Costume Challenge #21-25: Running out of good theme songs

Costume #21: Superheroes

I could have done something a little crazier than this (I had a few ideas) but I had a recruitment event for my orchestra teaching job that night and the following, so I needed costumes that were easy to get out of.

The cape, mask, and shorts I got from my Mom's costume bin. I added a pair of knee-high flame pattern socks (the only red socks I own) and my very most super-heroic shirt-- a CTR shirt I got at the MTC. Red lipstick and a ponytail and I was ready to go.

Let me give you some insight into my family by sharing a conversation I had with Dad before work.

Dad: So, those socks-- is that a Mandelbrot Set?

Me: It's supposed to be flames.

Dad: Oh. Well, no one at your job will be geeky enough to think they're the Mandelbrot Set so you should be fine.

Me: I mean, I don't mind if people think that's what it is, I just wanted red socks. Maybe it'd have something to do with my superpower? I don't even know what kind of powers "CTR woman" would have.

Dad: The power of overcoming evil.

Me: Ooh, that's good.

Dad: The ability to go over tall problems in a single choice.

Me: Maaaaybe that's stretching a little.

Time: About 15 minutes

Notable or Unexpected Reactions: Perhaps oddly, the co-workers who made the biggest deal about this one were the ones who I know are not Mormon/LDS. I had a few comments like, "Wait, is that CTR? Like on the rings? Awesome!"

Would I Actually Wear This For Halloween: Probably not. A superhero can be a great costume, but I'd rather go with something a little more intensive than what I ended up doing. Also, the mask was itchy and the shorts had an awkward tendency to slide up. 

Most Appropriate Halloween Song: It's not *especially* Halloween, but I guess I'll go with "Kryptonite" by 3 Doors Down.

Costume #22: Sci-Fi

Again, I went with something very simple that it wouldn't take long to get out of since I had something going on for my orchestra teaching job that night. I wore black slacks and a red t-shirt, then printed and cut out a Star Trek logo which I attached using a safety pin. 

Time: Less than 5 minutes

Unexpected or Notable Reactions: I got A LOT of flack about not having much of a costume when I'm usually wearing something crazy.

Would I Actually Wear This For Halloween: Maybe if I was in a group going together with a theme. If this was my main costume there are a lot of things I could do to make it better-- adding some stripes to the sleeves, adjusting the cut of the shirt, adding some props like a phaser and a tricorder. 

Most Appropriate Halloween Song: Um... I... I'm sorry, I've got nothing. Here, instead have a link to a place you can download the soundtracks to every Star Trek series ever, should you be so inclined. 

Costume #23: Cartoon/Anime

Wilma Flinstone! Kind of. The colors were all wrong but I did what I could.

This one was suggested by my Mother, and the necklace and fake furs came from the costume bins. I wore a black t-shirt and bike shorts for modesty, then used safety pins to hold the furs in place. Bare feet would have been more show-accurate, but against company policy, so I wore a pair of animal-print slippers.

I kept the makeup pretty simple-- bronzer and brown tones that I thought went well with the outfit.

I did my best imitation of the character's hair, in shape if not in color. I put most of my hair in a bun, then did a sort of sideways victory roll to get the kind of triangle-bangs.

Time: About an hour

Unexpected or Notable Reactions: It seemed to be about sixes whether people would call me "Wilma" or "Betty", but since I had the wrong colors I was just glad people recognized the right cartoon. I also had one person identify me as, "Oh! You're the wife! From... that one show!"

Would I Actually Wear This For Halloween: You know, I never would have thought so, but I had a really great time with this costume so I think I would. It was a nice "cool weather" (as opposed to cold weather) costume-- left enough skin exposed that I didn't overheat, but the fake furs were quite warm which was nice anytime I went by the opening in the back of the store that lets the cold air in.

Most Appropriate Halloween Song: I had trouble finding a good song about the stone ages, but then I remembered that this song exists and had to do it: "Roll Back The Rock (To the Dawn of Time)" by Little Richard.

Costume #24: Clowns

I actually threw this one together the day of: I decided to do it last minute on a different day than was in the original list of themes (which even the management are treating like very ignorable guidelines). I didn't have a tutu, which would have been ideal, so I tried wearing one of my shorter skirts over a bulky pair of shorts in the hope it would poof the skirt out a bit. Didn't really work, but I kept the shorts anyway because it was really nice to have pockets. (I'm getting tired of how many of my costumes don't have any pockets.) I wore a colorful pair of socks and a black t-shirt, and borrowed a pair of suspenders from my brother. I also used the bowtie from my Mary Poppins costume the week before. 

Originally I was going to wear regular shoes, but when I arrived at work the woman who takes care of the shoe department called me over, saying that she had the perfect pair of shoes for me. I followed her to find the pair of clown shoes in the photos-- I couldn't resist borrowing them for my shift. They were interesting to wear: I had to walk with my toes out to keep from tripping over them, and they slapped the ground loudly when I walked so that you could hear me from the other side of the store. The hard plastic inside the shoes actually gave me some light bruises on the top of my feet, and there was pretty much nothing in the way of arch support-- but I was having so much fun I didn't even care.

