Halloween finally falls on a Friday this year, so there are plenty of parties to dress up for, if that’s your thing. (And it is.)
Writers, what were some of your favorite costumes of Halloweens past?
Anna Pulley: Zombeyonce!
Chloe: In early elementary school I went through that girlie horse crazy thing, but took it a step further with a fixation on cowgirls. For three years I wore the same costume on Halloween: Cowgirl boots, jeans, leatherish chaps, cowgirl hat and-my favorite part-a silver and white (sadly but wisely) fake pistol. I’m still a cowgirl on the inside.
Chelsea Steiner: I’ve worn many a Halloween costume over the years, but my fav might be in 2008 when I went as Amy Winehouse (RIP). The best part of the costume was a) scaring the crap out of my Jewish mother with all my fake tattoos, and b) having free reign to drink whatever I wanted. The drunker I got, the more authentic the costume became!
Grace Chu: 2010. The last year I watched Glee.
Kim Hoffman: In 2010, I was David Bowie thanks to my mom’s epic entirely-made-out-of-sequin shirt from the ’80s. (Like, she would wear this shirt on a regular Saturday night out, you guys.) I was living in Seattle and my friend did my makeup. We decided to see what was shaking at the Wild Rose. Someone approaches me an hour and tons of Halloween jungle punch later and says I’ve won the costume contest. A picture was taken. I don’t remember much else. We can be heroes…
Lindsay Hicks: As a child I was a football player every year. Last year, my dear pal Jade White and I dressed up as Sexy Hasidic Jews. It was a costume I had been threatening to do for years, but I could never do the hat until I had some assistance.
Dara Nai: I once made a sheep costume out of some faux sheep wool. Using only the skills I learned in seventh grade Home Ec, I sewed a pair of pants, and for the top, I copied a regular hoodie, adding ears to finish it off. After it was done, I put it on and drove to my friend Steve’s house. When he opened the door, he laughed his ass off, mostly because it wasn’t Halloween. When Halloween fnally did roll around, I wore it to a gay bar’s costume party. I forgot how hot crowded bars can get and spent the whole night dropping ice cubes down my back.
Bridget McManus: This is a hard one because I’d had many hot-mess costumes over the years. I think it’s a tie between Indiana Jones (age 10) and Xena (age 19).
Valerie Anne: I “dressed up” as Buffy from when I was 10 to when I was too old to trick-or-treat, with the singular exception of the one year I was a Charlie’s Angel with two of my friends, but if there are any pictures from those years, it will look like any other picture of me during any other time of the year, except I’m holding a homemade wooden stake and cross. (Or, in the case of the Charlie’s Angel, a plastic gun). My favorite actual costume was probably when I was Pebbles from the Flinstones when I was around six, but I can’t find any pictures of it. I was a makeshift Ninja Turtle a few years ago, but no one needs to see that. Instead, here’s a picture of me dressed as Raggedy Ann. I think I was almost two in this picture.
Lucy Hallowell: In terms of Halloween costumes, I peaked super early. When I was about four I was a bunny for Halloween. My mom made me a white suit with a hat that had floppy pink and white ears. I loved it so much I wore the suit as pajamas until it finally disintegrated.
Trish Bendix: One year I went as Hillary Clinton in a terrifying mask and my mom’s blazer. I kept walking around and shaking people’s hands like I was running for President instead of the first lady. Too bad I no longer have the outfit because I would so wear it again this year or next. Hillary in 2016!
Dana Piccoli: I’ve always had a taste for the obscure, like when I was 11 and I insisted on being Newsboy Louise from Gypsy. I would have been mistaken for an extra from Newsies if it hadn’t been for the fact that I kept singing “If Mama Were Married.” Recently, I got to don the costume of a musician whose work I greatly admired as a child. JEM.
Sarah Terez Strosenblum: When I was four, my mom made me a raccoon costume. When I was 24, I asked her to do it again.
Jenna Lykes: One of my favorite costumes was a few years ago when my then-girlfriend, now-wife and I dressed up, collectively, as Alex Mack (of Secret World fame). She was Alex and I was the silver puddle of goo. I found a sweet metallic cape and would just collapse onto the floor by her feet from time to time. Unfortunately, I can’t find a picture of that, but I do have a photo of one of my cutest costumes: Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz.
Readers, what is the best costume you’ve donned for All Hallow’s Eve? Show us your super gay costumes on Twitter and Instagram, too, by tagging #AEHalloween.
