NOVEMBER TREND REPORT
Reflections on the structure of Halloween costume success
Every year I learn a new lesson to add to my lifelong practice of creating a Sickening Halloween Costume.
2015 taught me not to rely on large cardboard structures.
2018 taught me to make something that can be dressed warmly underneath.
2025 taught me that being human people is BORING!!!!!!
When it comes to the success of a Halloween costume I want to be broad and say that I hate a reference. But that’s not totally true. You can dress up as any niche reference as long as there is clear work put into your costume. I may not have watched the 5 minutes of whatever French film or one season anime you’re referencing but if I can tell you painted the cardboard on your legs to mimic feathers and I can respect game. At the end of the day Halloween is kind of like the DIY Olympics.
This is where I messed up in choosing costumes that solely meant making clothes. As if I don’t do that every day! This October I yearned for the stress that comes with figuring out how to dye yards of faux fur the perfect green. Or figuring out what armature can mimic spaghetti and meatballs falling off a plate. It’s about creating something fantastical out of nothing, not looking like someone. UGH !
Romy & Michele came as an opportunity to knock off a notch on my Halloween goals of having multiple costumes in one weekend. Knowing that I spend such a significant amount of time on these costumes, one of them had to be easy. The dresses were a yard of fabric each, totaling to a total cost of costume to under $20 each in raw materials. From there it was focusing on Historical Accuracy. This term was thrown around a lot this year because if the costume is clothes then you have to make sure they are accurate and readable.
There is something fun about a costume that activates when linked to another. I was at a party and couldn’t figure out who this person across from me was dressed as. Long black wig, sort of frumpy clothes. A nameless old woman? Maybe a ghost? It wasn’t until they moved across the party and sat next to their counterpart that I realized they were the bookstore clerks from Women & Women First.
Even as we strutted down 2nd Avenue together there was no understanding of our looks. Lots of “Looking good ladies” and “Slayyyy” without even an inkling of who we were referencing. Even with a current Off Broadway run of a musical based on the movie it seemed like New Yorkers were out of the loop. There were even some yells out of cars inquiring about our rates for companionship but no one truly #saw us. We had to escape to a gay bar with 30+ year olds to have someone enjoy the accuracies. The funnest part was asking strangers to take photos of us as we try to recreate the movie poster but gradually losing balance as the night goes on so the photos got worse and worse.
It was even worse for Pete Burns. Granted, I knew this would be a niche choice. I didn’t make this costume for relatability but more as an homage to an icon of glamour to me.
I had drafted the pattern for this coat in February to knock out some of the nitty gritty work I knew I wouldn’t wanna do in October. It was actually the pattern I used to make my scrap coat earlier this year just with a slightly smaller collar. I’m serious when I say I’m working on my Halloween costume all year. All roads lead back to October 31st.
Maybe if I was around more gay people I would feel better. Unfortunately I was at Public Records on the day after Halloween. Both Halloween and Public Records can give Straight People Amateur Hour in their own right but together it wasn’t what I needed. The ratio of people dressed up to not was so off that people thought I was just a random drag queen out for the night. And I mean, the face was beat. The funnest part of the look was tapping into my painting roots and whooping my face together. I was so gagged at the diner at 3 am staring at my beauty as a I inhaled a chicken cesar wrap.
I have to go back to inanimate objects. No ones intellectual property but just a thing. I say that every year then get wrapped up in something specific and lose my way. I’m writing this to hold myself accountable to go back to basics next year and learn my lesson.
Also as a tangent people who just throw on clothes and call it a costume make it harder for the rest of us. Why are people are stopping me on October 12th to ask what my costume is and I’m in a regular outfit…. Lazy Halloweeners will PAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TREND REPORT
Taking your time is super IN!!!!
Can you believe it’s taken me all of my life to learn this? That when you prepare, organize, and take your time on a task it benefits it in the end? Who would have THUNK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This has been changing every part of my life… from working on embroideries for months on end, taking 3 days to bleach my hair instead of 1 hour, just allowing myself the time to focus on the details of whatever I’m doing instead of a finish line. Like I think I might of invented this way of thinking and you guys should try it out.
Bracelets are kind of out :(
This summer I wanted my arms to be COVERED in clanking loud bracelets. There’s something so sexy about dewy sweaty skin, a tiny tank top, and just TONS of bracelets. You’re accessorizing all the skin that’s on display. Unfortunately now that I’m wearing long sleeves I’m not loving all of the real estate on my arms. I crave for the freedom of bare arms swingin around but have to accept the constraints of fall and winter.
Radiator heat is IN!!!!!!!
I don’t have a 1920’s ass radiator anymore hissing at me and I miss it every day. Having a window open in the dead of winter is SO glamorous. I wanna be in a crop top and shorts making dinner when its 0 degrees outside soo bad but instead I’m cooped up with my windows shut in a sweater like a LOSER!!!!!!!!!!!
Miso soup is IN!!!!!!!!!!
I can’t stop…… I feel like it heals me every day. I’ve become obsessed with instant miso soup packets and eating them with at least one meal a day. I just feel so
Smelling like celery is IN!!!!
I’m on the HUNT!!!!!!!!!!!! I am dying to find a celery based fragrance after falling in love with celery this summer. It’s underrated and has a bad reputation. Not only is it delicious but it’s also an aphrodisiac, which isn’t the reason I want to smell like it but just a fun freaky fact. My go to scent right now has been Accident Radish Vetiver by Comme des Garcon which smells like a radish plucked out of fresh soil. The idea of layering that with a celery scent is blowing my mind. Unfortunately my hunt has been fruitless, with store clerks giving me weird looks and not hitting the prompt in recommendations. I’ve had to resort to the internet, (BOOOO), and will report back once I receive my sample of Sil.lage by Scentologia which boasts celery notes.