I used the white eye shadow to make my face pale trick again (I'm actually running low on white eye shadow so I'm going to have to stop doing that soon), then added red and gold eye shadow to my eyes. I used eyeliner and black eyeshadow to do the black, and red lipstick to do the mouth and the nose (with a little bit of white creme makeup to make the nose look shiny).

I did my hair in two high ponytails with colorful scrunchies, then put elastics on the ends and pulled hair loose to get a sort of bubble effect.

Time: About 75 minutes

Unexpected or Notable Reactions: My coworkers loved this one. I had several people ask if they could take photos, and I had people bursting out laughing every-time I walked by with those ridiculous shoes. I got several compliments from customers, too-- but I definitely creeped out some children who proceeded to run back to their parents and give me suspicious looks. I didn't do anything out of my way to scare people, even if I went for slightly creepy makeup-- I do think scaring people is fun, but these people were there to buy used clothes not to get a knock-off haunted house tour. 

The best moment, though, came during the morning production meeting. The manager who was leading the meeting (who hadn't gotten a look at my costume yet), said, "Alright everyone, after doing morning maintenance we need everyone to roll clothes for a-- what on earth are you?" I realized he was looking at me. "I know you were Betty yesterday, but what are you?"

The change in topic came so out of left field that I just started laughing and couldn't talk. So one of the cashier's decided to step things up a notch:

"Jennifer, what are you? Are you a mime? A clown? An axe murderer? Do we need to keep you away from sharp objects? Are you here to kill us in our sleep? What are you, Jennifer, what are you?!?"

Would I Actually Wear This For Halloween: Before I would've said no, but this was a really fun costume to wear. I'd want to get an actual tutu, and do some other fine-tuning, but I would really consider this.

Most Appropriate Halloween Song: Um... there are a few songs with lyrics about creepy clowns, but most of them go for more mature content than I'm willing to link to, so instead let's go with this instrumental piece called "Creepy Clown Music" I found on YouTube.

Also: Sunglasses.

Costume #25: Cowboys & Indians

For this one, I borrowed a sheriff badge, cowboy boots, and the fringe pants from my Mom's costume bin. The boots were incredibly uncomfortable-- it turns out they need new insoles-- but they looked good. The fringe pants were an awkward fit because they were made for my Dad, so I had to do some safety-pin tailoring and be careful about bending over-- but I like how they look so much that I'm kind of tempted to ask my Mom to make a pair in my size just to wear normally. Also, they had pockets. 

From my own closet I added a black t-shirt, an old hand-me-down vest with a western pattern, an appropriate necklace, and a cowboy hat. I did very simple, minimal makeup and did my hair in two french braids.

Time: 30 minutes, mainly because of the aforementioned "safety-pin tailoring" and because my hair is getting long enough that it takes a long time to braid.

Unexpected or Notable Reactions: Lots of people dressed up today, so I didn't get a lot of notice. But I did have one weird reaction, though, when someone commenting on my costume suddenly started talking about the movie Braveheart. I asked him what that had to do with cowboys and he said, "Well, you know, it's got fighting with swords, and chopping off people's heads, and people wearing kilts, and Mel Gibson."

"None of that has anything to do with cowboys." I argued.

"Yeah, well... it's still a really good movie. Well, maybe I'm thinking of Dances With Wolves."

So... that happened.

Would I Actually Wear This For Halloween: I did dress up as a Cowgirl in third grade (and did not at the time see any irony in this following up my second grade costume, which was Pocahontas). These days, I'd probably go with something a else unless I was going to a themed party or something.

Most Appropriate Halloween Song: Finally an easy one this week: Ghost Riders in the Sky, by Johnny Cash (Honorable mention goes to Automatonic Electronic Harmonics by Steam Powered Giraffe)

Phew. I'm kind of running on fumes right now-- that orchestra class I'm going to be teaching starts on Monday so I'm feeling a little overwhelmed trying to juggle everything. For that reason, don't be alarmed if my next blog post goes up a few days late (I say as if anyone who knows me was expecting a consistent schedule anyway, this is the most regular updates have ever been on this blog). In the meantime, LDS General Conference is awesome, and October is in four hours, and I have a long to-do list that I'm procrastinating, so it's time to sign off for now. See you soon!

Costume Challenge #16-20: Music of the Night (Or at least of the Pre-Noon Hours)

Costume #16: Vampires

For this one, I wore a blue skirt and blouse I've had for years-- the triangle cut hem of the skirt has always felt rather vampiresque to me-- with a pair of high heel boots. I borrowed the hooded cape from my Mom's costume bin: it was actually too long for me so I had to wear heels to pull it off.

