Happy Halloweek!

With a week to go until Halloween I couldn't resist the orders from the blog overlords any longer. So without further ado herewith kindly peruse your baby blues on part one of a two part kooky kompendium -- a scary 70s sampling if you will -- of Halloween costumes from years past.

How better to start this celebration of Halloween dressupedness than with a picture not from Halloween! Although it's possible this was also my All Hallow's Eve get-up that year I just had to include this photo of me as a hometown city landmark, the Nanaimo Bastion, from a 1974 city centennial parade. I don't remember much of the event ( I was only 5 or 6 ) but I do recall that the parade either started or ended at the local arena and that this fine cardboard and crepe paper construction of my Mom's won me a pair of blue jeans from the event sponsors.

Dig those crazee decorated bikes in the background.
On to October 1977 and the period of my life that was one big blur known as "The Star Wars Years" ( hmmm... I see a possible television series here! ). On the left is my sister as a surprisingly sad looking clown, starting a Halloween tradition of looking bored when having her picture taken next to me. On the right is our 9 year old hero garbed in a completely handmade Jawa costume, including authentic touches such as a Cub Scout belt ( with binocular case ) and Lucasfilm authorized Adidas sneakers and blue jeans ( not the pair I won in the first picture though ). My mom made the basic outfit and the cloth chest belts, but I constructed the headgear / cowl part. Be sure to enlarge the photo to see the penlight flashlights I installed to replicate the Jawa's glowing eyes using twelve feet of completely unnoticeable masking tape.

....and today's final foto finds my sister ( garbed as a princess in the remnants of our mom's wedding dress ) once again looking ecstatically happy in this 1979 photoshoot taken in the exotic wilds of our front yard ( notice new gravel driveway! ). I, on the other hand, decided to depart from the by now passe' Star Wars milieu with this Galactic-Space-Warrior-Hero-Good-Guy-Fightin'-Disco-Glam themed outfit. "How can I create such a stunningly dated, yet impressively goofy costume?" you ask yourself. Here's a checklist for materials ( you may require a time-machine to pick up some of these ) ...

- One silver metallic flake motorcycle helmet with face shield
- One shiny silver motorcycle style jacket turned backwards
- One piece of brown corduroy cut in the shape of the G.S.W.H.G.G.F.D.G. insignia
- One grey cloth cape ( get your mom to sew this )
- Grey cord pants
- Brown snow boots
- Star Wars "Three Position Laser Rifle" ( okay, I couldn't completely abandon the fact I was in the middle of "the Star Wars Years".)

Unbelievably I won a prize in a costume contest at our local Library for this outfit. No jeans though. What a rip!

Up next.... gorillas and ghosties and kittens - oh my!