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| Halloween, London 2007 |
It is yet again time for me to pull Shattered Silk up by the corset laces, and post more frequently. There has been no lack of topic ideas in my corner, so the only thing keeping me from the task has been time. Yawn.
However, since I am on a brief hiatus from some of my other work activities, and since I have not actually posted since Halloween, I thought to pick up where I left off, and offer up a photo essay of a life spent dressing up.
A few months ago, someone marveled at my saying I had dressed up for Halloween every year of my life, some years with two different costumes. I then wondered if I had mis-spoke, and challenged myself to remember my Halloween costumes from every year to date.
Turns out there are possibly two years when I did not dress up for Halloween. Tellingly those were in my early teens, when mischief of other sorts took precedence over trick or treating. Yet, I have been able to collect photos of nearly every Halloween costume I have worn.
While this blog does not set out to be a personal portrait, I offer this post as a case study of costume and ritual. Hopefully this might inspire you to remember your own Halloween costumes and what they meant to you then and now, and how they were manifestations of your aspirations at particular moments in time.
Enjoy, and do get in touch with comments, memories or photos of your own.
I add a brief reading list on Halloween costumes and customs.
Death Makes a Holiday: A Cultural History of Halloween
by David J. Skal
Masked Culture: Greenwich Village Halloween Parade
by Jack Kugelmass
Treat or Trick: Halloween in a Globalising World
by Hugh O'Donnell and Malcolm Foley
Halloween: An American Holiday, An American History
by Leslie Pratt Bannatyne
Dressed for Thrills: 100 Years of Halloween Costumes and Masquerade
by Valerie Steele, Mark Alice Durant and Phyllis Galembo
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| October 1978, Minnie Mouse |
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| October 1979, Witch |
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| October 1980, Raggedy Ann |
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| October 1981, Snoopy |
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| October 1981, Snoopy (with mask on) |
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| October 1982, Annie |
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| October 1983, 1st Grade Class |
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| October 1983, Princess Leia and Ernie |
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| October 1985, Rainbow Brite and Superman |
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| October 1987, Cleopatra |
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| October 1992, Group photo, Cleopatra (again) |
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| October 1993, Sally from Nightmare Before Xmas |
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| October 1994, Death from the Neil Gaiman comics |
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| October 1995, Aeon Flux and the Crow |
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| October 1996, Sally from Nightmare Before Xmas (again) |
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| October 1999, Bastet the Egyptian Cat Goddess and Satyr |
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| October 2000, Medusa and the Devil |
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| October 2000, Cruella de Ville |
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| October 2002, Drowned Ophelia |
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| October 2003, Skeleton Pirate |
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| October 2004, Group Photo, NYC |
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| October 2004, Bearded Lady and Circus Barker |
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| October 2005, Tim Burton's Corpse Bride and Groom |
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| October 2006, The Black Dahlia |
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| October 2007 Spoiled Brat/Candy Doll |
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| October 2008 Egyptian Bird Goddess, Bull and Invisible Woman |
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| October 2009 Victorian Mourning and the Elephant Man |
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October 2010, Zombie Nurse and Otto the Zombie
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