Me versus a crucifix wielding vampire-hunter of a manager. After taking this photo she laughed and told me she'd have to show it to her bishop.

OK, so let's talk cosmetics:

I started off using a base of white eye-shadow to make my skin pale. I didn't have blood-red lipstick so I actually mixed purple and red lipstick to get the right color. I did a mix of red pastel and purple eye-shadow, and made use of eyeliner. So far, looking so cool.

Add in a mysterious cape: cool, cool, this is looking like an awesome costume, +5 points...

But here's the thing: you can't pull off a vampire costume without the fangs. And those aren't exactly something you can borrow. And when you're on a shoe-string budget that already broke the shoe string, spending $6 on a costume piece you only intend to wear once is not a great plan. They do have those little plastic fangs they make for kids and sell at party favor stores for cheap, but those have been too small for my mouth since approximately kindergarten so that was out.

So how did I get the fangs?

Prepare yourself for what may be the cheapest, gooniest vampire costume of all time:

No, your eyes do not deceive you. Those fangs do have little red stripes on them. Because those fangs are made out of a drinking straw, cut down to size and stuck over the ends of my teeth.

                              

Accidental Fang Selfie!

Also closing my mouth for those photos ended up coating the fangs in lipstick and knocking them off my teeth, so I had to throw them away and make another pair. This time I used a little bit of chewing gum to stick them in place, and just kept my mouth open the entire time. Like so:

Someday I will regret making these photos available to the public.

Note that holding my mouth open like this made talking difficult. Also, swallowing. 

Because of trouble with getting my fangs to stick, I ended up a few minutes late to work. They have us come a couple of hours before the store opens, so I had to wait outside the locked door for a minute until someone noticed me and came to open the door. This disrupted the morning production line meeting a little (I'm finding it very gratifying that these days everyone turns to look when I come in the door) so the General Manager said, "Well, you just had to make an entrance."

Carefully, around my fangs, I said, "I can't come in unless I'm invited."

Anyway, after the meeting I told the managers (who usually get photos of everyone in costume) that if they wanted a photo, they'd better take it right away because I didn't know how long I could keep those fangs in. They nabbed the two photos at the top (thankfully the fangs did look much better from a distance), then I headed back into the store to get to work.

Unfortunately... High heeled boots, floor length cloak, and slightly slippery linoleum... don't mix very well. I managed to trip on my cloak and landed on the ground hard. I wasn't hurt, but the fangs went flying.

So I tossed the fangs out and left the cloak in the break room. I kept the boots for a while, but they kept sliding around and there were a few times I was worried I'd break an ankle, so I put them away in the back as well and borrowed a pair of more sensible shoes from the shoe department. So by the time the store opened, I was just a girl in a dress with funny makeup. Oh well.

Time: About 40 minutes

Would I Actually Wear This For Halloween: Probably not. I mean, I was pleased with how it turned out (from a distance, anyway), but even ignoring the practical problems with the costume-- I just think vampires are kind of overdone. I know, I probably just offended someone. If you want to dress up as a vampire, go ahead, knock yourself out, you do you. I just think that, for my own purposes, I've seen so many vampire costumes that they're a little boring to me.

Most Appropriate Halloween Song: So you know that line in 'The Monster Mash' where Dracula shakes his fist and asks "Vhatever happened to my Transylvania Twist?" I always thought that was just made up, but it turns out that it was a real song that came out on the same album. So I'm going with Transylvania Twist by Bobby (Boris) Pickett.

Costume #17: Music

Woah, if you scroll past that picture on a computer screen the stripes on my skirt have kind of an optical illusion.

I was in the mood for something simple today that didn't involve tripping hazards, so I decided to have fun with cosmetics instead.

I used white eye-shadow on just half of my face, then used eyeliner to draw on the keyboard pattern, and filled in with black eye-shadow and black lipstick where needed. Then I used the eyeliner to draw some music notation on the other side of my face. ...And I am only just realizing that because I did it in the mirror, I walked around with backwards music notation on my face all day. Whoops.

Time: About 30 minutes. If I'd taken more time, it could've turned out a bit nicer-- straighter lines, better filling job on the black keys, etc, but this worked for the occasion.

Unexpected or Notable Reactions: There was a woman who gave me a long, strange look. Later she came up to me and asked if it was a tattoo. Ouch, can you imagine how much it would hurt to get a tattoo like that?

Would I Actually Wear This For Halloween: Probably only if there was some reason I had to wear normal clothes with my costume-- doing some work, or going on a hike, or wearing a big coat over my costume anyway because of an early snow. In general I think a costume that includes dressing up is more fun.

Most Appropriate Halloween Song: There's tons of spooky piano music in the world, but I decided to go with Victor's Piano Solo by Danny Elfman, from the movie The Corpse Bride. Hm, I used to have the sheet music for that, I need to look and see if I can find it again.

Costume #18: Disney

Hm, my belt was out of place for the photo. That kind of spoils the 'practically perfect in every way' vibe.

