Dear Dorigen,
Spooky season is in the air, and I’m here for it. Through the recent years, my Halloween costumes were usually decided by two factors: 1) What does my hair currently look like, and 2) What was I wearing when someone said to me, “You look like so-and-so in that outfit.” Then, any Halloween costume purchasing just boiled down to some accessories, but mostly shopping my own closet.
After someone told me my summer dress reminded them of The Wizard of Oz, I couldn’t unsee it. Then, a couple years ago, Halloween fell on the same night as a local event, “Witches Night Out,” an evening where folks visit the downtown shops dressed as witches. I dressed as Dorothy Gale.
Dress (J.Crew) | Hair Ties (Etsy) | Shoes (Aerosoles) | Top (Amazon) | Basket (Spirit Halloween) | Pin (Etsy) | Toto (a Pound Puppy Pete let me borrow)
This is me as Miss Frizzle, wearing my outer space sweatshirt with a Valentino-inspired print that cannot be worn with a skirt. Wearing this sweatshirt with a skirt means I will be getting Magic School Bus comments all day. In addition to a skirt, I paired this Halloween costume with school bus socks, a Liz, and curled hair, using the tiniest curling iron I could find on the open market.
Sweatshirt (Poshmark) | Curling iron (Amazon) | Lizard (Amazon) | Kicks (New Balance) | Socks (Amazon) | Earrings (Amazon)
This is me as a background actor in Midsommar. Evil. Pure evil. The costume idea started with the floral head wreath, which I picked up at a Renaissance fair. Did you clock the pin?
Top (Amazon) | Pin (Etsy) | Wreath (a Renaissance fair)
I thought I was getting quite the deal, purchasing this tan Tory Burch dress from Poshmark, but I soon realized my error when I received a couple Troop Beverly Hills comments. Harrumph. I admittedly used this scout leader costume a couple times. I was never a Girl Scout growing up, so I had to guess at the patches and pins to put on my sash: Bert and Ernie, shoes, tarot cards, rainbow, eyes, death.
Turtlenecks (Uniqlo) | Dress (Tory Burch) | Boots (Hunter) | Beret (Amazon) | Sash (Amazon) | Patches and Pins that I didn’t make: Etsy 1, Etsy 2, Etsy 3
I won a costume contest with this Moira Rose look. I think reciting her wine commercial helped. This was a costume I actively chose to compile and had most of the necessary pieces, including the necklace. I did get the wig, lipstick, and matching lip pencil especially.
Top (Brooks Brothers) | Dress (Modern Citizen) | Wig (Amazon) | Lipstick and Lip Pencil in “Ruby Woo” (MAC) | Necklace (a gift from Pete from a shop in Milwaukee that’s no longer around)
This was a last-minute costume. I’m The Sun tarot card; complete with curling-iron-burned forehead. I initially got the headband for the Moira costume, but then found I didn’t need it. For this look, I just pulled everything I owned that was yellow or gold.
Headband (Etsy) | Dress (TOPSHOP) | Pins (Etsy and Strike Gently) | Sun necklace (a childhood gift)
For this year, in the brief moments of platinum hair, I made plans to be Principal Weems from Wednesday: grey all-business dress, broach, chignon, disdain. Now that I’m back to mostly brunette, I switched to Holly Hobbie: patchwork dress (which sparked the idea), 70’s colors, bonnet, pride pin. If only I could be as cool as this:
Do you have plans for a costume this year?
Love,
Em
P.S. To get in the spooky mood, Pete and I are watching Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone and Jordan Peele’s The Twilight Zone. I hope I don’t wake up one day to realize that I’m actually a statue or a turnip or something. Although, those would make good Halloween costumes.
DorEm Answers 