Costumes of Halloweens Past

Oof. I know, it's been awhile. A month, actually. Things have been... sort of stressful, eventful, and crazy. Another friend (this one a camp friend from my CBH days) died far, far too young. Exams and quizzes have come and gone. Went to a Packers game and one last Brewers game for the season. Got to see my sister. Participated in the AIDS Walk WI. Not all in order, but that's essentially the last month in a nutshell.

Moving on.

Halloween is a mere 15 days away. As most are aware, I am a big fan of Halloween and have written several posts about the best holiday ever.

Halloween has always been embraced in my family. My dad was always really involved in the Halloween festivities at my elementary school, so I usually got to help set up. Too bad the haunted "house" (OK, it was the locker rooms) scared the bejesus out of me, even after having helped set up. I tried going through the first year (I was 6), but I was so terrified by the end that my own dad - in the costume I watched him put on - pushed me over the edge. I was crying uncontrollably and my dad had to come out and show me that everything was OK. I tried going through again when I was 10, but I only made it through one of the locker rooms (it spanned both the boys' and girls') before I was more than done.

My parents also used to host a Halloween party at their house every year. Most years they sent me to stay with my cousins during the party, but I always got to see pictures and hear about the awesome costumes. 

And I always helped decorate the house, inside and out. When Halloween finally came around, I was always excited. We had jack-o-lanterns and ghosts, a coffin and skeletons... We even had a cassette tape of spooky noises that we'd play out the window so trick-or-treaters could hear it when they came to the door. It wasn't the most elaborate set up, but it was always fun and in the spirit.

So, naturally, my parents started dressing me up in costumes and taking me out for events from an early age. My very first costume was a bunny when I was about 3. My mom made it herself and I ended up wearing it for at least 3 years.

Yep. There I am. (Sans head in this picture, of course.) One of my favorite Halloween games was trying to eat marshmallows from a string. I've never enjoyed bobbing for apples, but this I loved. Probably because I've always loved marshmallows.

Ahhh, there we go. Full bunny makeup and costume. Excellent.

Anywhoozles, after a few years, I wanted something different. I'm not sure exactly in what order these came, but one year I was Dracula (with FULL face paint; that was a bitch to wash off), another I was an angel (ha!), another I was a wizard (re-purposed the angel costume with a lot of puffy paint and glitter)... At some point I was a cheerleader, and once I was a cat. One year it was too hot to wear a costume, so my friends and I just went as girls at a sleepover. Oh, and my freshman year of high school I wore my dad's old paintball outfit and tried to pull off some girly version of army wear. (Yeah. I thought I had a pic, but I can't seem to find it. Oh darn.)

Now, I was never really the kind of girl to use Halloween as an excuse to get skankified. (I never really felt I needed an excuse.) The closest I got was the Halloween dance my sophomore year (I think?) when I wore a short, black dress and used the angel wings I had from when I was younger to go as the angel of darkness. By the end of the night I had lost my wings (they were passed around and trampled on the dance floor) and probably did just look skanky. But, it was fun anyway. 

(Now that I think about it, I might've worn the same dress to my freshman and sophomore dances, just without the wings the other time; I don't recall... I think I'm actually glad there aren't pictures of those years...)

Getting dressed up as an adult is a different thing entirely. You get to be clever and creative (or lazy as hell; to each his own) and have a lot of fun; usually with lots of booze and big crowds of strangers (which normally aren't my thing, but hey, it's a holiday). The last few years I haven't had such luck, but when Hubby and I first started dating, I went as a dead prom queen:

(Really, I just love any excuse to wear a tiara.)

And in years since I've done myself up as a punk rock chick, a witch and a cereal killer:

I was supposed to go as Flo last year, but we didn't have anywhere to go, so the costume never got finished. Le sigh.

The most fun, though, is dressing up the dog. :)  And with that thought, I'll leave you with some adorable dog pictures. TTFN!