i have to say that it surprises me that, with 300+ hits a day, NOBODY e-mailed to ask, "what's all this chinesey and mexican-looking stuff for? what are you up to?" you people e-mail about OTHER stuff... why did no one bite? i wasn't even trying to keep the secret all that hard.
to costume
ben
as "the day of the dead" was the easier of the two, since figures -- human figures, fleshless they may be -- are associated with the holiday.
items you have seen before include the poncho, the papel picado-style drapery with large marigolds (traditional flower of the day of the dead), "sugar" skulls, and guillermo.
ben
was definitely a magnet for drunk people, and people definitely understood what he was.
i really liked his feet.
my costume was more of an abstract, and without
ben
as the "hint", i don't think anyone would have got it. it was also a lot harder to photograph, since so much of it was in the details. items you have seen before include the sparkly mandarin jacket (also known as the money pit, even in its swatching stages), the "red dragon" mah-jongg slippers, the thigh-high fishnets, and the "lucky bamboo" chinese charm hat. extra acoutrements include a mask that i bought at cirque du soliel last summer, and chinatown trinkets, some knotted onto a sterling charm bracelet from tiffany's (the first thing anybody ever gets from tiffany's -- the charm bracelet with the thing on it that looks like a heartworm tag) which i found in a plastic bag filled with other costume jewelry and remnants of some trail mix that must have been six years old. throw on some "flower drum song" trinkets from oriental trading company (after purchasing your gummy brains and gummy mummies, of course) and you're good to go.
whew. now, all being said and done, i can say: i like making stuff a lot more than i like going to "parties" and having "fun". and really, halloween is best done by little kids like the ones we saw here in the hours before getting our cab. i'd rather walk on the streets with kids and their treat bags than dress up again, i think. and the next time i make a costume, i think it'll be for somebody little.
a few more photos of the evening, and photos of friends, are available on the album page.