Tomorrow is Halloween. What’s your favorite Halloween costume that you’ve created? Have you ever worn a TV or movie-themed costume?
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Tomorrow is Halloween. What’s your favorite Halloween costume that you’ve created? Have you ever worn a TV or movie-themed costume?
The first Halloween after CHICAGO was released I had a couple of hundred business cards printed for “William ‘Billy’ Flynn” using the street address and phone numbers of Gloria Allred’s office. However, on the cards Flynn was shown as a partner of the famous international law firm “Dewey, Cheadam and Howe”
For that Halloween party I wore one of my actual pin-striped black double-breasted suits. That particular suit was styled from the late 1920s. One of the women at the party was dressed as Roxie Hart and her real sister as Velma Kelly. All of us were a big hit. People still remember those cards, but Gloria got angry about several crank calls.
Based on that success, days after the party I commissioned fabrication of a ventriloquist puppet (never a dummy) similar to the one in the movie. Even before it was finished I rented a generic vent puppet so I could take lessons. For several years I have played Billy Flynn with Roxie singing “We Both Reached for the Gun”
Before that my favorite Halloween costumes was Pugsley Addams, based on a very early Charles Addams cartoon. I carried a magician’s hand guillotine and a “Posh Spice” Barbie with a removable head. When she played Posh Spice the performer was known as “Victoria Adams” but today she goes by “Victoria Beckham” Pugsley’s patter was all about the need to punish the “white sheep” cousin Victoria.
By fabulous good luck a woman I did not know dressed as Wednesday Addams, complete with a headless stuffed doll that Wednesday always carried in the Charles Addams cartoons.
One year I dressed as Phoebe Buffay from Friends.
The same year that Sally Draper was dressed as a gypsy, so was I.
That was one of my favorites and also qualifies as having worn a TV-themed costume, only I didn’t know it back then.
I’ve frequently been told I was precocious and prescient, in addition to having very good taste in following high-quality television and blogs devoted to high-quality television.
Happy Halloween, Basketcases!
I’ve never worn a costume that I created. I did, however, get pretty creative with a store-bought Superman outfit when I was 7 or so.
This was in the early 60s and The Adventures of Superman episodes were on TV every afternoon. Somehow, the combination of the show and my youthful imagination caused me to think that the costume could imbue me with similar super-powers.
I took a running start through our living room, out the open front door, across the porch and right into the closed screen door. Thankfully, I didn’t break through the door as George Reeves would have, or I would’ve tumbled down a half dozen concrete steps and onto our front sidewalk!
I was Uncle Festa!
My mother was great at making something out of nothing…I even had a battery operated lightbulb to put in my mouth when people opened their front door.
My mom mad the holidays a blast. We had bobing for apples and a donut eating contest for kids in the neighborhood.
My mother was a complete opposite of Betty except they both liked booze! LOL
I’ve done many TV/Movie themed costumes over the years. I’m proud to say I’ve never had a fully store bought costume. There may have been pieces that needed to be bought, but it was never a case of, go to the store, buy the costume fully assembled and wear it. This list is in no particular order:
Winnie the Pooh
Laura Ingalls
Pink Lady from “Grease”
Princess Leia Organa
Marty McFly
MacGyver
An Ewok
A nurse from M*A*S*H
“Toy Story” Alien
A Minion from “Despicable Me”
One of my very favorites was last year, when I went as Frieda Kahlo. My photos on Facebook look *exactly* like a Kahlo self-portrait–it’s eerie.
Meant to say this earlier, but I have a ‘Dorothy’ costume from Wizard of Ox lying in my closet. I just haven’t gotten the courage to wear it yet. lol
Oz not Ox….Oz
One year (’98? ’99?) I was the Pope. A female version of the Pope. Nice big rented robe, big hat, dumb gold scepter and shoes, the works. And then my friends and I (including boyfriend in drag) went to Castro Street.
Where I ran into my manager, of course. I don’t know who was more humiliated, me or Jesus Christ. But what else can you do? Gotta say hi, right?
“Boss,” I started.
“I’m sorry. I’ve gotten your emails,” said the Son of God. “And I’m not ignoring you, promise, I only have so many days before that whole thing in December. Trying to keep a low profile.”
“I understand.”
“It’s a real pain in the hands.” Palms out, bless-you-child.
We said goodbye and went our separate ways. Blessed? Not really. Fun, you bet.
I don’t usually do TV/movie characters. My favorite costume (and I’ve repeated it often) was a guitar costume I made. The strings go from my chest down into my shoelaces (picture that the guitar is upside down–the body is my body and the neck is my legs).
But I did do that Minnie Mouse thing a few years ago–that was fun.
@ #4 Smiler -
That made me recall what must be one of my earliest memories. Not exactly Halloween, at least I don’t think so, but TV-character related, and it was some sort of party, maybe birthday. I think I must have been 5 years old, if that. My parents had bought me a drum, as a present. I decided to be Howdy Doody, and crash through it, as in the opening to the eponymous show. Unlike your screen door, I was successful. They would not buy me another drum.
I like historic and costumes from other lands, so I’ve gone as : St. Lucia (with electric candles on my head in a wreath)…a Civil War widow in widow’s weeds…a Shriner (my grandfather was one)…an opera lady with the breastplate/horns/etc….Southern Belle…
I LOVE ALL HALLOWS EVE. Happy Halloween Friends!
I was the Good Luck Fairy my junior year in college. My sewing-gifted roommate made me a costume, and my engineering student beau of the time made me a magic wand that flashed on and off. We attended a WILD party at a campus co-op with naked people painted purple, etc. Much fun was had by all.
One year I went as the movie “Blue Velvet”: ’60s era blue velvet cocktail dress, film reel earrings, breathing mask hanging around my neck, belt made of Pabst Blue Ribbon empties.
Another TV/film-related costume was going as a combo Carol Merrill/Door No. 3 from Let’s Make a Deal.
A woman I once had enormous respect for created a sensational, award winning character based on a locally famous homeless person “Cat Lady”. She won awards at local watering holes for the character, performance and costume.
We all grew up. In retrospect, some ashamed to have laughed at this poor choice. Some proving character is destiny.
Friends of ours went as Rocky and Bullwinkle this year. He is really tall and wore moose antlers, and she is really short and wore a hat and goggles. They did a good job.
My favorite costume this year wasn’t on a person. Someone had a large dog that looked like a shepherd, husky or some kind of mix. Anyway, the dog was wearing a tiny saddle that had a headless horsemen figure on it –complete with a real mini-pumpkin for a “head.” When I was very young, I was terrified by “The Headless Horseman,” so I think that made the dog-as-horse costume even funnier for me.
Miss Kim! Truly original costume ideas, love them! :O) I always do my hands like Carol Merrill, when I’m displaying something.
;O)