note as we continue to go down memory lane that a couple of the pieces in this picture, such as the top hat, fingerless gloves, and knee-high Converse sneakers, will make their way into other costumes as the years go on. In the name of full disclosure, I have a bin in one of my closets with pieces from old costumes that I recycle from time to time.
2013: The year of the body suits…
For this year, my ex and I were invited back to his friend’s house for a Halloween party, and for some reason, I decided to go in the total opposite direction as the year before and be a superhero. I did go back and forth, but in the end, I decided to dress up as The Flash because it involved my favorite color. I found this body suit in Party City, which came complete with a matching mask that went completely over the head. Unfortunately, I bought the costume in the wrong size, and I couldn’t get the mask on over my head, so I ended up making the mask you see worn in the photo.
Overall, it was an interesting night because apparently, since the costume was one size too small, my package was on full display for all the party goers. I also was stupid and didn’t wear shoes because I wanted everyone to get the full effect of the outfit and couldn’t find some kind of yellow shoe that would work with this. If memory serves me right, we ended up leaving early that night and that was the last Halloween we went to those friend’s home.
The picture on your top right was taken the following night before an event at the theater my ex is/was on the board of. Again, I did a body suit, but this time, I learned my lesson and wore a pair of boots with it. I should point out that although I didn’t do it correctly the year before, I did eventually get my skeleton look here, and I’m also wearing the top hat from the year prior.
After the event at the theater, we ended up going to Friendly’s for ice cream, and there’s a fun picture of me on your bottom right where I’m planning to eat a Reese’s Pieces Sundae with the skeleton face on because “I was all bones.” I should point out that there was a zipper up the back of the body suit that went all the way to the top of the head, so it was actually very easy to take my head out of the costume without removing the whole thing.
2015: There really is no name for what I dressed up as that year, and I think I may have just said I was a hungover party guest. This was another look that was inspired from a Madonna concert, as you can see from the guy in the background of the picture to your left during her “Rebel Heart Tour.” Please note the same top hat from the previous two pictures.
This is probably the least amount of clothing I ever wore on Halloween, and there was a lot of waxing, plucking, shaving, and tanning involved. Luckily, it was warm that night, and I can say that because on the drive out to Long Island for my friend Carolyn’s birthday/Halloween party, we had to pull over on the side of the Long Island Expressway so I could relieve myself. Not my finest moment, but at least it wasn’t cold.
BTW: I have no explanation as to why I’m holding Jack up in the air like that other than I may have been thinking circus side show while the picture was being taken.
2016: AHHHH… Say hello to Gummyworms…
Inspired by Hair, which was my then boyfriends (not the same one from 2012 and 2013) favorite Broadway show, I really dove deep into this one by watching the movie based on the musical, downloading a whole bunch of 60’s music and doing research on the decade. And it ended up being a fun look to put together. I believe I even wrote about this one a while back in my blog Let the Sunshine In.
The bell bottoms came from Manchester, England, which still makes me laugh because there’s a song in the show Hair with that title. The love beads were commissioned by an artist on Etsy who used astrology and numerology to make them specific for me. And there is a very funny story with the wig and sandals I’m wearing here. I couldn’t find a wig when I did an online search with the word “hippie,” but did end up finding this one, which was called “Jesus.” So, when it came time to find sandals, I did a search for “Jesus shoes,” and the ones I ended up wearing popped up.
Ironically, my then boyfriend didn’t end up going with me that year to Carolyn’s party, but that didn’t stop me from having a great evening. Part of the fun was staying in character the entire evening and quoting lines from various 60’s songs, like California Dreamin’ by The Mamas & The Papas. It worked in my favor that “all the leaves were brown, and the sky was gray” that night.
2017: We are now arriving in the era of my now husband, and this is from our first Halloween together, which was literally 11 days after we met.
I had known I was going to dress up as George Michael from the drive home the Halloween prior, but what I hadn’t planned on was his untimely death that Christmas. So, this ended up being an homage to one of my favorite artists and songs growing up, and I think I did a pretty good job pulling it off.
My then boyfriend/now husband bought himself a Batman mask and t-shirt/cape combo for that evening, and our plan was to go to the Village parade. Unfortunately, we went to some dump for a quick bite and we both ended up with food poisoning and had to go home early. In case you can’t tell from this picture of me, that is my “take the fucking picture” fake smile I got on my face.
A few random facts from that evening: The wig I’m wearing is called “Teen Heartthrob,” and some people thought it really was my hair. In their defense, my hair was a similar style growing up, just without the highlights. And although you can’t see them in this picture, I’m wearing these limited-edition white leather Converse boxing sneakers that I still have in my closet and don’t think have been worn since.
2020: As a kid of the 80’s, I have always had a strange obsession with punk style, so every now and then, I like to offer up my own interpretation. Hence my costume for 2020, which I should probably mention was not my original choice of looks. But I will get into that in 2021.