I'm Mary Poppins, ya'll!

This was a fairly simple costume. I wore black shoes and stockings, a black shirt, a white collared shirt, and a black jacket. I borrowed a black bowler hat from my Mom, and she helped me make a bow tie (OK, OK, she did it and then let me sew the hooks on at the end), then I added a red belt and an umbrella.

I kept the makeup pretty simple and put my hair in a bun.

Time: Maybe 20 minutes at most? This was a pretty quick one.

Unexpected or Notable Reactions: I had two people ask me if I was dressed up as Charlie Chaplin. In their defense, I didn't have the umbrella at the time, but still.

Would I Actually Wear This For Halloween: You know, I might? If I had more time and a budget, there are a lot of things I could do to make this costume better-- making a parrot-head umbrella handle, decorating the hat with cherries and daisies, getting a carpet bag, etc. Maybe I'll do that someday.

Most Appropriate Halloween Song: Whatever is playing in the soundtrack of the Scary Mary parody trailer. (Some people reading this have a low tolerance for horror movies **cough cough my sister cough** and shouldn't watch the below video)

Too creepy? I'll make it up to you by sending you to some more cheerful and funny parodies-- the Google Translate version of Mary Poppins, and the Crosswalk Musical version by James Corden.

Costume #19: Ancient Times

They got me to laugh right when they took the photo.

I have a long history with dressing up like an Ancient Egyptian-- well, OK, not that long, but I fell in love with Ancient Egypt sometime around when I was ten or eleven and read The Egypt Game for the first time. In Sixth grade I decided I wanted to dress up as Hatshepsut for Halloween-- she was a female Pharaoh (so she was legally the King of Egypt, not the Queen), and she wore a fake goatee, and she was pretty awesome. Pretty much nobody got the costume, though. Later on, in middle school, I dressed up like Bastet, the Egyptian Cat Goddess-- and had people ask me if I was a squirrel. Not the most encouraging reactions, but it gave me a lot of practice.

The outfit I borrowed from my Mom's costume bin, though a lot of the pieces are actually descended from that costume she made for me in Elementary school. I added an Egyptian-style cat pin that I own for some extra decoration.

For the makeup, I started with using some bronzer to give myself a bit of a tan, then mixed red and brown lipstick to try to imitate the clay based pigments that ancient Egyptians used to color lips and cheeks. I did blue eye shadow, then used eyeliner to draw in my eyebrows and the wadjet eyes (also called The Eye of Horus), finishing up with a little blue glitter.

I do research time period makeup when I'm doing these historical costumes, and I learned some interesting things. I had already known that ancient Egypt is where cosmetics are believed to have been invented, and both men and women wore makeup. Now, what was news to me is that the Egyptians believed that the kohl they used to paint their eyes warded off diseases. The fascinating thing is, they might have been right. Modern research suggests that the makeups they used had some antibacterial properties that helped to protect against eye infections. 

Time: About 45 minutes

Unexpected or Notable Reactions: When I walked in the store in the morning, I got a standing ovation from the other employees-- so apparently this was a popular one.

Would I Actually Wear This For Halloween: Well I kind of have, twice, already. I think just going as a random Egyptian is much easier than going as a particular historical person or mythological character-- at least, easier if you get as sick as I do of people's eyes glazing over when you try to explain your costume. Unless you go as Cleopatra. Everyone guesses Cleopatra. Even when you wear a fake beard with your costume. (Apparently I'm not 100% over the fact that nobody recognized my Hatshepsut costume)

Most Appropriate Halloween Song: You probably saw this coming, but it's gotta be Walk Like An Egyptian by The Bangles.

Costume #20: Day of the Dead

Some of you have seen this one before, because this is my very favorite Halloween Costume of all time. I spent hours putting it together for the first time and I'm always excited by a chance to pull it out again. Man though, that belt keeps ending up in the wrong place on these outfits. I think it's time to lose that belt, it's not doing me any favors. But otherwise, I love this costume. 

I've always been fascinated by this Mexican holiday. I think the idea at the core of it is a beautiful one, a celebration of the idea that death doesn't really end the love between family members, and that those relationships are eternal. But then you add in the packaging, this amazing mix of macabre and gorgeous-- I absolutely love the aesthetic. And now people keep giving me Dia de los Muertos themed stuff for Christmas so I'm growing a bit of a collection!

The skirt is a black layer skirt with red lace trimming that my Mom made (because she is amazing, as I've said before and will say again), which I wore with a black blouse. I took black gloves and stockings and used white acrylic paint to draw out all of the bones of the feet, hands, and lower arms and legs. You can't see the stockings in the photo above so here's a better look at them, I'm very proud of how they turned out:

The hat is a leftover from an old Zorro costume. I sewed black lace around the brim, then added red ribbon and fake flowers. I then took a bunch of those cheap plastic spider rings, cut off the ring parts, and glued them onto the hat. You'll have to zoom in to see, but as a finishing touch I actually added one spider hanging from a long white thread, like it's spinning a web. 

