Last time in Hallowe'en costume??

[shootingstar]

It's been ages....I don't dress up for hallowe'en at work. Though a few employees voluntarily on their own, do it.

Let's see, for me, that would have been nearly 18 yrs. ago. I guess our social circles are quiet at around Hallowe'en. Or maybe we should do a Hallowe'en costume ride....if one could see in the dark..

[LBTC]

Every year I answer the door dressed and talking like a witch. When I work on Halloween day, I dress as a witch. It's just so easy. But I usually take the day off to get the yard ready. We do a crazy job of it to entertain all the kiddies....

This year we have 2 halloween parties to go to, one that night at which we are supposed to be comic book characters, and for the other, our friend has said my sexy little demon/devil costume will be perfect if DH dresses as something religious. He's decided on hare krishna.

We've had fun over the years dressing up with our friends and hitting the town. We won prizes at several bars a few years in a row. Too much fun!!

oh - any suggestions on the comic book characters would be great. :o

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[tulip]

Long time ago. But this year I'm going to dress up--my front porch and myself! There are alot of kids in my new neighborhood and so I want to create something that they might remember. Plus, it'll be fun. I bought costume parts and tacky decorations over the weekend. I'm going to decorate on Friday morning. I've never decorated any house or apartment I've lived in. This will be a first.

[shootingstar]

oh - any suggestions on the comic book characters would be great. :o

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

You would be cute as Marmaduke, the Great friendly Dane dog. Or Bambi, as Fred flinstone's kid... Not sure if you're allowed to carry that caveman club..:)

By the way, my partner was up in your area a few wks. ago. On cycling matters.

[7rider]

My last time in costume was 2002 at a friend's Halloween Party in Rhode Island. I was a Jack-o-Lantern. I'll post the pic - I suppose it's better than the time I went to a co-worker's party dressed as a Playboy bunny - complete with fishnet stockings and high heels. They still talk about THAT one! :rolleyes: Gads...I was bold (and skinnier) then!

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z85/7rider/DSC00032.jpg

[Zen]

i went to a party last year wearing my regular leather jacket, my dogs collar and carrying a riding crop.
Great excuse to whip men with a stick.

7730


one year i dressed up as the creature from the black lagoon and sat out on my porch. Kids just thought I was a stuffed thing. Scared the bejeezus out of them when I moved.
I quit when I drove one little girl to near hysterics :rolleyes:

[Aggie_Ama]

My work is crazy about Halloween. This year we are going as 80's prom goers. Last year we were panhandlers, you know the begging "homeless" on the corner by our office.

[Kimmyt]

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e30/azhben/IMG_1434.jpg
Yesterday afternoon at a nearby 5k (I'm in the middle)

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e30/azhben/IMG_1440.jpg
and later on that night at a Superheroes/villains costume party. I went as Rogue from X-Men and The Boy is dressed as Professor Chaos from South Park.

K.

[carpaltunnel]

Did anyone see the Baby Blues cartoon strip in today's (Sunday) paper? Zen's adventure sounds similar. I nearly fell off my chair when I read it.

I tried to post the link but they don't have it up on their web site yet.

Darrell, the dad sets himself up as a pumpkin headed straw man in a chair outside the front door. His wife has reservations, but he thinks it will be fun to jump up and suprise the kids. However, these days, most kids are accompanied by mothers...And mothers carry mace...:p

[mary9761]

Last Weekend at the Hilly Hundred:D
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a361/mary9761/Hilly%20Hundred%202008/HillyHundred2008-06.jpg

I dress up every Halloween as a witch and pass out goodies to the neighbourhood kids. I don't have a porch light so I usually sit outside with a candleabra. The kids are getting older but they look for me every year.



any suggestions on the comic book characters would be great. :o

Hugs and butterflies,

~T~

If you find a witch hat in red and possibly a red tunic/robe, there's always Wendy the Good Witch from Casper the Friendly Ghost...:rolleyes:

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o115/drcasprox/casperandwendy01.jpghttp://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk125/aidensmomma508/thwendy.gif

[Lifesgreat]

I was going to be a yard gnome for Hallowe'en, but my beard isn't growing fast enough. . . :p

[shootingstar]

Am such a dud. (What type costume would that be???:o)

At a Hallowe'en dance years ago, there was a good costume where somone wore a black long sleeved lyra top and black tights. Multi-coloured balloons were blown up and she was all wrapped up in clear plastic with a big bow around her neck. She was ..a bag of jelly beans!