I should also remind everyone that Halloween 2020 took place during the COVID lockdown. So, it’s not like there were any plans that year other than possibly giving out candy to imaginary trick or treaters. But I decided that I still needed to go all out and chose to revolve an entire outfit around a spiked COVID mask I owned, as seen in the picture to your left.
I have to say that for everything happening around that time, this look came together quite easily, and I may go on record as saying that this could more than likely be my favorite costume I ever put together. My only regret is that it didn’t get taken anywhere other than out to walk the dogs.
Maybe I’ll resurrect it in the future.
2021: As I mentioned, my 2020 costume was not what I originally wanted to wear. When I started to plot out my outfit that year, I really wanted to do something “international.” I went back and forth about doing something with a kimono, but after watching Madonna’s “Reinvention Tour,” I became obsessed with the kilt costumes she and the dancers wore during Into the Groove and Holiday (see top picture). I started to contemplate “wearing a skirt,” and realized that one thing I had never done was dress in drag, mostly because I don’t think I’d make an attractive woman, and wearing a kilt would probably be the closest I’d ever come to it.
And so, an idea began to formulate. Unfortunately, when I finally did decide to go in that direction, there wasn’t enough time to have the kilt shipped to me before Halloween, and I had to come up with a back-up plan. Which is how I ended up being a punk.
Fast forward to 2021, and I was finally able to turn my original 2020 idea into a reality. My only criteria was that I wanted to involve color in some way, because I had done a whole black and white theme the year prior, which then turned into doing a whole Gay pride tribute. After that, everything pretty much fell into place. I guess it helped that I had this Madonna t-shirt from World Pride that I stored away to pull the whole look together.
As we got closer to Halloween, I felt like there was still something missing, and after stumbling on an old picture in my mom’s stuff of me and my siblings at Epcot Center where I’m wearing a bowler hat (see middle picture on your right), I realized what was needed. As I look at the final product in the bottom picture to your left, I think I made the right decision.
It turned out to be a fun evening, and thankfully, the weather cooperated with me so that I didn’t freeze my ass off. We ended up walking around the West Village and going to see Halloween Kills, where I ended up getting inspired for my Halloween 2022 look.
2022: As I mentioned before, my 2022 Halloween costume was inspired on Halloween 2021 while watching Halloween Kills. I already knew that there would be a third Halloween movie released in October 2022, and I started to think about how funny it would be sitting in a movie theater watching Halloween Ends and turning to see Michael Myers sitting next to you.
And an idea was born…
Well, putting this thought into fruition turned into quite the adventure. Everything started off great when I saw that Banana Republic Factory had a navy flight suit on sale for $13 in early September, so I ran down to the outlets by my apartment to pick one up. I also bought a navy t-shirt for less than $4, and then found a Michael mask and butcher knife set for $20 on Amazon that night and ordered it. I already owned a pair of black boots, so I was very excited that this was turning out to be the cheapest costume I ever bought.
Well, that all changed once the mask and knife arrived, and it looked NOTHING like Michael Myers. So, I ended up returning the set and started researching masks. I stumbled upon the company that made the actual Michael Myers mask for Halloween 2018 (see picture on your top left), and I figured that if I’m going to do it right, I needed the real deal. Otherwise, what was the point?
I also ordered a copy of the knife Michael used in Rob Zombie’s Halloween remake, and a pair of black pantyhose to cover my face so you couldn’t see my eyes under the mask and ruin the illusion. In the end, my costume total went from being around $45 to over triple digits.
After everything arrived, I watched a few YouTube tutorials to perfect the look, which involved sandpaper, a cheese grater, red oil-based paint, some hairspray, and a teasing comb. In the end, I had the look down pat and was ready to go.
Here’s a funny tidbit from this year: After I had fixed the Michael mask to look right, I realized I didn’t have any place to store it that wouldn’t mess it up. So, I ended up ordering a canvas mannequin head to keep the mask on and put it on my nightstand until Halloween. Now imagine waking up in the middle of the night and having that face staring back at you.
I can’t tell you what a blast it was to terrorize the streets of Manhattan dressed as Michael, although I thought it was crazy that even with a new movie out and it being Halloween, the hubby and I only saw one other person dressed as Michael Myers… with a different mask of course. And I should probably mention that as in years past, I came up with my next costume idea while sitting in the movie theater.
With that said, we have arrived back at Halloween 2023, and of course, this year’s costume has been sitting in my bedroom since June. As in the past, less than a handful of people know what I’m dressing up as and I’m not divulging it to the public until October 31. What I am willing to do is drop a clue or two and let everyone take their best guesses.
So, without further ado, here is all I’m willing to give away:
Out of all the costumes I have ever worn, this one is the most me.
My husband laughed when he first saw it.
One of my dogs is obsessed.
And that’s pretty much all I’m going to say, so you will all have to wait to see the final product on October 31.
Until then… Trick or Treat Bitches!!!!!!