With a face like this, who needs to be good a selfies?

For the makeup, I started out by using white eyeshadow to paint my face. I added the details with black eyeliner, and used black eyeshadow to fill in the nasal cavity and eye sockets. Then I used red lipstick to color in the hearts and flowers. 

Time: About an hour and 15 minutes. The makeup takes some time just because it's so intricate. I'd recommend a few practice runs on this one.

Would I Actually Wear This for Halloween: I have, a couple of times! It's my favorite costume I've ever done, just the right mixture of beautiful and spooky.

Most Appropriate Halloween Song: Day of the Dead/Viva Calaca! by Voltaire (Honorary mention going to the entire soundtrack of The Book of Life, particularly No Matter Where You Are by Us the Duo)

Man, I need to watch The Book of Life again, it's a great movie.

Anyway, that's another week down! Next week's costumes are a little simpler, but there's still a few fun gems in there that I think you'll enjoy. (But none of them include that red belt. Hmph.) I guess I got my earlier wish for a cool fall because it's been cold and rainy here, but I hope you are warm and dry wherever you are now. See you next week!

Costume Challenge #12-15 : Time Warp

Costume #12: Military

All this practice, and yet I think I'm getting worse at selfies instead of better.

I decided to go with a WW2 look for this, partly because I love that time period (the Swing Era, everything from the 1920's to the early 1950's) and partly I thought it would be cool to pay homage to my grandmother, who served as an army nurse during the war.

I borrowed an olive button up shirt from my Dad and a black tie from my brother, and paired them with a khaki skirt I already owned. I was expecting to wear boots, but most of the photos I found in my research showed the nurses in nylons and shoes so I did that instead. The hat is actually a piece of fun foam my Mom had leftover from an old craft; I used origami techniques to fold it into the shape I wanted, sewed the folds in place so it would keep it's shape, and then used bobby pins to keep it on my head.

The makeup job was probably more 30's than 40's, but if we want to talk about historical inaccuracy there's a long list that starts with me mixing olive and khaki and ends with me carrying around a cellphone in my pocket. 

The Victory Curls were a lot of work; I had to practice a bunch to get the look right. If you've never tried this hairstyle, it's basically a cylinder of hair maintained by thirty bobby pins, hairspray, and sheer force of will.

We actually have a couple of my grandmother's jackets that she wore in the army. There was no way I was taking them to work-- much too hot, and since my grandmother was smaller than me her dress jacket is so tight I can barely move my arms. Still, I couldn't resist the opportunity to take some photos, and I think they look pretty cool.

This one is my grandmother's field jacket. Not as fancy as the dress jacket, but it fits a lot better. That's because they were deliberately sized overlarge in order to make room for wearing sweaters and other layers underneath, as you can still kind of read on the inside label.

I'm very grateful for my grandparent's service, not the least because my grandparents actually met and started dating in the army. I find it awe-inspiring to have this little piece of history in my home, something I can touch and even wear. It was an honor to try to capture that history with my costume.

Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes (30 minutes of prep making the hat)
Unexpected or Notable Reactions: To my surprise, this costume got more comments than anything else I've worn combined. Lots of people liked the victory curls and the red lipstick. One man told me I looked like I had stepped out of a vintage postcard. But what made me the happiest was when a little old lady, who looked to be 70 or 80 herself, smiled at me, leaned forward, and said, "You outfit is perfect, just perfect!"
Would I Actually Wear This For Halloween: Yes! This was a fun costume to wear, and much more practical than some of the others. It would make a great costume for a day spent on your feet, or spent dancing.
Most Appropriate Halloween Song: I couldn't find anything specific to this costume, so I decided to go with an era appropriate song: The Boogie Woogie Man, by The Brian Sisters (Not to be confused with the more costume appropriate Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B)

Costume #13: Harry Potter

I actually had this costume prepared a year or two ago for a Harry Potter themed 5k race, so this was an easy one for me.

The robe is a graduation robe, hemmed a little shorter. I took a blue tie and painted silver stripes (Ravenclaw colors) to wear with a grey plaid skirt and white collared shirt, then blue socks and grey shoes. I did my hair in twin braids because I think it makes me look a little younger, and I'm just a bit old to get my Hogwarts letter. 

The wand is actually all paper, glue, and paint. 

Time: 25 minutes (mainly because I forgot that I don't know how to tie a tie. The black tie for Costume #12 was actually a clip-on)

Would I Actually Wear This For Halloween: Sure, I'd consider it. I did actually dress up as Hermione for a costume when I was a kid, but since I didn't have the movies as a visual influence it came out looking pretty different.

