My best Halloween costume as a kid, the one that won me a $25 gift certificate in the store holding the kids' party/parade, was a classic witch costume that my mom made. She helped me tease my long hair out like crazy as well.
I am straining my brain, but I don't think I wore a store costume until college, when I joined the rest of Chapel Hill's population on Franklin Street in a medieval lady's gown. (I was going to wear the flamenco dress I brought back from Spain, but my roommate's best friend talked me into swapping with her for some reason. I wore that the following year.)
My parents refused to waste money on store bought costumes, so if we wanted to be anything but a sheet draped ghost, we had to make them.
In fifth grade, I made a horse costume with my best friend. We got real tired of switching off with one of us bent over backward, but it was a real hit in the neighborhood. (I designed it and did most of the stitch work. I was already used to designing and making doll clothes by then, out of scraps people gave me, so it didn't seem that big a challenge. Later I designed and made all my own costumes--and in recent years, have used all those costumes in the school dramas while teaching drama!)
That was my mother's rationale as well, and now I realize how much more I treasure those memories (also, how horridly cheap those store bought costumes were). Omg, I can just imagine how much work that horse costume must have been.
We did a mix of homemade and store-bought. I think my best, qualitatively, was Pippi Longstocking - we braided my hair around coat hanger wire and twisted it up. Hurt a lot, but totally worth it. My sentimental favorite, though, might be my Belle costume from sixth grade, which was pieces from our "dress-up" box thrown together in a decent approximation.
Oh, another winner: The year my best friend and I were a pair of dice, and my sister was a gambler. It was awesome. And difficult to walk close to other people. XD
I still haven't figured out what I want to be this year, but $30 on a full store-bought one is not my idea of fun. :-/
Back when I was around 10ish, my mom made me a knight costume. She bought a bunch of dish towels or something and spray painted them grey and sewed them into my 'armor'. It was hands-down the best costume ever
Yep. We did the homemade costumes, as well. I think my two favorites were some that my dad made. One year, a friend of mine and I dressed up as a pair of dice. Dad covered cubic boxes with white paper and put black construction paper dots on them and a pair of black straps so the boxes could hang from our shoulders (not unlike the barrels one sees in cartoons). Another year, Dad made cardboard armor and spray painted it silver. He even painted the red fleur de lis on the breast plate. That, along with a cardboard sword made me a very credible Joan of Arc.
Oh yeah. Mom did make a very elaborate nun's habit one year for my older sister. I wore that, too, in later years. :P My sister called herself Sister Mary Magdalene. ;)
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I am straining my brain, but I don't think I wore a store costume until college, when I joined the rest of Chapel Hill's population on Franklin Street in a medieval lady's gown. (I was going to wear the flamenco dress I brought back from Spain, but my roommate's best friend talked me into swapping with her for some reason. I wore that the following year.)
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In fifth grade, I made a horse costume with my best friend. We got real tired of switching off with one of us bent over backward, but it was a real hit in the neighborhood. (I designed it and did most of the stitch work. I was already used to designing and making doll clothes by then, out of scraps people gave me, so it didn't seem that big a challenge. Later I designed and made all my own costumes--and in recent years, have used all those costumes in the school dramas while teaching drama!)
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I wish I'd had a teacher as cool as you!
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Oh, another winner: The year my best friend and I were a pair of dice, and my sister was a gambler. It was awesome. And difficult to walk close to other people. XD
I still haven't figured out what I want to be this year, but $30 on a full store-bought one is not my idea of fun. :-/
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Oh yeah. Mom did make a very elaborate nun's habit one year for my older sister. I wore that, too, in later years. :P My sister called herself Sister Mary Magdalene. ;)
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