One wondered how she went to the washroom. And how hot it became when she was dancing for an hr. or so. but she did win a prize.

Her dance partner won 2nd. His head was the decapitated head on a table of ghoulish stuff. He put his head through a long piece of cardboard...which became the table "smorgasbourd". Dancing around with the cardboard table sticking out at least 3 ft. long.

Zen, you look different in get-up compared to cycling gear. But what would I know ..being on the Internet.

[Crankin]

OK, I'm a spoiler. I think Halloween is for kids...
Really, I don't understand why adults get into this. I never minded giving out candy, but now we live in a neighborhood where we don't see anyone. I guess those kids don't want to climb the hill!

[Aggie_Ama]

Crankin- Hadn't done it for years until I got this job!

We are one of the few true neighborhoods in my town. Most are large acreage lots spread out or gated. Last year I did not realize we would be the "park 'n treat" stop for the entire area! I was not appreciative since I only bought enough candy for about double the size of our tiny neighborhood and we had probably 5-7 times that. They also kept knocking after the lights were turned off- in the entire house. :rolleyes: This year I am buying more candy but the cheap stuff, not to be a grinch (or the halloween equivalent) but I can't afford the brand name candy for several hundred kiddos.

[OakLeaf]

It's been years and years for me. The last time was when DH and I first got together and some of his friends were having a party. I dressed as a worm on a fish hook. He was a wall plate with an on/off toggle. Together we were - get it? (Nobody at the party did) -


"Bait and switch."

[Tuckervill]

We started dressing up again about 10 years ago. It depends on if you have somewhere to go or not, I guess. One year we went as Madonna and Dennis Rodman. (My husband--we painted his hair red, his face black, and put a veil on him. I couldn't let him go in the liquor store that night looking like that.) The next year we were a baseball catcher (me) and a blind umpire. The next year we were pirates, because it was a pirate themed party, and I was playing in an all-girl pirate band. My husband went as Smee from Peter Pan.

I've made costumes for my kids for the last 20+ years. Some of the best were Three Musketeers, and storm troopers and Darth Vader (which I made with poster board and duct tape, and a few different elbow and knee pads). My youngest was Billy Joe Armstrong last year and that turned out pretty good, too. I've made lots of Power Rangers masks for one child (construction paper). I like making costumes.

Re: Baby Blues, reminds me of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEs2P_Ftasw

Karen

[SouthernBelle]

I haven't dressed up in years. The last time I did, I wore an old suit of my mother's: padded shoulders, pinched waist. Wore red lipstick and really colored in my eyebrows. Wore my hair up. & carried a wire coathanger.

:D

[Crankin]

Aggie, my last neighborhood was like yours. We lived in a town that didn't have sidewalks (most towns here don't) so parents drove their kids to our development of 25 houses. Plus, we did have a lot of kids in the neighborhood. The second to last year, I gave out 11 bags of candy and ran out! Then, finally, there was a slight decrease, due only to the fact that some of the kids were now in high school and no longer went out.
It was crazy!

[OakLeaf]

Ha ha Robyn, where I lived with my first husband, country churches would BUS kids into our neighborhood! We'd turn the porch lights off after we'd given out 20 bags of candy - that was enough. The interesting thing was that it was a "working poor" sort of neighborhood. I suppose the more affluent neighborhoods, where people could better afford to give away $50 or $60 in candy, wouldn't have welcomed the church buses. It was always great fun seeing all the kids in their costumes.

Where we live now, the neighborhood does have a trick-or-treat night, but there aren't so many kids that I've ever felt like standing around in the cold at the end of the lane for two hours. I do kind of miss it.

[Brandi]

We do a huge haunted house every year! And this year is going to be bigger cause we are combining my birthday. I was away woring for it and just got back. Seemed natural to combine both. We did dress up last year cause my friends who do it with us both had the flu. And they have all the lights,sounds and smoke. We have all the props. It just wasn't the same without them!
Here we are from a couple years ago. We always have some theme. This year is just monster mash since we have a bunch of people coming over.