Most Appropriate Halloween Song: The collective soundtracks for all of the movies has plenty of great Halloween songs, but I'm going to have to go with Double Trouble, by John Williams, from the Prisoner of Azkaban movie. (Second place goes to Do The Hippogriff by Patrick Doyle)

Costume #14: Princesses/Fairies

I can't take much credit for this one; this was all scavenged from my Mom's costumes. I'm pretty sure she made this medieval dress, and I've been wanting an excuse to borrow it for years. Now that I have... wow, it was super itchy. But I had a great time wearing it anyway. The wings were a lot of fun, but made it interesting trying to get through some of the smaller aisles in the store, or trying to bend down to pick up clothes that had fallen down. I sort of had to do a lot of things walking sideways. Let's not talk about navigating the restroom stalls.

Time: 15 minutes

Unexpected or Notable Reactions: Not specific to this costume, but every few months at this store they give out little pins to employees who are doing well in a particular area. They have a little ceremony and donuts and everything. Anyway, I got a little Jack-O-Lantern pin, for being the "Most Festive Team Member". So that was kind of cool.

Would I Wear This For Halloween: Yes, but not for longer than a few hours. Too itchy and the sleeves get in the way. But it's a great costume.

Most Appropriate Halloween Song: Come Little Children, by Erutan. (This song is originally from Hocus Pocus, which is about witches, but the lyrics are so very appropriate to the older lore about fairies, and I couldn't resist using this gorgeous cover.)

Costume #15: 1950s

This was actually my Halloween costume when I was a college freshman, so it was pretty easy. My Mom made the skirt (because she is amazing), though I guess it's a pretty simple project-- a circle skirt made of felt, with an iron-on poodle and a little embroidery. This skirt is really fun to wear because it twirls very nicely (so I wear it with a pair of bike shorts underneath). I put it with a pink shirt, my trusty airwalks (they are getting a lot of use this year, aren't they?), and some bandannas. 

I made a try at some 50's makeup, but didn't do a particularly good job. Still, I did learn a fun fact: the 1950s was when they first started to make shimmer makeup. So how did they get the shimmer effect? A little substance called "guanine". Which is, basically, a combination of fish scales and bat guano. And you thought there wouldn't be anything scary about this costume!

Time: 5 minutes

Unexpected or Notable Reactions: Today I learned that, in general, my co-workers don't know anything about the 1950's. Why do I say this? Because these are some of the comments my costume got from the other employees:

"So, you're dressed up as a maid?"

"Hey, Jen, are you going to do any Hip Hop Dancing?" (I think she meant "Sock Hop". Maybe.)

"What are you supposed to be, the 1970s?"

Would I Wear This For Halloween: I already have! This is a pretty great costume if you're going to a Halloween dance. I wore this to Big Band Swing Club once, and got asked to dance tons of times that night, mainly by guys who wanted to see the skirt twirl when they spun me. I got dizzy but had a great time.

Most Appropriate Halloween Song: Let's go with the era appropriate Purple People Eater by Sheb Wooley.

And that's it for the week. Mostly pretty simple stuff, more clothes-based than cosmetics. Next week I've got a few really neat costumes to look forward to, so be ready for that. In the meantime, enjoy the slightly cooler weather-- it might not be Halloween yet for anyone outside the thrift store industry, but it's definitely starting to feel like Fall!

Costume Challenge #7-11: Curiouser and Curiouse

Guys, I am spending a truly unhealthy amount of time on hair and makeup tutorial websites trying to figure out how to do all this crazy stuff. (Incidentally, if anyone wants to see which tutorials I used, perhaps for a costume of their own, let me know and I'd be happy to pass the info along)

Costume #7: Pirates

This was a really fun one. 

I wore a striped shirt and black slacks, then added a maroon skirt-- but I used some black yarn to tie it up in front. It didn't look quite as cool in real life as in my head, but I think it added something. The boot toppers are left over from a costume I wore in High school-- just bits of fake leather with the Jolly Roger, tied to my legs and with elastics over my shoes. 

I did a few braids in my hair of varying styles, lengths, and widths, then put it all up with a bandanna. I didn't have an eye patch, so I painted one on using black creme Halloween makeup and eyeliner. I used a dark lipstick, and overdrew my lips for a more angular look that I thought looks tougher and more aggressive. 

Time: 1 Hour, 30 minutes. It would have been faster with a simpler hair style, or if I used an actual eye patch instead of painting one.

Co-Worker Reactions: Tons of employees dressed up for this one, but I did still manage to stand out a bit with my makeup job, and I got some very nice compliments.

Customer Reactions: While most customers didn't visibly react, I did get quite a few comments. Mostly, everyone seems to love the eye patch. I just thought that was me being too cheap to buy an actual eye patch, but there were several customers who stopped me just to say how much they liked the eyepatch. I did decide that the eyepatch was a good idea because this outfit was for Labor Day-- meaning a big 50% off sale, meaning that the store was a zoo, and I needed all my depth perception to get racks of clothing from one side of the store to the other without running over anyone. Even with both eyes open, I still looked like I was wearing an eye-patch from a distance, so it was a good way to get the best of both worlds.

