Throwback Thursday #61 – Costumes

I had ten days off so I am giving Lauren a break and stepping in for her this week. With Halloween coming up, I thought we should do something surrounding that. I know everyone does not celebrate Halloween, so I thought we could address costumes in general. It is always fun to dress up and let your alter ego take the reins!

This week’s prompt is: Costumes

I will give you some questions to help you along. Or, free write if you would rather. You can either respond in the comments or link back to this post. My response will follow.

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1. Did you celebrate Halloween? If so, what was your most memorable costume?

2. When was the last time you dressed in a costume? What was the reason?

3. As a child, did you like pretending you were someone else? Did you create costumes with things around the house?

4. Did you ever attend Mardi Gras, Carnival or any other festival with masks or costumes? Did you wear a mask or costume?

5. Were you ever in a play (school or otherwise) that required a costume? If so, who were you?

6. Do you participate in cosplay or go to Comic Conventions?

7. What character from movies, comics, or plays has the best costume?

8. Think of scary or horror movies. Which character’s costume and/or make up was the most frightening? Was it the costume alone, or the movie itself which made it frightening?

9. Have you ever visited historic places where the staff wears period costumes? If so, where was it?

10. Have you ever attended a Broadway or Off Broadway or Community Theatre production with great costumes? Leave a clip or photo here of your favorite.

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1. Did you celebrate Halloween? If so, what was your most memorable costume?

When we lived in the Valley we celebrated Halloween, but didn’t do trick or treating. Instead we had a huge Halloween party and everyone wore costumes, most of which were made from things around the house. I did have a half mask one year and borrowed my great aunt’s long black dress and dressed as a witch. I won second place in the costume contest. When I was in high school and a member of Civil Air Patrol, I rented a harem girl costume with a fringed veil. I won first place that year and as my prize I got to go up in an aerobat’s airplane (a small Cessna). That was an experience!

2. When was the last time you dressed in a costume? What was the reason?

When we lived in Florida we had a big Halloween party one year. Everybody wore costumes. I think I dressed as a witch again, this time with orange hair! There were a lot of witches at that party as I recall.

3. As a child, did you like pretending you were someone else? Did you create costumes with things around the house?

Westerns were big when I was a kid so we were always dressing like Western characters. I had no qualms about slinging on my brother’s holster and his cowboy hat. We would find a handkerchief to throw around our necks as a “kerchief” and find some kind of food the carry as our ‘hard tack’!

4. Did you ever attend Mardi Gras, Carnival or any other festival with masks or costumes? Did you wear a mask or costume?

I did not, but when I visited both New Orleans and Venice I was fascinated by the masks. I actually had two ceramic carnival masks that once adorned my guest bathroom.

5. Were you ever in a play (school or otherwise) that required a costume? If so, who were you?

No, I was not cut out to be a thespian!

6. Do you participate in cosplay or go to Comic Conventions or Star Trek Conventions?

No, but I find them fascinating. There is a whole cosplay world out there that I know very little about!

7. What character from movies, comics, or plays has the best costume?

I always loved the creatures and villains in the original Star Trek television series. Costuming came a long way from the Flash Gordon days!

 

8. Think of scary or horror movies or tv shows. Which character’s costume and/or make up was the most frightening? Was it the costume alone, or the movie itself which made it frightening?

Being a child of the fifties, I grew up on “Frankenstein” and Dracula and Hitchcock. I remember being frightened by “Frankenstein” when he threw the little girl Maria into the lake. It was not the make-up so much but the action that scared me. Current horror films are too horrifying to me. After “Night of the Living Dead” I decided I did not need to watch many more horror films.

One of the most frightening to me was Richard Kiel (Jaws from James Bond) playing the alien from the Twilight Zone episode “To Serve Man”.

9. Have you ever visited historic places where the staff wears period costumes? If so, where was it?

Oh yes! Several. My most memorable was our high school fieldtrip to Dearborn, Mich to visit Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum. A close runner up would be the Ballenberg Swiss Open Air Museum outside the wood carving village of Brienze.

10. Have you ever attended a Broadway or Off Broadway or Community Theatre production with great costumes? Leave a clip or photo here of your favorite.

My favorite has to be my favorite show of course “Phantom of the Opera”. This coming year is its last year on Broadway! And “Cats” had some pretty fantastic costumes as well.

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