Happy Halloween!

It's been long time since my last post. Lots of things have happened this year, and not all of them good, I'm sad to say. But more on that later. I hope to have my blog back up and running with more regular posts this winter. So until then, thank you for sticking with me! I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Halloween.

Here is a throw back post to last year with a recap of some of my Halloween outfits.

Originally posted on November 3, 2016.
A very quick for Throwback Thursday! I thought I would share our Halloween costumes from the last couple of years. I don't have pictures of our costumes for this year because our party hasn't happened yet! I know crazy, but this coming weekend was the best time for all our friends to get together. It's going to be awesome. :)

Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf

Bonnie and Clyde

Popeye and a 1920s film star in gray scale

 Charlie Chaplin and my Carol Burnett inspired Gown with the Wind costume.  Photo by Kris Jarrett Photography and Media Production

The last two years our friend's parties have had themes. The first was based on the movie Clue (Cori wasn't able to attend but I went as Mrs. White) and last year was cartoon/comic book characters. We went as Cruella de Vil  from 101 Dalmatians and Zap Brannigan. This year the theme is Joss Universe, so anything or anyone created by Joss Wheden!!!

Photo by Kris Jarrett Photography and Media Production

Halloween Round Up

First, my apologies for the long delay of my post on victory pins. I've been fighting a nasty head cold the last couple days and have not had the energy to work on it. I hate being sick. But as today is Halloween, a holiday that I'm very fond of, I did not want to leave you without some kind of post. I thought a recap of my Halloween costumes and posts from this year and last would be fitting. And quick to put together. :)

So here we go. Last year I had series of posts with pictures of lovely Halloween pin-ups. All class, no trash. You can see them all here. My favorite is still Veronica Lake.

Last year I went as a 1920s silent film star with a little twist. I went in grey scale. Cori went as Popeye. Cori and I also went on a Halloween wine tasting train ride which was lots of fun. You can read about that here.

Last weekend I had two Halloween parties so of course I had to come up with two costumes. I didn't want to wear the same thing twice you know. The first party was on Friday so I went as Rosie the Riveter, which unfortunately I didn't get a picture of. My victory rolls came out really well too. I borrowed Cori's army surplus coveralls, rolled my hair and put on a red bandana. I completed the look with my victory pins. I ended up changing back into this costume on Saturday because it was a lot more comfortable then ..... wait for it....

 .... my curtain costume. "Oh this old thing? I saw it in the window and just had to have it!"

Here's Carol Burnett's version. And a video clip from the Carol Burnett show. I'm not sure it needs any more explanation. :) I made a quick set of curtains out of green crepe - I plan on using the fabric for some future project. Any ideas? Don't look too closely at the hat please! I used cardboard from a cereal box, hot glue and some scrap fabric. Not my best work but it looks OK in the pictures. The dress is my 1860s plaid cotton dress that I rushed to finish for my trip to Gettysburg this past spring.

Oh, and Cori's costume was really awesome too! He went as Charlie Chaplin, something he had always wanted to do. Photos in the post are by my good friend and photographer Kris Jarrett of Kris Jarrett Photography & Media Production. Thanks Kris!

Ok, now I'm off to make a cup of tea and then go back to bed. Boo, stupid cold. :(

Silent Film Star in Grey Scale

Just a quick post today. I wanted to share share with all of you the costume I made for Halloween. I know Halloween was a couple weeks ago, but hey better late then never. My original idea was Betty Boop but I didn't think I could pull off the cartoon look. Some how that idea evolved into the creation you see below - the silent film star in grey scale.

Searching for make up tutorials for this was frustrating at best until I changed my search strategy. I had been searching with the terms 'black and white make up' and the only hits I got were for mimes, zombies, etc. - cool but not very helpful for what I needed. Then I tried 'gray scale' and Ah Ha!

I have to give credit to my friend Becca for her help with the make up. There is no way I could have pulled this off without her. Becca works as a make up artist for a local theater.

Becca working her make up magic!

For my hair I used a ton of setting lotion and some black spray on hair color. I couldn't find any long hair clips so I used a combination of smaller clips and bobby pins to hold my hair in place while it dried. This was my first attempt at finger waves and it proved rather challenging. Looking at several how-tos online the concept looked easy, and after a lot of practice I'm sure it is. However I think this is a hairstyle that is probably easier to do with another person's hair then with your own.

My hair is supper long so only the front sections were set in finger waves. The back portion was pulled back, rolled, and pinned low. I set my hair in the morning and left the clips in for most of the day. I looked pretty silly.

I made the my dress out of some cheap poly-satin, recycled from an older Halloween costume. I followed the directions for Draping a Magic Dance Frock from Dress Making Research. This is a great resource with lots of free patterns. Check it out!

Here is the finished look. I used black sequins for trim and a vintage rhinestone pin to complete the look. It's hard to see in the pictures.

Cori went as Pop Eye. He wore one of his vintage Navy jumpers with a pair of surplus denim work pants.

And just for fun, here are couple costumes from past years. All photos by Kris Jarrett Photography & Media Production.

Bonny and Clyde

Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.

Halloween Train Ride

Towards the end of October, Cori and I took another ride on the Adirondack Scenic Railroad. This time it was wine tasting with a Halloween theme!