[Aggie_Ama]

I must say I enjoy the kiddos but we are a starter home community. When the cars they are driving are Escalades and Lexus I know which neighborhoods they came from. The houses in that one are 3-7 acre lots and 5x what mine is to start. They must be able to afford Halloween for hundreds of kids but we can't. So it will be the "crap" generic candy (DH's description) this year that is about $5 for a HUGE bag. Last year we had the Snickers, Laffy Taffy, Sweetarts but we spent $10 and were out in an hour. :( I miss Halloween of old when my mom lovingly sewed me a costume. Those days sure were fun.

I went as a ghost, a mouse, a rabbit (uhh it was the mouse costume), cave woman, homemade tutu and a ballerina.

[tulip]

I'm giving out acorns to any kids who complain about my candy! I have lots of acorns.

[gnat23]

Aw, man, I *love* Halloween. I historically start planning my costume around July/August.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3018/2951245620_c730fbbbd9.jpg

[Aggie_Ama]

I'm giving out acorns to any kids who complain about my candy! I have lots of acorns.

You know my little Oak trees may only be 6' tall but the one that does produce acorns has a ton. Maybe I should collect them. ;)

[sfa]

I love to dress up for Halloween! Last year my sisters and I and my DD all dressed in traditional witch costumes, although for work we had a Disney theme and I was one of the seven dwarves, so two costumes in one year.

This year I'm borrowing my sister's coffee fairy costume--she made a dress out of fabric with coffee cups and beans all over it, made wings out of the cardboard coffee boxes you see at meetings, glued coffee beans all over everything and brought in coffee for everyone at work.

We emigrate for trick or treating--we go to my sister's neighborhood, which is MUCH more friendly for trick or treating (although our neighborhood could be the set for every horror movie ever made--there's a funeral home at one end of the street and a mental hospital at the other end). My kids are the only elementary age kids on our street so the place is dead (ha-ha! Pun not intended.) on Halloween. My sister's neighborhood has lots of kids and impromptu block parties for Halloween. We do, however, contribute our own candy to pass out. I wouldn't want to be a complete freeloader.

Sarah

[sfa]

Gnat, that costume is fabulous! How did you get the box to stay up?

[gnat23]

Gnat, that costume is fabulous! How did you get the box to stay up?

Hee, thanks! Take a close look at my shoulders and you'll see the halter strap, which connects to the bottom back of the box. (Or see more easily in the construction photo) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/gnat23/2949553896/in/set-72157594146164389/)

-- gnat! (this took 1st place in work's costume contest!)

[chicago]

oh gosh, probably 10yrs ago for work party...

prior to that, probably 10yrs... which makes 1 time since the age of 25:cool: I'm really not into Halloween though...

[Aggie_Ama]

I didn't mean to sound like a total whiner about the kids who drive in, I was more sad that I ran out of candy last year. But I will buy cheap since the whole town seems to descend on our little neighborhood. I just priced it at the grocery store, $6 for 3 lbs. :rolleyes: I wonder how it will be this year since it is a Friday in the middle of football season? At least I like hard candy (the cheap stuff) or can bring it to the work candy dish.

I am actually kind of excited about my work dress up. My Nanny's assisted living is having a big to do and she will be a witch. I wonder when the last time my 77 year old Nanny dressed up for Halloween was? I hope someone takes a photo of her in the costume, should be pretty funny knowing how uptight she was before the alzheimers started to creep in. Now she participates in all the parties.

[crazycanuck]

I'm really really annoyed that Halloween has become a bit more accepted down here. :mad: It's just another AMERICAN thing that we have to put up with.

URHG.

[kelownagirl]

I'm really really annoyed that Halloween has become a bit more accepted down here. :mad: It's just another AMERICAN thing that we have to put up with.

URHG.

It's a Canadian thing too. :p:rolleyes::D

[crazycanuck]

KG-you're correct but it originated in the US & is most popular there.

I think I quit dressing up in halloween costumes in high school.

[kelownagirl]

I'd be willing to bet that it's celebrated equally in Canada and the US, as long as I've been a kid. (Most sources I've read say that Halloween has been celebrated in Canada since the 1800's.) Anyway, it's a big deal here for the kids and for many adults who still like an excuse to dress up at work or at a party.

An any rate, I'm usually too lazy to get really dressed up, but this year I'm going in full bike gear - that's enough of a costume I think. If it's not too cold, I might even ride to school that day.

[Aint Doody]

Our bike club has had a ride on the Sun. before Hallowe'en in the early afternoon. We'd all dress up (still had helmets) and have a cycle parade through the streets. Then we'd go to a local watering hole. Sadly this year nobody wanted to do it. We'll just give it a rest for a while and hopefully bring it back in the next few years.