After work I took off to help my brother move into the student dorms at BYU. A few minutes in, my Dad asked me to wash the makeup off-- I think my parents were a little embarrassed about me dressing like this in public away from work.

Would I Actually Wear This For Halloween: Aye, that I would. In fact, I did, back in high school, though I did a much better job on the hair and makeup this time around. If this was my main costume, I'd add a sword and maybe a jacket, or replace the shirt with a white long-sleeved shirt and a corset. Also, one of these days I want to get a nice tri-corner hat.

Most Appropriate Halloween Song: Oh, there are SO MANY amazing pirate songs to choose from-- from The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything to Professional Pirate. But for the best Halloween Pirate song, I'd have to go with Hoist the Colors, by Hans Zimmer. (Also doubles as a great Zombie song in some circles, thanks to some very clever mind games in one year's Humans Vs Zombies event at USU)

Costume #8: Under the Sea

Going straight from Pirates to Under the Sea did make me feel like I was an extra for Alex Boye's cover of the song. 

But, anyway, my costume:

My Mom owns a pair of fish-scale leggings, which she was kind enough to let me borrow for this costume. I wore them with a fitted black undershirt and a loose blue t-shirt. I really didn't have good shoes for this so I just wore my old mission shoes. I left my hair down, but did two fish-tail braids (get it? Get it?) on either side of my face and pulled them back, which helped keep my hair out of my face.

The make-up for this one was really fun. First I did some contouring with a base made of white and black eyeshadow-- you can't really see it, but that's because the purpose of the base was to make the blue stand out more.

I then took a piece of net fabric (fishnet stockings would work, or even those mesh bags that you sometimes get fruit in at the grocery store) and held that over my skin, then colored over that with a blue pastel. That's how you get the fish-scale effect. (The tutorial I referenced used bright colored eye-shadow, so that should also work, but the pastel worked like a dream). I did my neck and upper arms as well as my face for a more dramatic effect. I did a dark lipstick and topped everything else with some blue glitter.

Some lightings look more fish-like than others.

Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Co-Worker Reactions: There was one other person dressed up-- as the crab from Moana, which came out looking like some kind of monster clown. Later on, an employee came for a different shift dressed as an octopus. Everyone seemed to be pretty impressed with my costume; I got a lot of questions about how I did my makeup.

Customer Reactions: Mostly nothing, but one woman did ask me about it and we had a long chat about why the store is having us dress up and what some of the other costumes I'm doing are. She said that having the employees dress up makes shopping here a lot more fun.

Would I Actually Wear This For Halloween: Yes! I was actually really sad to take this costume off, I was so pleased with how it turned out. I really want another excuse to dress like this sometime soon. 

Most Appropriate Halloween Song: Easy one: Poor Unfortunate Souls, by Alan Menken. And if you are in the need for a laugh, can I recommend to you the Google Translate Version? (I considered My Jolly Sailor Bold, but decided not to because I found the Pirates of the Caribbean take on mermaids to be disappointing. I mean, spooky singing mermaids-- cool, cool. But when the mermaids turn out to be evil they grow vampire teeth. Vampire teeth. There's an entire ocean full of fish with terrifying mouths-- sharks, angler fish, lampreys-- that would have made for awesome and terrifying mermaids. But, no, we have to make them into aquatic vampires. Probably the most boring thing they could have done with evil mermaids. That one faux documentary about mermaids had scarier mermaids than this. And obviously I'm still a little annoyed)

Costume #9: Alice In Wonderland

This costume almost threw me for a loop: they didn't include this one on the list, instead deciding to add another themed costume day and announcing it later on. The bad news for me is that they announced this in the afternoon, after I had gone home. In fact, no one thought to tell me about it-- I found out the day before when other employees started coming to me with costume questions like "How would I make a Cheshire cat tail?" and "Does this jacket work for the Mad Hatter?" This left me with just one night to put a costume together (throwing off my plans a little) --but I did manage to put together a playing card costume: the Ace of Hearts.

I had an old white shirt that had picked up some stains: I cut the sleeves off and painted a red heart. I used some red scrap fabric to make a heart-shaped patch, then sewed that onto the knee of a pair of white paints. I wore these with a black t-shirt, red socks, and my trusty knock-off converse. 

I did the heart over my eye with a mixture of lipstick and red chalk pastel, then did a few other hearts and a letter A in eyeliner (and red lipstick on my lips too). Pretty simple.

Time: 2 hours prep, 30 minutes day of

Co-Worker Reactions: Mostly my co-workers just asked me what my costume was. When I said playing card, they'd follow up with, "Oh, I get it, you're the Queen of Hearts!" So apparently writing a letter A on my forehead wasn't enough for people to actually figure out what my costume was. There were quite a few people who dressed up today-- we had an Alice, a Cheshire Cat, a White Rabbit, two Mad Hatters, and an actual Queen of Hearts. There was also one terribly confused soul who showed up dressed as Dorothy, complete with ruby slippers.

