Halloween Part 1 - Easy Peasy Japanese-y

I don't know if it's normal, but as the years go by I get more and more excited about Halloween. This year, I've got at least 3 opportunities for costume fun, which suits me fine. And as my wardrobe seems to expand exponentially every year, I have outfits ready and waiting to be dug out and put to spooky work!

It started this weekend with the Danse Macabre, hosted by the Last Tuesday Society at the Coronet in Elephant and Castle over 2 nights. Mr Needles and his cohorts were hosting a room as Super Satanic Saturday, providing a groovy, spooky and rocky soundtrack to revelers.

The Last Tuesday Society - A Danse Macabre

For the Friday night I chose a Biba-esque fortune teller look. This was basically a Christmas outfit from a few years ago, with extra curly hair and black lippy.

For Saturday I resurrected a kimono which I made for Halloween about 10 years ago. In my years of collecting patterns, I managed to pick up this oddity; years later, when my mum gave me some Japanese silk, this pattern seemed like the perfect use for it:

The kimono is reversible,  one side being black twill and satin trim, the other side the purple silk. I love wearing this piece, and have got it out of the wardrobe on occasion and swished around the house in it. But the opportunity to wear it day to day hasn't really presented itself - I'm too worried about the damage I'd do with those sleeves! So it was great to get my geisha on and give it some attention.

Hair was easier than expected - with the help of Google images , backcombing, A LOT of hairspray,and random bits of cocktail implements, you too can look like a traditional Japanese geisha!

I tried the white make up base, but I had a weird reaction to it which made my skin feel like it was on fire, so I just stuck to the traditional red eyeshadow.

The belt is a length of black satin with black cord and curtain tassels sewn to each end to give the effect of a traditional Obi belt.

As you can see I wasn't totally traditional - the outfit was finished off with patterned black fishnets and some really big leopard pants. A girl's got to preserve some mystery!

There were some out of this world costumes over the 2 nights - I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets into Halloween! Here's a random selection of revellers:

Psychotic Clowns

One of the Elektrik Kool Aid Dancers

Ms Heidi Heelz-Cola on the wheels of steel

KISS!

And this was how I felt when it was all over:

Stay tuned for part 2!