It happens every year at this time. A parade of costumes-past float behind my eyes as I try to fit the 8-year old princess costume on my 70 year old expanded form. It’s funny, but I barely remember any of my Halloween costumes. Why is that I wonder? I do recall that I never wanted to be anything ugly or monstrous. My costume desires ran to the princess, bride, or Hollywood actress genre. I left the uglies to the boys.
I am better at remembering my children’s Halloweens. My daughter and I always recall the year I took her father’s motorcycle helmet and made it into Darth Vader’s head gear and draped her 8-year old body with a heavy woolen cape found in grandma’s attic. Shirt cardboards (remember them?) were used to craft a very smart sword and off she went, victorious in the best costume on the block. And, yet, another year she was Princess Leia – go figure.
Another year my other daughter was Charlie Chaplin, she crafted her own costume from beginning to end, and it was spectacular. She fell in love with the little fellow that year after seeing one of his films in school and spent every Saturday for months going to a museum that showed his films each week. I also recall that she was the “Little Tramp,” one year, but she too had her “Princess” Halloweens.
There were two times as an adult that I recall not only my costume, but the costume of my then current husband as well. I remember because each time we won first prize for best costume. The first time I dressed up as a pregnant angel and my first husband was the devil. The second time I and my second husband each donned white albs, gelled our hair into spikes, wore weird make-up and multiple crosses around our necks and presented as “Punk Priests.”
But the Halloween I remember most is the time I threw a sheet over my head to be a ghost as I answered the door and handed out candy. All was going well until I opened the door, let out my ghostly ghastly moan and sent a little girl screaming in fright back to her mom waiting at the curb! I took off the costume and never did that again. After all, Halloween is supposed to be fun, not scary, isn’t it?