Customer Reactions: No reaction today, which isn't horribly surprising since this was a pretty tame costume.

Would I Actually Wear This For Halloween: Maybe? I really enjoyed this costume, even if it didn't get very good reactions. I think it would be really great for a themed group or event.

Most Appropriate Halloween Song: Thriller/Heads Will Roll by Glee (though I went with a different music video made by a fan using some Disney clips)

Costume #10: Witches

Simple but classic costume. I dressed up in black and orange clothes, and borrowed a witch hat from the store I work at (allowed so long as I leave the price tag on). I didn't have any orange/black striped socks, so I took a pair of black knee highs and some orange acrylic paint and made myself a pair the night before.

The hat was actually a royal pain. It wasn't quite large enough, so I was less wearing it and more balancing it on my head, and every little breeze sent it falling off.

I kept the makeup simple but fun. Orange eye shadow, black lipstick, some stars and moons drawn out of eye liner. I quite liked how it turned out; maybe I should do my makeup like this more often outside of costume.

Time: Forty minutes prep, 20 minutes day of.

Co-Worker Reactions: I did get several compliments on this. Also several people asking if I was a good witch or a bad witch.

Customer Reactions: Nothing from the adults, but I did hear several kids talking behind my back: "Look, it's a witch!" "Is that a witch? It's a witch!" etc

Would I Actually Wear This For Halloween: Yes, but only if I could find a hat that actually fit.

Most Appropriate Halloween Song: There are so many good Witch themed Halloween Songs, but I had to go with I Put A Spell On You by Bette Midler. (Actually, it was originally written in the 1950s by Screamin' Jay Hawkins, and the original is pretty great too.)

Costume #11: Movie Stars

OK, so maybe you are looking at the above image and saying, 'Eh, Jennifer broke out the photoshop'. In which case I need to tell you that, 1) I use Gimp, not photoshop, because I am poor. Also, 2) My photomanipulation skills are way better than that, if I'd done this with a computer it would look waaaaay better. In fact, here's a good comparison, a photo of my Mom I edited to look like a film noir detective:

See? Way cooler. Though maybe that's just the subject making it look cool. Fun fact, both photos do contain the same hat.

Anyway. As further evidence, have a terrible video of me dancing in costume.

The clothes are an assortment of black, white, and grey items from my closet. I actually had to double up two pairs of nylon socks to keep skin color from coming through. The gloves appeared previously in my Minion costume (Costume #2). I even replaced the red lanyard that I wear my employee badge on with a black one-- though I ran out of time to include a black and white version of the name badge itself, which has a colored logo.

Do you understand now why I decided I really did need to buy some costume makeup?

I was going for Film Noir, but I keep looking at this and thinking The Spine from the band Steam Powered Giraffe.

I put my hair into a chignon (a kind of bun) then sprayed it with black hair-spray. I did a mixture of white and black creme makeups to make the grey base, then used black and white eye shadow to add some highlights and shadows. I wore black lipstick, and used mascara to color my eyebrows and touch up anywhere that my hair needed more black.

The tutorials I based this on did a much better job-- I missed a lot of spots and the results are too dark and too shiny to really look like a black and white film come to life. The cheap makeup also got kind of patchy as the day went on (when I got out of costume to take a shower later I discovered tiny flakes of grey paint all down my front). But it still manages to be pretty striking, I think, and it photographs better than it looks in real life. I'm not completely satisfied with how my makeup turned out, but I'm probably being too hard on myself.

Time: Two Hours

Co-Worker Reactions: Got a few compliments. One woman said it was "scary", which I didn't expect to hear-- but she's Korean so there might be some culture context there I'm not getting. 

Customer Reactions: I'm going to stop doing this Reaction section, I think. There's a general cycle with each of these costumes-- the other employees notice and I get lots of compliments which makes me feel good about myself, and then we open the store and the customers all ignore me and I feel disappointed. Today was more or less the same, other than a few double takes from small children.

Would I Actually Wear This For Halloween: Yes. This is the hardest costume I've done so far for this challenge, and if I did it again I'd want to invest in some higher quality makeup (and do a few practice runs to try and get the exact look I wanted). But I really like the idea, and for the right occasion or photo opportunity it would definitely be worth it. Sadly, I think this look was a little wasted on the thrift store shopping in September crowd.

Most Appropriate Halloween Song: I had a few ideas for this-- Safe and Sound was considered because the music video features black and white dancers stepping into the real world, but it's not very Halloween. Another idea was Build Our Machine, a song made for a horror game featuring black and white cartoon characters. But in the end, I decided to go with an era appropriate Halloween Song: The Little Man Who Wasn't There, by Mildred Bailey. 

Anyway, that's another week down-- and what a crazy week it was! I'm definitely ready to give my skin a bit of a break before diving into next weeks costumes.

Thank you for reading, and enjoy your not exactly Halloween!