Friday, October 26, 2007

Halloween Costumes

Getting all the kids ready for Halloween reminds me of a few favorite costumes from my childhood. The first is a ladybug, that my mother made. It was just so cool and what made it even better, was that it was easy to get into. I remember that a group of us went to a rollerskating rink for a Halloween party and there were various costume contests. We had to skate around the rink so the judges could observe us. At the end of the song, we all stood in the middle of the rink for the grand announcement. I won most creative costume (or rather my mother won) so I had to skate, by myself, mind you, to the DJ tower to claim my big prize. It was more than nervousing to skate while a billion people watched my lovely form. I tried as hard as I could to do that graceful arm swing and hip move while all eyes were on me. Luckily, because of fervent silent (and maybe not so silent) prayer, I didn't wipe out and I got my gift certificate for a free skating session which, by the way, was unused.

My second most memorable costume was never fully defined. It was a princess/fancy lady. I borrowed an old bride's maid dress from my neighbor across the street. It was taffeta and peach and long and a bit revealing in the front (to a 10 year old.) I believe puffy sleeves were involved and it was BEAUTIFUL. I looked like a beauty lady in it. Because the front was a bit low cut (it went lower than a turtleneck) I needed a special shawl to cover myself. So my mom found a lacy shower curtain that worked perfectly. As I write this I cannot believe that I combined a shower curtain, even if it was of creamy lace, with a fancy dress, but as always, I was not aware of the fashion gauche that I was committing (and still commit even today, but not with dresses and shower curtains.) All the neighbors thought that I looked just like Princess Diana (she was just getting famous at the time.) and I was more than pleased to be compared to such a lovely person. I loved that dress and I cried when I had to return it months after Christmas. Moreover, I'll forever remember that wondrous feeling of being greatly admired by the masses as I walked around in my puffy-sleeved, peach dress with accompanying shower curtain shawl.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Bethany,
aaahhh, the wonder and excitement of Halloweens past. My all time favorite costume was a butterfly princess. My mom made the wings I think, out of some kind of pink fabric. She may have had a pattern. I got to borrow some of my grandma's jewelry and wear gaudy make up on my lips and eyes. I had a crown, also made out of the same fabric. I wore this costume probably 3 years in a row. I didn't want to give it up. At the time I believed I sparkled and shined and I could almost fly. I look at pictures now and although I had the wings and crown I was wearing some sort of brownish dress. I blame the 70s but it's a wonder I never remembered the dress, just the wings and the jewelry and the crown. Well, thanks for sharing your memories. It's sweet to remember such happy things from childhood! Happy Halloween!