Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Halloween 2021


Thought I'd share what the kids wore on Halloween. The oldest no longer dresses up to go Trick-or-Treating, and prefers instead to hand out candy at the door, welcoming the neighborhood kids and admiring their costumes. It's so much fun to see the tiny princesses and puppies and dinosaurs and superheroes and bioluminescent sea creatures come toddling up the walkway, with their parents a prudent arm's length behind, smiling proudly. We love the handmade costumes especially - and I'm always doubly impressed when these handmade wonders are also toasty warm. It brings up memories of sewing for my own kids, when I was inordinately obsessed with protecting them from hypothermia. There was always the danger of the additional insulation compromising the overall aesthetic of the final product, with everyone possibly looking like the Michelin Man instead of a princess, or fairy, or whatever fantasy creature they'd hoped to be. 

In recent years, my two younger girls have been making costumes for themselves and a neighbor with whom they do the candy circuit as a themed group. They know they're a little overage, and they assure me it's more about the dressing up with a friend than the snagging of sweets. On my part, I am well aware that their Trick-or-Treating days are numbered, and I marvel at how those years of manic October sewing, when my sewing room would be a disaster zone of satin and organza and fleece and sequins, and which I was convinced were never-ending, were so fleeting in hindsight. Friends who have Little Ones, I tell you now as an Old Parent: take photos. Take lots of photos, and enjoy the mania. For one, it's acutely temporary. For another, it's good practice for when those same Little Ones are Teenagers and Young Adults and Soon-To-Be-Marrieds. Those outfits are going to require higher-stakes work, and you'll be glad for the dry runs that were the Halloween costumes of yore.

Anyway, this past Halloween, two of my girls were frogs. They tell me that these particular outfits, which Kate designed and made, are more interpretative than literal. There are hats (which we bought online so as to save time instead of sewing them from scratch like we did the year before) to which Kate added puffy eyes and facial features; T-shirts with a subtle black-felt fly glued on, and tutus, which we made together.


Here they are, just before heading out on their rounds. 


Interestingly, their hats turned out to be versatile beyond just Halloween. Some days after, during a swim meet, the athletes who were not on the roster for the day dressed up as Disney princesses in support of their teammates. Jenna turned up with her frog hat as her only piece of costumewear and when asked whom she was impersonating, she replied, "Tiana - as a frog". Hee!


3 comments:

  1. Those are fun costumes, and I always love when they get used for something else in the future! My oldest hands out treats now, too, but this year the other three all went. Their years are numbered, though, even for the youngest. I'm betting child #2 and possibly even child #3 won't go at all after this year.

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  2. I miss making costumes for my kids, & none of the grands are interested in making any, which is a bummer

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  3. I remember the fleece mermaids! They're so grown-up now!

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