Who else is out there?

Hello again!


I know, I know, this is a guiding blog and it should help you find your perfect costume. Well, today, we will keep going different ways, meaning: I have done some research! I am a first time blogger (as some of you may have noticed already) and I have no idea if I am doing this right, not sure if there even is a right or wrong. So, I went online to check my competition (I don't think my blog is able to compete much but I like the word competition better than "other blogs out there or so").

I found a Halloween costume guide, read all its posts and found myself wondering about the most recent one.

In this post, Christopher said:

"All you really need is some creativity, a friend you can borrow something from, a closet full of clothes and easy access to a thrift shop."

(http://halloween-costume-guide.blogspot.com/)

I recognize some of my points in here (in fact, point five, seven and nine) and I know that there are other blogs out there vowing that it is easy and great to get a non-ready-made costume. I could not agree more! But something is wrong here!
If we, as Halloween bloggers or whatever you want to call us, agree on getting a better costume if we come up with it ourselves, then why do I still see most people in costume from these gigantic stores that only open up once a year? Why do I annually bump into three spidermen, five witches and countless angels that all look like clones of each other?
I think, there are only two solutions to this problem.
Number one: People do not care!
Number two: People are too busy!
So, for number one, I say: If you dress up, do it right! If you do not care, it is probably best if you stay in. I’m just one of these persons that like to do things right or not at all. People with some uncreative Halloween costumes just seem somewhat half-hearted to me. No apologies to those who fall into category but my deepest sympathy. You miss out on all the fun of putting costumes together and score compliments for originality afterwards!
People who fall into category two, I really do feel sorry for! They probably want to get something awesome but just do not have the time to put something together or –if they don’t know how- do not have the time to read guiding blogs. Who knows!? I just hope that some Halloween, they actually have some time to create an awesome self-made costume. I keep my fingers crossed for you folks out there!
I have to admit that even though my competition and I seem to be more similar than I thought we would be, I am glad to see that we hit in the same hole (and if nobody understands this analogy, consider it a German one meaning that several people have the same goal). I do not have to be the first blogger to convince people to self-made costumes and if I did, I had started blogging before this class project.

Happy Halloween!

Anke

Status check

Yes, I am right back! And it has a reason. You know how it is only 11 more days until Halloween? And you know how I talked about the pre-parties and the pre-pre-parties in my first post?
I am admittedly starting to panic! My best friend and I went to a party Saturday night which resulted in an invitation for a Halloween party this Friday in one of the nicest hotels in the city with 3000 people attending. After being stoked about a potentially great party, I realized that although a blogger about the perfect Halloween costume myself, I had not gotten very far with my own costume. I still have my long black hair wig and my black blazer. I found my red leather gloves from last winter and a pair of red tights as well as a pair of black-and-white-striped ones.
I am a list-making loving person, so let us check some things off.
Point 1: Check! I do not have a ready-made costume.
Point 2: Check! I found a couple of accessories.
Point 3: Check! More or less. I am picturing some baroque looking lady with some crazy
features. Not sure if that’s what I will look like Friday though :-/
Point 4: Check! Still loving my blazer.
Point 5: Check! Found gloves and tights as afore mentioned.
Point 6: …Nothing so far in this department…my own shoes are “too boring” (not in
general I like to think but for Halloween)
Point 7: Check! Check! Check! My friend is absolutely obsessed with costumes! She will be my safety-net. (Although I’d like to state that I was her safety net last year.
HA!)
Point 8: Uhm, would have been able to put a check mark here if I had gotten out of bed Saturday early enough to go shopping before partying :-/

Well, I am not very fond that this post will help you at all as my failing for point 6 and 8 might take away my blogs credibility. Why trust someone who gives advices she did not use? To defend myself, I want to say that I shopped in the Haight last year and borrowed shoes from my friend. So, I hope, I might pass this time!

I know, I promised you more spots to get your costume but I needed to check on my costumes status first! (Ok, sometimes, I am selfish. But honestly, who is not?!) Next time, more tips guaranteed!

Happy Halloween!

Anke

Do you share?

I went through my two posts and actually tried to stick with my own guide which I assumed to be helpful! Well, in reality it is a different story. Very different! (You know these know-it-alls that know everything in theory but cannot act perfectly in real themselves? I am starting to think I am one of those :( )
Fortunately, I have a very good friend who is all about Halloween and even more fortunately, we are wearing the same size for clothes and shoes!
So, here comes my “JUST-IN-CASE” point seven:
If you do not make it to your own Halloween costume, think of a friend with the same shoe and dress size and an enormous fascination for costumes, sparkles, and glitter stuff. These kind of persons will not just buy one wig or one pair of shoes, nor just one dress, they buy a bunch! It might not be your own costume in the end but it is still special and unique. At least, it is a good compromise to your not existing version and still way better than those completely ugly ready-made-costumes! (Yes, I could go on about how horrible they are for hours!)
And after all, isn’t that what friends are for? Helping each other out in situations of bad luck!?
As promised at the end of my last post, for point eight, I will let you in on the hot spots for costumes and co if you really have to hit a store
Point eight: You live close to San Francisco, therefore you know one awesome Halloween must-shop place already. Of course, I am talking about the Haight-Ashbury! Walking through the streets there, you always feel like it is Halloween year-round but have you ever noticed the hippie-style crazy-looking stores that sell wigs and weird shoes and lord know what else? The stores you would probably never set a foot in, are very likely to turn out as the most surprising ones. I cannot give you names of all these places as they are little and sometimes well hidden which makes me not memorize them well (or is that because of all the smoke clouds you are surrounded by walking through the height that affect your ability to think clearly?!).

