When we launched Take Back Halloween last year, we invited readers to suggest other costumes they’d like to see. The number one request was for Ada Lovelace, visionary computer genius and patron saint of women in technology. So this year we put Ada at the top of our list of costumes to add. Voilà: Ada Lovelace.
We decided to model the costume on the famous 1836 portrait of Ada in court dress. Not only is it the best portrait of her in existence, but the clothes are much easier to replicate than the fussy, fitted daytime outfits she wears in other portraits. There was still a bit of Regency flavor to court dress at that time, with long simple white gowns and ballet flats. A belted satin chemise and a velveteen robe is all you really need.
Ada Lovelace Day is a new holiday started a couple of years ago; this year it’s going to be on Friday, October 7. According to the sponsors: “Ada Lovelace Day is an international day of celebration focused on the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and maths.”
We’re sensing a twofer possibility here with the costume. You can dress up as Ada Lovelace twice in the month of October!
Thinking of going as Hatshepsut this Halloween? Or maybe Isis? Time to get on the stick! We found a cool eBay store in Egypt that sells wonderful beaded collars, just like the pharaohs wore (well, not just like the pharaohs wore, but better than the cheapo fabric pieces you get in Halloween stores). But their shipping takes two or three weeks, so you need to order now if you want delivery in time for Halloween. This is the one from our Isis costume:
Same deal with our Queen of Sheba costume. We chose a beautiful Egyptian style necklace from that same store for her outfit, too.
Halloween Season 2011 is upon us. It’s the week after Labor Day, and the stores are starting to stock up on costumes. For us, it’s Year Two of our project to Take Back Halloween! The response to our website last year was incredible, and this year we’re working overtime to make it even bigger and better:
- A picture is worth a thousand words, so this year we’re uploading digital illustrations of all our costume designs. That’s the Queen of Sheba to the right (click to embiggen). We’re focusing first on the designs most in need of visual aids—the goddesses, several of the ancient costumes, etc.
- We’re checking all the product links to make sure the stuff is still available. And if not, we’re hunting for replacements.
- With all that updating and illustrating, we really don’t have time to do new costumes—but we are anyway. Can’t resist. Coming very shortly: Ada Lovelace, Sor Juana, Athena, Demeter, Jezebel…and more!
If you’re in the middle of running down a costume and need help, don’t hesitate to email us. If we haven’t already updated the product links, we may nevertheless already know (from our endless window-shopping) where you can find the item you need.
Happy costuming!
To everyone who has linked to our site and helped spread the word: thank you so much! The response has been absolutely staggering. We are definitely going to keep the site up all year and keep adding costumes.
To everyone who has visited for costume ideas and inspiration: thank you and HAVE FUN! Your costume is going to be great—and you will look marvelous.
Happy Halloween, everybody! Time to relax, free your imagination, and have a blast!
Or at least I am. This coming Saturday I’m going to be interviewed on “The F Word,” a feminist radio show in Vancouver. Here’s the program description:
Oct 30 – ‘Native’ isn’t a costume. Moving beyond sexy nurses and cultural appropriation: The F Word’s Halloween Extravaganza! Featuring an interview with the creators of Take Back Halloween, a radical website that proposes that women have more creative costume options than “Little Bo Peepshow”.
That’s this Saturday, October 30, at 8:00am Pacific time. I think the interview is going to start around 8:20am. Tune in to CFRO 102.7 FM in Vancouver, or go here to listen online.
Thanks very much to the cool people at The F Word Media Collective for inviting me! (I sure hope I don’t mess up.)
This is vintage Diana Ross, you understand: Diana Ross as a Supreme. Not only were The Supremes the top American singing group of the 60s, but they were also style leaders. Glamour was always important to them, and Diana had even planned to be a fashion designer before the music thing took off. In the early days of The Supremes—long before Motown started supplying couture gowns—Diana was the one who designed and made the dresses, supervised the hair and makeup, and created the overall high-fashion look that was the group’s signature.
The pieces we suggest, from left to right:
1. Gold-beaded white sequined gown. This is a great dress, all the more so because it actually looks like something from the 60s.
2. Alternate choice: Motown Supremes costume. This is a licensed costume by Motown. It includes a sleeveless gown and a feather-trimmed poncho. (Evening ponchos: now there’s a fashion trend that got away.)
