Posts tagged original costume ideas
Ask an Author: Halloween Edition
Sep 20th
My mother always told me to sit next to a fat lady on the beach. Why limit myself to the beach?
October is around the corner, which means that when I tire of checking Facebook and scouring Pinterest for crockpot recipes (it’s all part of the creative process, people), I can turn my attention to things that matter: like seeing how many people have come to my blog in search of Halloween costume ideas. Last year my ground-breaking blog posts included such topics as The Best Halloween Costumes You Never Thought of and Lame Costume Ideas for the Truly Desperate. An astonishing number of people land on my site after Googling “lame costume ideas,” which I never imagined would be anyone’s actual goal.
On the bright side, far more people get here after typing “original costume ideas”or “current events costumes.” (Two words: Summer Olympics. Three words: Avoid presidential politics. Unless you want to dress as Big Bird. Or a binder.) My favorite searches, though, are the questions. I will answer some of them here:
Is it bad taste to dress like Casey Anthony for Halloween? Yes.
Is it ok to dress up like Amy Winehouse for Halloween? No. Still too soon. Give it another year.
Is Richard Simmons a stupid Halloween costume? Are you kidding me? Richard Simmons is a fabulous costume! But you have to be prepared to guide an exercise routine on the dance floor.
What should me and my husband be for Halloween? I’m sorry, but I can’t answer that question until you rephrase using proper grammar.
Hot tramp stamp see thru shirt with black bra. Okay, that’s not a question, but I still feel the need to respond. No. Just no.
Sadly, I have no advice for the person who wanted to Find costumes for a Hemingway party — though I wish I were invited. Likewise, I’m out of ideas for the individual looking to find a Kevin Federline costume for a dog. (Do they make doggie wifebeaters?) As for the people searching for sick and wrong Halloween costumes and costume ideas for people going to hell, see my Casey Anthony response, above.
It’s kind of funny that a lot of people come to my costume posts after Googling Never thought of before Halloween costumes. If something has never been thought of before, it’s not going to be on a blog. Because a person has to think of something before she blogs about it. So, um. . . yeah. But here are some standouts from my last Halloween party:
And, finally, to all those people looking for Costumes where you don’t have to dress up: Come on! You get to be you 364 days a year. It’s Halloween. Be a superhero. Or a rock star. Or maybe even . . . a book.
More Halloween Posts:
Halloween Costumes: Rockers and Pop Stars
Halloween Costumes: Television Shows
Halloween Costumes: In the News
Bubble World
Coming in July 2013 from Henry Holt
The Best Halloween Costumes You Never Thought Of
Oct 28th
Bubble World
Coming in July 2013 from Henry Holt
Are you going to be a witch for Halloween? Or a pirate? Or a vampire? That’s wonderful! Have a super time! Now go away. This post isn’t for you.
But if you want something so original that no one ever thought of it before — well, except for my friends whose pictures I’ll post on the Internet without permission — here are some categories to get you thinking.
MYTHOLOGY
One year in college I was Medusa, complete with green face, toga, and rubber snakes in my hair. I felt way superior to all those coeds who dressed as kitty cats and French maids (for chrissake) until I started hitting the parties and discovered that boys prefer leotards to originality. So now I know. Of course, Greek and Roman mythology is filled with attractive characters (if you care about that kind of thing). Zeus has thick white locks and a thunderbolt. Athena has a little white dress and an arrow. They all wear super-cute shoes. How’s this for a couple’s costume: King Neptune and the Ocean.
CRIMINALS
No, you should not dress as Casey Anthony for Halloween! That’s just sick and wrong and . . . sick. And wrong. So stop googling “Casey Anthony Halloween costumes,” people! (Yes, I have Google Analytics. Yes, it tells me these things. I also know your name, your social security number, what you called your first pet and what you like on your pizza.)
If taste is a factor, you’re better off going retro criminal: Bonnie and Clyde, Whitey Bulger, D.B. Cooper. and Jesse James (no, not Sandra’s ex — though he wouldn’t be bad, either — and you can pick up some realistic looking tattoo “sleeves” at any Halloween store).
HISTORICAL FIGURES
What? You never studied the importance of the twirler in American History? Yeah, okay — my husband and I couldn’t come up with a couples costume that year, so “tall hats” was our unifying theme. Aside from Abraham Lincoln, other costume-worthy presidents include George Washington, Teddy Roosevelt, and Richard Nixon.
Don’t limit your ideas to American figures. Che Guevara and Fidel Castro, anyone? The costumes are warm — and you get to smoke cigars, if you like that sort of thing. If you prefer singing to smoking, you can always go the Eva Peron route. And it’ll be really funny ten years from now when your friends are still talking about that time you got really drunk and sang “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina.” Especially if you’ve got kids around to hear about it.
If you run through democracies and revolutionaries and dictators and still can’t come up with something, you can always go royal. Louis the XIV (you can wear platform shoes). Marie Antoinette (don’t forget to bring cake). And those English monarchs are always up for a good time. Party on, Queen Elizabeth I! And speaking of hats, Queen Elizabeth II is ripe with possibilities.
ARTISTS
Andy Warhol! How clever is that? (Che Guevara got a rockin’ makeover.) You could do all kinds of things with Vincent VanGogh: blue smock; missing ear, palette. And don’t forget the literary luminaries: Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Dorothy Parker, Virginia Woolf, Charles Dickens . . . William Shakespeare!
Wow. Once upon a time, writers led such exciting lives. But now we get to blog, so . . . yay for progress.
More Costume Ideas:
Halloween Costumes: Rockers and Pop Stars
Halloween Costumes: Television Shows
Halloween Costumes: In the News
Lame Costume Ideas for the Truly Desperate
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