Point nine: Still looking for more things for little cash? Shop at Ross or Goodwill or the Flea Market (if they give things away for free, doesn't that count as sharing in a way;) ). Probably no places, you would buy your everyday clothes, this time of year you will feel like a kid in a candy store. You will find the ugliest pair of shoes that will go super well with that fascinatingly patterned dress. And somehow, you manage to look great –not weird- with all your accessories and make-up and whatnot.

See you for my next post in which I will go on about where to score awesome costumes. Time's running out, folks!

Happy Halloween!

Anke

18 more days to go

Welcome back Halloween loving folks!

Only five days have passed since my last post and I am sure, I am not the only one who did her homework. I went out there and got stuff. So, as for point two, I can call a wig with long black hair my own. It is called "Elvira- The mistress of the darkness". Sounds like a vampire but that is what I am certainly not going to be. This wig just helps turning me into someone else for a few days of the year. For once, I am not going to be blonde (I spare any other comments on that one).
Something less of importance that I snatched is a basic black blazer which leads us to...
Point four: Keep it basic at some point to avoid spending big $$$ for wearing something once. Long sentence but it is simple. Some of us may be on somewhat of a budget, so my advice is it to get a few things that will go well with your outfit but that you can also reuse in daily life. My blazer for example looks simple but with the right dress, wig, shoes and accessories it will be just right. So, I will be able to keep myself warm for that one special day while I was wearing the little black one out for a beer (or two, or three...) last night.

Note: I have to say that "basic" does not necessarily fit my idea of a perfect costume but sometimes, we need to take in account that we are students and very likely to be tight on money (if not, go buy that crazy expensive pair of shoes that you've always wondered which occasion it is perfect for).

Point Five: Go through your closet! I am very sure that there will be some treasuries only waiting for you to take them out! How about mum's red leather original 80's boots? How about that cute skirt you bought once while all fashion senses were absent? Try to look at your stuff in a different way and keep point three in mind (whose memory is as excellent as mine? Yes, point three is the one where you are supposed to come up with a general image for your costume).

Talking about point three; I have an addition to make.
Point three a) if you will:
If you have no inspiration at all, look through any magazines, history books and newspapers you can get in your hands. You will see a lot of useless trash but eventually, you will be putting different pieces together to one whole new outfit.

I notice by now that I should have marked this blog as especially for girls or something like that. Not that it wasn't about cloths and accessories and all that girly stuff already but it is getting better with...
Point six: Get AWESOME shoes! Shoes tell way too much about people (don't you reject guys for wearing "the wrong shoes", girls? C'mon, admit it!). This is the part where we will not go basic at all!!! As mentioned, you might have a really cool pair already sitting somewhere. If not, buy some cheap shoes because they might be so awesome-weird-pretty-ugly looking that you will only wear them for this one occasion. My friend just got incredibly high heels in purple metallic that are actually outrageously comfy. And the best part about them?! They were under $20!!

Where you can get ridiculously magnifique shoes for little cash and where to find other spots you must not miss on your costume-hunt I will explain in my next post.

Happy Halloween!

Anke.

It is October!!! Holy moly! There was something. What is the next occasion after Columbus Day? With Pumpkins and stuff? Ahhh, right, it's Halloween time!
The minute we turned our calendar to the 10th month of the year, I see orange, white and black everywhere. Kids are hanging up pumpkins, spiders and bats all over the house and stores have stocked up on candies and costumes. It seems like everyone is already prepared- but me! And there are only 23 days left (actually only 15 days considering the pre-parties. And the pre-pre-parties...it's getting worse!).
Last time, someone brought the whole Halloween costume thing up, it was only June. How can my friend plan her costume five months in advance!? Craziness must have fallen in, I thought. It was very annoying in summer but now... well, I wish, I would be back in June thinking about my costume. Since we cannot change time, I better start thinking now.

In the past, I was an angel, a pirate, a witch, a hula girl and all the classics. The boring, boring classics. This year, I want something special, out of the row and self-made! And this has to happen with strategy.
Point one: Never ever buy one of these ready-made-costumes you find in every Halloween store. They look cheap, slutty and are light-years away from being at least a little bit creative. Besides looking like a complete whore in your slutty nurse outfit, you also run the risk of seeing 5000 other girls in your costume (but hey, you can all join a union). So, once again, let us be clear here: DO NOT BUY A READY-MADE-COSTUME! The big Halloween stores are only (and I mean ONLY) good for buying accessories and wigs.

Point two: You can buy accessories before you know what you are going to dress up as. For example, if you see a wig you like, try it on and see if you still like it. If so, buy it! Right away! Do not think like "Hm, is this really the right one?" (yes, it is). Or if you see a feather boa, just buy it. Boas always go well with anything. You cannot go wrong with it.
For this point, the rule is: Just buy whatever you like. In the worst case, you have too many accessoires (but you still have to consider that there is not only one party, there are five). So essentially, buy as much as you can :)

Point three: Now it is time to think about what you actually want to be and since this is the hardest question of all, I advise to not think in characters, more like step-by-step. Picture your Halloween costume in your imagination in a big frame and think out of the box. You can take the magic wand of a fairy together with devil's horns.
This point is actually very helpful for determining your final costume. I need to point out though that you have to be aware of the fact that it always can change!

Alright, so we have three great advises (aren't they helpful?!) and by the time, I post here again, we will see how helpful my tips were to me.

Happy Halloween!

Anke