3. Diana Ross wig. Also licensed by Motown. (How does Diana Ross feel about this?) If your own hair won’t do, this wig should work. They also have this one.
4. White evening gloves. These will be especially useful if you plan on singing “Stop! In the Name of Love.”
5. White high-heel pumps. Unless you have a pair of gold sequin shoes that would match the costume, white shoes like this would be best. White pumps are a very 60s look.
6. Rhinestone enamel daisy earrings. The perfect 60s earrings.
Xi Wang Mu, the “Queen Mother of the West,” is the fairy goddess of Chinese lore. She lives in a jewel-encrusted palace on a solid gold mountain far to the west, where she is attended by jade maidens. She flies on the back of a crane, keeps bluebirds as messengers, and grows the Peaches of Immortality in her garden. Though you can’t tell from the picture above, she’s believed to have long white hair, symbolic of longevity.
Our costume design uses a kimono to approximate the look of ancient Chinese clothing. (This works because the kimono itself was inspired by Chinese dress.) The pieces we suggest, from left to right:
1. Two satin lounge gowns in lavender and chocolate. This is your base layer. You’re going to wear both of them: the chocolate on top of the lavender. Or vice versa, depending on your taste. These will show at the bottom of your kimono, giving you a full-skirted multi-layer look.
2. Ivory kimono. It comes with an obi, which is great except for the pre-tied bow in back. You’ll want to remove that, since it looks too Japanese. Just wear the flat obi around your waist.
3. Phoenix crown. This is a modern bridal crown, but it will work fine for the Queen of the West. China Cart carries a variety of other crowns in all price ranges.
4. Long white wig. Let it flow down your back and over your shoulders.
5. Peach Blossom Spray. To carry with you.
We’ve been busy all week adding new costumes. Our Glamour section is up, with several opportunities for you to pile on a bunch of rhinestones and wear a long fancy gown. And it wouldn’t be Halloween without some gore, so we added a Lizzie Borden costume. (Yes, we think she did it.)
Our most recent costume is Themistoclea, the Delphic priestess who taught Pythagoras. We’re assuming she was the Pythia, the priestess who delivered oracles from Apollo. This costume would be great if you’d like to do some divining for friends, which is a traditional part of Halloween festivities. Just grab your laurel leaves and your bowl of water and you’re all set.
Halloween is only 9 days away!
Well, she’s not exactly a heroine, but you can’t deny she’s a Notable Woman. And we gotta have some gore. Lizzie Borden (1860-1927) is one of the most famous crime figures in American history. As the ditty goes, “Lizzie Borden took an axe/Gave her mother 40 whacks/When she saw what she had done/She gave her father 41.” Actually, it was her step-mother, not her mother; and the actual number of whacks was 18 and 11, respectively. More to the point, no one really knows if Lizzie was guilty. She was acquitted at trial, after all. Nevertheless, it has always been difficult to imagine who else could or would have done it.
So if you want to get a little macabre for Halloween, Lizzie’s your woman. The pieces we suggest, from left to right:
1. Victorian costume dress with leg-o-mutton sleeves. This is being sold as a “vampiress” dress, but the late Victorian styling makes it a convenient get-up for Lizzie Borden. Unfortunately it’s rather small, so our next options are for you to assemble your own late-Victorian look.
2. Millicent blouse in black. Button front with leg-o-mutton sleeves.
3. Twill bustle skirt in black.
4. Optional corset. You might consider wearing a corset under your duds. Period-correct foundation garments are what help give the right silhouette.
5. Plastic blood splats. The great thing about these is that they’re plastic film—not liquid. You can stick these to your nice Victorian costume without ruining it. You can also get some liquid stage blood in various forms.
6. The all-important bloody axe! Carry this with you and be sure to tell everyone you didn’t do it. Really.
Hair and makeup: To be accurate, you should wear no face makeup at all. Except maybe blood. As for hair, Frizzie Lizzie is the way to go. If you can tie your hair up into a little top knot or bun, you’re all set.