My DH has this huge troll head that he puts on and hides in our yard. I have to warn him if it's a small child. They get really scared.

I like to be a witch. One year DH & I got in the car during the day in our masks and fake hair and drove around. The stares were priceless!

[Miranda]

It's been about 20yr for me. I was the devil. My college BGF brought me a costume from home for a party we were going to. She said I "had" to wear it because it fit me well. Umm, well yea... it did in a lot of ways.

I was so lucky growing up on Halloween because my mom could sew. My home made sewn costumes always won first place at school. The best was a cat suit.

When I was shopping with DD to get part of her costume this year I saw a CatWoman suit. Ohhh... how I wanted to get it. It's usually freezing here on Halloween... I even thought, well, I could wear my cycling tights for warmth and it would match the CatWoman suit too. That's multi-tasking your gear:D.

[colby]

I hadn't dressed up since I was in a haunted house in high school until last year we did a Harry Potter theme at work (I was Prof. McGonagall, my husband Snape).

This year is superheroes. I had a hard time finding superhero costumes that weren't just breast or butt displays. I decided to go with a teenager's batgirl costume (more coverage than the adult one, thankfully I fit into those sizes), which still tries to display my butt but I'll wear black tights/leggings and possibly some kind of black baselayer-weight top (it's a tank top style costume and I am bound to freeze my butt off).

I debated going with a guys' superhero costume, but they were all pretty lame. I really wanted a fantastic 4 suit but this year was not the year for fantastic 4 (and I forgot until this weekend which took out the option of shopping online :p).

My husband is going as V from V for Vendetta, taking the cheap way out - he already had the guy fawkes mask and jacket/cape, only had to buy the hat (and swords if he wants).

Also, my dog will be going as bat-dog (costume and all - she's a boxer-rottweiler, not tiny but not huge). It's too bad we couldn't have been bat-dog and robin, but there weren't any non-breast/butt robin costumes (I didn't see ANY for men, since this is the year of the Dark Knight style Batman stuff and Robin wasn't in that one). I could have been Joker to her Bat-dog, but I opted to be a hero rather than a villain ;)

I look forward to seeing what everyone else is.

Dang, I meant to post this last night... :o

[Crankin]

CC, I take it that Australians aren't really happy with us Americans right now...
Scott has reported quite a bit of nastiness when he says he's an American. But, he's having an awesome trip. He told me he either pretends he's Canadian or he wears his US Embassy Lebanon security force t shirt and no one bothers him!

[Eden]

My ex-neighbor's birthday was on Halloween, so they would usually have some sort of big party. When they lived here was the last time I went to a costume party. My husband is tall 6'3", I'm short 5'0" and we went as Bunsen and Beaker from the Muppets. The sad thing was that most of the people at the party were so young that we were asked "who are you?" all night long.....

[sundial]

I went as an Anusol suppository. My costume was cardboard wrapped in foil, complete with a tin foil pointy hat. :cool:

[Grog]

In 2005 (last time I dressed up) I did the "living-dead cyclist."

I had a friend run over my jersey with his truck (with me NOT in the jersey).

A friend of ours had dressed as a cycling dope pusher, complete with a blood transfusion kit. :)

Here I am:

[crazycanuck]

Thread hijack

We Canadians do mind if you Americans pretend you're one of us :mad: Grrrrrrr...Don't give Canadians a bad name.

I'd wear theUS Embassy Lebanon security force t shirt!!!

[Kimmyt]

Thread hijack

We Canadians do mind if you Americans pretend you're one of us :mad: Grrrrrrr...Don't give Canadians a bad name.

I'd wear theUS Embassy Lebanon security force t shirt!!!

I don't think (or maybe hope?) you meant this to sound as offensive as it sounded...

BUT to get this thread back on track, Grog, I went as a dead cyclist a few years ago too... I was worried people might find it offensive, since there were quite a few cyclists at the party, but most thought it was a very good costume. I think as cyclists we're all aware of the inherant danger in our sports, so it was taken very well actually.

I can't find my pictures right now but I did a similar thing with the tire tracks on a jersey!

[mary9761]

Thread hijack

We Canadians do mind if you Americans pretend you're one of us :mad: Grrrrrrr...Don't give Canadians a bad name.

I'd wear theUS Embassy Lebanon security force t shirt!!!

