Ok, this isn't as heavy as the subject line suggests. Simply, I need a halloween costume. Any ideas? Something crazy, something cool, something clever. Nothing trashy.

(I realize I've never posted before...I'm a MATH virgin. But I've been stalking you all for awhile now.)

-- Anonymous, October 17, 2001

Answers

I have a cool one that I will share... I was going to do it this year again but am abandoning it for Hannah's "Cloudy with a Chance of Rain"...

You could make it with any plain t-shirt, but I got a black T from Targiet along with some drawstring black pants for this.

On the front of the shirt I painted "LIAR, LIAR" in orange. On the bottoms of the pants, from the cuffs to almost the knee, I hot-glued (or fabric-glued, can't remember) strips of orange and red and yellow cloth to look like flames, then decorated them with sequins.

When people come up to you and say "that's what I'm doing next year!" you know you found a winner.

-- Anonymous, October 17, 2001

I'm going as a Watergate Burglar.

-- Anonymous, October 17, 2001

Thank you! That is hilarous. Last year, there were tons of smart costumes (like a girl in a blue dress = devil in a blue dress, etc. and the whole chicken cord-on-blue thing...) but I'll be damned if I can ever come up with something like that on my own. Work sucks me dry of any creative juices I once had.

Thanks...and keep them coming!

-- Anonymous, October 17, 2001

Two years ago, I had the most fabulous, sparkly costume this side of a glue gun. I was a supervillan, the Black Whole. I wore a leotard, black fishnets, long black gloves, a fabulous floor-length black sequined cape with silver sequined trim, silver platform shoes, and on my chest I had a silver lame "1/1" - it's a whole fraction, see. I was a pun.

An evil pun!

-- Anonymous, October 17, 2001

T - that sounds fun. If it weren't guaranteed by this bad deal we made with God to be crappy that week (we got Barton Springs and UT football, He gets to totally deluge the city every year on Halloween and drop the temp about 30 degrees), I'd consider a leotard.

H - you and your Watergate! you so clazy!

-- Anonymous, October 17, 2001

Ok, T, that cape sounds amazing. Think I could just wear that?? Where did you find such a thing? And how can I get one? (I'm just thinking about all the fun twirling I could do in a big cape...and I'm sold!)

-- Anonymous, October 17, 2001

Kimi's here! And she brought speak of twirling!

-- Anonymous, October 17, 2001

Hannah!! Ok, new rule: Any costume ideas must allow for twirling. Cause really, isn't that the fun of dressing up??

-- Anonymous, October 17, 2001

Ok, no twirling in mine. Darn. But I'm going to specifically be Bernard Barker, so whenever anyone asks what I am, I can say "anti- communist." I'm convinced that if a guy responds to that with "That, sir, is not your every day profession" I'll have found my soul mate.

-- Anonymous, October 17, 2001

Ok, T, that cape sounds amazing. Think I could just wear that?? Where did you find such a thing? And how can I get one?

Kimi, the cape of yours if you want it - just let me know.

-- Anonymous, October 17, 2001

H, that's the most romantic fantasy evah.

-- Anonymous, October 17, 2001

T, you rock...i may have to take you up on that! What a great prop to lend to a twirling wanna-be..I can see it now...

-- Anonymous, October 17, 2001

I am horrible about Halloween costumes. Some people get creative (PG and her liar, liar for example). Me? I'm a witch. All the time. (Or by default when my vampress fangs won't stay in.)

-- Anonymous, October 17, 2001

I too suck with the costume ideas. I love costumes like PG's, where it's clever, you can do it with a minimum of effort, it's not cumbersome or inconvenient to wear, and also you don't look like a total freak asshole at the Denny's afterparty. Invariably I buy something at one of the pop-up Halloween strip mall stores. Last year my husband was a priest and I was a nun. Ha! Ha! *snore*

Another couple went as a magician and a rabbit. He wore a top hat and cape, and she wore bunny ears and fashioned a top hat out of cardboard and wore it around her waist. That was cute.

Also the October Better Homes and Gardens magazine had KICK ASS costume ideas for kids. Macaroni and cheese, broccoli, the cutest one was a container of take-out Chinese food, complete with a fortune cookie hat. ADORABLE.

-- Anonymous, October 17, 2001

Bumping up to new!

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2001

Yay!

I'm going as an escaped lunatic. What did you all decide on, and what are you going to do for the evening?

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2001

When I was Bernard Barker, anti-communist on Saturday I went to a party where there was someone dressed as a communist. What are the odds?

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2001

I totally hoarked PG's "Liar Liar Pants On Fire" idea for a party this past weekend. Hey, it was cheap - I just had to buy material for the flames and some gold glitter paint for the words on the shirt.

It was a HUGE hit, too. I told everyone (since my journal is "anonymous" that "a friend in Austin gave me the idea", even though I've never actually, well, MET PG. But I didn't want to take the credit. So now everyone knows there's some cool, creative gal that lives in Austin. Who is not me.

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2001

And, Dawn, it looked sooooo cute. Please please post a link to your pic! You looked much cuter than I did. Sexy, even.

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2001

I was a trashy small Texas town beauty queen. I put my tiara on my hat.

-- Anonymous, October 31, 2001

Oh! Did you do the Dairy Queen thing??

-- Anonymous, October 31, 2001

Damn! I didn't even think to involve my tiara.

-- Anonymous, October 31, 2001

Hey! I've been Devil with a Blue Dress On. Damn, thought I was being all clever and original and shit.

Went as Crazy Mixed Up Bowie Eras one year. People got that it was supposed to be Bowie, but thought I was not down with appropriate era / costume details. Grump.

For a two-person theme, went (in devil costume) with roommate (in angel costume) as Your Conscience. I got to encourage people to drink, curse, smoke, eat sugary foods, misbehave and carouse. She had to try to talk them out of it. I had much more fun.

St. Lucy (based on Mondo 2000 magazine cover): I carried fake eyes on pillow and tied gauzy strip over my real eyes, which I could see through. No one "got it", but it ws a kick-ass costume.

Cruella DeVil. Still have the bile green eyeshadow, black halter-neck dress, ratty fur coat (was my great aunt's and I have no other use for it) and red elbow-length gloves, but have misplaced bi-coloured wig, stuffed dalmatian and cigarette holder. Won a prize. (Was prior to re-issued & live action < u>101 Dalmatian stuff, FWIW.)

-- Anonymous, July 03, 2002