Costuming for Nerds, Part 14
Nov. 11th, 2016 03:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matrilThis year, we decided on our costumes a little later than usual. We were honestly starting to panic that we wouldn't have enough time to put together anything very impressive. We have quite a reputation to live up to at this point. ;)
By mid-October we had settled on an idea, but neither one of us felt particularly energized by it. So we threw it out and started over. Mark had really been wanting to dress as Death, the hooded skull-faced personification from the Discworld series. We just couldn't think of a counterpart costume for me. Granny Weatherwax? Too obscure. But then I considered stepping back from the specifics of Terry Prachett's world and trying some other personified force, preferable a creepy one that tends to show up as female. Recalling that we already had a ratty gray wig, I decided on Fate. Now, I know there are actually three Fates, each a different age, but of course I would be the old crone. Far more fun than a sweet-faced maiden, right?
So we'd need cloaks, a wig for me, skeleton gloves and a scythe for Mark, and lots and lots of makeup. I mentioned that I needed to get an old-age look and misunderstood when Mark said "Oh, that's easy," assuming that he knew how to do it. Well, he didn't; he only meant that he'd heard it was fairly easy to learn how to do it. So I watched a bunch of old-age makeup tutorials, did my best, and finally decided it was for the best that my hood and wig kept my face mostly obscured. :P
Mark's skull face-paint, on the other hand, was suitably impressive. He was also able to fashion a scythe blade on the same staff he used for his spear as Odin. My accessories were a skein of yarn and a giant pair of shears. I don't think most people got the reference...but it was still fun to hobble around and squint beadily at everyone. Here's a slightly better look at those accessories.
I admit I had a bit of dismay when Emma announced she wanted to be a Disney princess this year, but she wasn't really interested in wearing a frilly dress so much as portraying an actual character she liked. And when she settled on Belle, I was happy to sew her the blue pinafore and give her a book to carry around. Ryan happily wore Luke's skeleton costume from a few years back, and at the last minute we got a simple knight costume for Luke. That's the third time he's been a knight for Halloween - four, if you count the time he was Luke Skywalker. Living up to his namesake, right?
He didn't carry that sword around while trick-or-treating, but it made for a fun picture.
And now there's another year till the next one. We might need all that time to come up with something really impressive. We'll see...
By mid-October we had settled on an idea, but neither one of us felt particularly energized by it. So we threw it out and started over. Mark had really been wanting to dress as Death, the hooded skull-faced personification from the Discworld series. We just couldn't think of a counterpart costume for me. Granny Weatherwax? Too obscure. But then I considered stepping back from the specifics of Terry Prachett's world and trying some other personified force, preferable a creepy one that tends to show up as female. Recalling that we already had a ratty gray wig, I decided on Fate. Now, I know there are actually three Fates, each a different age, but of course I would be the old crone. Far more fun than a sweet-faced maiden, right?
So we'd need cloaks, a wig for me, skeleton gloves and a scythe for Mark, and lots and lots of makeup. I mentioned that I needed to get an old-age look and misunderstood when Mark said "Oh, that's easy," assuming that he knew how to do it. Well, he didn't; he only meant that he'd heard it was fairly easy to learn how to do it. So I watched a bunch of old-age makeup tutorials, did my best, and finally decided it was for the best that my hood and wig kept my face mostly obscured. :P
Mark's skull face-paint, on the other hand, was suitably impressive. He was also able to fashion a scythe blade on the same staff he used for his spear as Odin. My accessories were a skein of yarn and a giant pair of shears. I don't think most people got the reference...but it was still fun to hobble around and squint beadily at everyone. Here's a slightly better look at those accessories.
I admit I had a bit of dismay when Emma announced she wanted to be a Disney princess this year, but she wasn't really interested in wearing a frilly dress so much as portraying an actual character she liked. And when she settled on Belle, I was happy to sew her the blue pinafore and give her a book to carry around. Ryan happily wore Luke's skeleton costume from a few years back, and at the last minute we got a simple knight costume for Luke. That's the third time he's been a knight for Halloween - four, if you count the time he was Luke Skywalker. Living up to his namesake, right?
He didn't carry that sword around while trick-or-treating, but it made for a fun picture.
And now there's another year till the next one. We might need all that time to come up with something really impressive. We'll see...