Shoes: Victorian lace-up boots
Mae West (1893-1980) was ahead of her time. Way ahead of her time. She’s probably remembered primarily as a zaftig sex symbol, but she was so much more than that. She was a playwright, screenwriter, actress, and producer who consistently broke boundaries in her frank treatment of sexual and social themes. Far from being an ingenue playing a role scripted for her by Hollywood, Mae West was a self-created artist and businesswoman who controlled her own persona. In the 1920s she was a sensation on Broadway, starring in her own self-written plays (which once landed her in jail for “public obscenity”). Then she moved to Hollywood, where she created star vehicles featuring her own screenplays (again running afoul of the censors). Off-screen, too, she was an independent woman who refused to be tied down into domesticity—or to apologize in any way for her liberated lifestyle.
Mae’s look was distinctive: blonde hair, hourglass dress, feathers, picture hat. The pieces we suggest, from left to right:
1. Sunvary mermaid gown in black or red. This is a made-to-order gown and also comes in several other colors besides red and black. It may be more than you want to spend, but this is the standard to shoot for if you want to look like Mae West. But you can make any long dress work (this Evanese gown, for example).
2. Polka dot organza picture hat. This fancy wide-brimmed hat comes in several colors and is trimmed with jeweled organza flowers. All it needs is a few ostrich plumes tucked into the brim.
3. Red feather boa. Wrap it around your shoulders or fasten it around the neckline of your gown.
4. Long blonde ringlets wig. This is the kind of hair you need to pull off the Mae West look. Blonde, crimped, and long.
5. Red rhinestone necklace and earring set. Rubies and diamonds!
6. Nine row rhinestone bracelet over elbow-length black evening gloves. If you’re wearing a short sleeve or sleeveless gown, this would look fabulous.
Rita Hayworth (1918-1987) was born Margarita Carmen Cansino, the daughter of a professional flamenco dancer from Spain. Trained as a dancer herself, she started out in Hollywood doing bit parts. The studio dyed her hair red, changed her name, and transformed shy young Rita Cansino into Rita Hayworth, flame-haired femme fatale of the 40s. Her signature role was Gilda, in which she did amazing things in a black satin strapless gown. Independent studies have concluded that Rita Hayworth is so mesmerizing in that film that nobody has any idea what the movie is actually about.
The pieces we suggest, from left to right:
1. Strapless gown in black satin. This evening gown is a great match for Gilda, with an asymmetrical gather at the waist.
2. Black evening gloves. These are 22 inches long, so they’ll come up all the way over your elbows.
3. Rita Hayworth wig. If you don’t already have Rita Hayworth hair, this wig will fix you up.
4. Costume cigarette holder.
5. Rhinestone necklace and earring set. In Gilda, Rita wore a very simple round diamond necklace, which you can see in the picture below. This rhinestone necklace has the right shape and comes with matching earrings.
Jean Harlow (1911-1937) was the first Hollywood blonde bombshell. Everything about her style was designed to play up her platinum blonde looks: white satin gowns, white furs, white feathers, white diamonds. Even her movie sets were white (furniture, walls, carpet, telephone, everything). It must have been quite a vision for Depression-era audiences.
To channel Harlow, the key things are platinum blonde hair and a slinky white gown. Plus as many accessories as you can manage. The pieces we suggest, from left to right:
1. Platinum blond wig. If you don’t already have Jean Harlow hair, this wig is perfect. The style and color are both great.
2. White 30s style gown. This super slinky dress is perfect for Harlow. If you’d rather go with halter neck, try this or this.
3. White faux-fur stole. This is a really pretty bridal wrap, and long, too (57 inches).
4. Fabulous rhinestone earrings. Very glittery!
5. White evening gloves. These are opera length (22 inches), so they’ll come up over your elbows.
6. Nine row rhinestone bracelet. This is especially key if you’re going to wear the gloves. Actually you’ll want to stack on as many rhinestone bracelets as you can.
Makeup: Jean Harlow had some weird eyebrows. Actually, she didn’t have eyebrows at all: her real ones had been removed, and in their place two impossible-looking arches were drawn on her forehead. Weird.
To get that look without shaving off your eyebrows, you’ll need to apply several layers of makeup to cover up your natural brows. This short video isn’t a tutorial, but it illustrates the process:
There’s a long in-depth tutorial video here, with instructions on doing your hair like Harlow too.