We left the Lake Placid station about 5:30pm and headed to Saranac Lake for a brief layover. Along the way we sampled wines from the Swedish Hill and Goose Watch Wineries. I think there were about 50 or 60 people on the train, most were in costumes of some sort. There were the usual witches, vampires, zombies, and an awesome gypsy. A group who dressed as M&Ms and a few other great costumes. My personal favorite was the couple dressed as William and Kate on their wedding day. "Kate" appeared to be enjoying her wine a bit too much. ;)

Cori was a big hit. He worn his newest set of WWII Navy dress blues with a modern navy pea coat and surplus dixi cup hat. This set of blues came with an original Navy issued pea coat, all owned by the same person (Cori was super excited!) but the lining is in need of some repair.  So he wore the modern coat instead. I should note it wasn't as cold as Cori makes it appear in the pictures, we just liked the look of the "popped" collar. Sadly he forgot to bring his sea bag this trip. Oh, well, next time.

I finally got to wear my 1940s suit! Hooray! I purchased it over a year ago from Morning Glorious Vintage. It was this suit that really got me started buying vintage I could wear. I've been collecting vintage and antique odds and ends for what seems like forever, but most pieces are what collectors would call "study pieces." i.e. not wearable or displayable because of condition issues. That's not to say I didn't have wearable items in my size in my collection before, but really, how many opportunities does a person have to wear a 1930s wedding gown or a 1950s prom dress? A suit is practical as well as versatile. When I tried this suit on I knew I couldn't leave the shop without it!

It's made from a light weight brown check wool. The jacket has those classic '40s shoulder pads and great pocket details. The skirt zips up the side and has a little kick pleat in back. I love the skirt so much a drafted a pattern from it and made a skirt for my birthday this spring.

It was a bit cool that day so I paired the suit with a 1940s mink wrap. I also wore a vintage hat with matching green gloves and a maple leaf rhinestone pin. The purse is alligator (I don't think its real but certainly looks it) that I picked up this spring.

While rummaging around for my gloves I found a this little treasure - a beautiful Art Deco enamel and silver compact complete with original powder puff and a bit of face powder. Don't worry, I didn't actually use the make-up! I picked it up years ago but had completely forgotten about it. I know, how could I?

Art Deco compact

Cori was excited for the wine .... but was sad he had to wait. We had a great time and plan to do this again next year!

One of our souvenir wine glasses!

The train station was all decked out for Halloween but it was really too dark inside to take pictures. This was the only one that came out.

Train station in Saranac Lake, NY

Happy Halloween!

Wishing all my followers and fellow bloggers a safe and happy Halloween!

More great Halloween greeting cards and images here and here on Pinterest.

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Dennison's Bogie Book- Source

Halloween Countdown Continues - Cats

Paulette Goddard - Source

Only a few more days to go until Halloween! I went to a friend's costume party over the weekend and had a great time. I will try to share some photos later this week. Until then please enjoy a few more Halloween inspired pin ups.

Today's theme - cats, black cats of course!

Lillian Wells - Source

Source

Joyce Holden - Source

Ava Gardner as a glamorous sparkly witch. Source: Dr. Macro

Halloween Countdown Continues - Witches

Hi everyone. Still continuing the Halloween countdown with some fun vintage images. I hope you are all enjoying theses. Today's Halloween pin up post features several lovely ladies.

There's nothing wicked about these witches! 

Jane Adams and Patricia Alphin - Source

The lovely Nancy Carroll - Source

Martha Vickers - Source

Halloween Pin Ups - Eeek, Bats!

Continuing the Halloween countdown. Today's Halloween pin up post features Lillian Bond and Clara Bow.
Enjoy!

Lillian Bond c. 1935 - Source

Clara Bow - Source

Halloween Pin Ups - June Knight

Continuing the Halloween countdown.
Today's Halloween pin up post features June Knight. Enjoy!

June Knight - Halloween 1938 - Source

Halloween Pin Ups - Dusty Anderson

Continuing the Halloween countdown.
Today's Halloween pin up post features Dusty Anderson. Enjoy!

Dusty Anderson - Halloween 1944 - Source

Dusty Anderson - Source

No Trash, Just Class - Halloween Pin Ups

I love Halloween, don't you? I'm still working out all the detail of my costume for this year. It took me a little while to figure out what I wanted to be and now I just have to figure out how to put it all together! No, I can't tell you what it is. ;)

One of the things that really frustrates me about Halloween are the many, shall we say 'trashy', costumes on the market. What happened to class and creativity? When did Halloween costumes suddenly become "sexy this" or "sassy that?" (Has anyone seen the movie Mean Girls? There is a great scene early on in the movie about Halloween costumes.) Anyway, I was looking through a costume catalog with a friend and was horrified - no really! - by some of the costumes available. Sassy Care Bears and Sexy Gizmo (from the movie Gremlins). Seriously! You can't make this stuff up! And what is worse, many of these costumes are marketed towards kids. Ugh ...

My personal feeling, if you're going to put on a short skirt and high heels for a costume, at least to it with some class. So with that in mind, in the days leading up to one of my favorite holidays, I'll be sharing some images of when short costumes still left something to the imagination.

Over the next week I'll be sharing some classic Halloween inspired pin ups. Sound good? :)

Today's featured Halloween beauty is non other than Betty Grable! 

Betty Grable - Halloween 1935 - Source

Betty Grable - Halloween 1935 Source