Um, I'm an American born citizen of a mother who still has Canadian citizenship and an American father. I've been told (by some people) that I could possibly carry dual citizenship due to my mother being from Newfoundland and that I still have family in Canada. Where does this put me in this equation? Sorry if I'm being offensive, but since this was said, I'm curious. :o


My neighbourhood children came running up to my husband and I as we returned from his PT and some errands today and asked what I was going to be for Halloween. I told them guess, they knew it would be a witch and the two young girls are planning on dressing up as well. I'll likely take my costume with me to watch my grandson so I'm dressed when I get home and I can give them their halloween treats in costume.

[carpaltunnel]

When DH and I moved to this suburb 16 years ago, we annually went through mega $ of candy, all to kids we've never seen before. They trample the landscapng instead of walking on the sidewalk, and don't even say thanks like they mean it. We also eat too much candy because we have it around the house.

The last few years we take treats to the immediate next door kids the day before. On Halloween we go directly to the gym from work, have a good workout, shower, and out for supper & shopping, then home after the munchkins are home in bed. Halloween grinches, we are. ;)

[GraysonKelly]

Hm, I'm not sure which was the last tiime so I'll mention both. 2 or 3 years ago i worked a kid's party that our hospital hosts dressed as a one of Duke boys (my partner was the other). 2 or 3 years ago I dressed as Harry Potter...man the kids loved that!
Gray

[SouthernBelle]

This reminded me of a non-Halloween costume. When I was in law school, all of our parties seemed to have themes. For the "Roaring 20s" I actually got hold of a flapper costume. Somewhere out there is a picture of me and another girl draped over 2 guys in pinstriped suits, with tommy guns and fedoras. We looked so good! I wish I had that pic.

[kelownagirl]

Calm down a bit, Crazy. We've met SO many wonderful Americans here on TE that maybe sometimes WE are the ones who are generalizing. I'm pretty sure the stereotypical "Loud American" is the least likely to be dressing up as a Canadian. Most Americans are just as embarrassed as us by those types.


Thread hijack

We Canadians do mind if you Americans pretend you're one of us :mad: Grrrrrrr...Don't give Canadians a bad name.

I'd wear theUS Embassy Lebanon security force t shirt!!!

[Crankin]

Sorry for the thread hijack all..
I am pretty sure Scott was not doing anything to portray himself as an ugly American; he is genuinely a nice guy despite the fact he's in the military! He went rappelling in the Blue Mountains and two very nice guys gave him a ride to Melbourne from there. He was just surprised by some of the sentiment he experienced and that was without even saying he is in the military. I think he said the Canada thing because he had met so many Canadians in Sydney.
He likes Australia so much that he said he would love to finish his BA there...

Seriously, I didn't want to start anything. I think I just felt bad because "someone" thought my kid was "not nice."

[PamNY]

I went as an Anusol suppository. My costume was cardboard wrapped in foil, complete with a tin foil pointy hat. :cool:

Spluttering with laughter here. You may cause me to revise me "I don't do costumes" policy.

Pam

[PamNY]

I'm really really annoyed that Halloween has become a bit more accepted down here. :mad: It's just another AMERICAN thing that we have to put up with.

You can ignore Halloween. I've done it many times.

Personally, I'm going to the Museum of Modern Art with the goal of seeing the van Gogh show. The museum is free on Fridays (sponsored by a chain store called Target) and I'm hoping that it won't be so crowded on Halloween. Probably a vain hope, but I remain an optimist.

Pam

[Grog]

With all due respect, Halloween is originally a Celtic tradition.

It's just another version of All Saints' Day ("Toussaint" in French, November 1) and All Souls' Day (November 2); also related to the Mexican "Dia de los Muertos" (Day of the Dead). The Catholics traditionally made a relatively big deal of it, but it's also historically a pagan celebration, and probably has equivalents in other big religions.

To make a long story short, it's a holiday that usually follows the end of the harvest (although in the USA that comes later with Thanksgiving) and the drastic reduction of daylight (we feel that quite strongly around the 49th parallel right now!!) where people are confronted with darkness and thoughts of death and dead people. By making it a party, we're actually trying to laugh off and confront death.

Or so was the idea, anyway.

It doesn't make a lot of sense to celebrate it at this date in the Southern Hemisphere, where to be true to tradition Halloween and All Saints/All Souls should be celebrated in May.