Every year I look forward to the Halloween season for many reasons: candy, classic horror movies, pumpkins, gorgeous weather etc, but maybe my favorite aspect of October is the opportunity to dress up my dogs (I'm not so sure they love it, but they love the treats that come along with the dressing up.) In the past they have been the Three Musketeers:
flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz:
and Teen Wolf Pug and Puggie Krueger
to name just a few. This year I had no problem deciding on a costume theme. As ever Star Trek fan knows it's our favorite franchises 50th anniversary.
So Star Trek costumes where a must, but I didn't just want plain old Star Trek uniforms for the dogs, being a crazy die hard trekkie I wanted something a little more special. I decided I wanted the costumes to be a tribute to one of my favorite episodes of the Original Series: Mirror, Mirror.
In this iconic episode the crew gets accidentally transported into an alternate universe, where everything is a bit different. Instead of a peace loving ship of exploration, the Enterprise is a war ship and the Federation is working to take over the galaxy. Characters who where friends are now mortal enemies and you move up the ranks by assassinating your superiors. So none of that is great, BUT the uniforms in the Mirror universe are fab! I'm in love with the gold lame
I decided it would be fun to dress Weasley, Fry, Ping and Mr. Tuvok up as Star Trek Mirror Universe characters. (Note: Bob will have none of this costume nonsense.) Since I can't sew I turned to Deb of Pug Possessed to make the costumes and despite never having watched Star Trek she did an amazing job. Here posing alongside the Star Trek Book of Costumes are the pups in their stellar costumes: Weasley, looking manly as Mirror Universe Captain Kirk:
Fry oozing intelligence as Mirror Universe Commander Spock:
seductive Ping as Mirror Universe Lieutenant Uhura:
and finally, Mr. Tuvok is dressed as a personal guard. Personal guard's are the crewman in the episode who run around trying to stop their employer from being assassinated. Perhaps part of Tuvok's confusion and discomfort in this costume stemmed from the fact that I didn't whether he was working for Weasley or Fry.
The whole crew:
Aren't they adorable? Deb did such a wonderful job on these costumes I just can't get over it. The tragedy is that the pet Halloween event we usually attend was rained out and I have yet to find an alternative event in Jersey City. We used to go to the party at our favorite pet store Canis Minor, but it's gone out of business. So sadly the only place the pups have to wear these fabulous uniforms is in our home! I guess we will have to use the costumes again next year. Live Long and Prosper!
I've written before of my penchant for Besame lipsticks. I wore lipstick before discovering Besame two years ago, but I didn't care about it much and I was never brand loyal. Today, however, I'm a total Besame convert. I'd never wear anything else.
Besame is the only modern make up company with a true commitment to replacating the glamourous looks of the past, and they do an amazing job of it. Each of their shades is based on actual vintage lipsticks and is named for the year that inspired it. Unsurprisingly, given their vintage aesthetic, there are plenty of red shades in the line,
and several lovely non-reds too.
Another wonderful thing about Besame is that unlike a lot of other vintage repro companies that seem perennially stuck in the 50s, Besame regularly explores earlier eras. Their latest shade is a perfect example. Besame Blood Red 1922 is an absolutely gorgeous color that really captures the flapper era. It's a beautiful red that the company website describes as looking like "a freshly bitten lip." They also describe it as the "deepest red for the ultimate flapper", and while I agree it has a deepness too it, the very thing I love about this shade is that it's not too dark. Previously when sporting 20s looks I usually wore their Noir Red, a a dark plum 1920s shade that while pretty, I find too dark for my complexion. Enter Blood Red and my flapper lipstick dilemma is solved.
The shade definitely works well with 20s looks and is very pretty worn in the cupids bow fashion of the era. The triangular shape of Besame lipsticks makes it very easy even for make up klutzes like myself to draw on a cupids bow, a la Clara Bow, no liner required.
I was a bit surprised when I first saw the brush because its much thicker then any other lip brush I've ever used. However, since you can use the edges of Besame lipsticks as liner the thicker brush makes sense. You paint on a coat of lipstick after lining your lips and the brush does an excellent job of applying the color smoothly.
Blood Red may be advertised as a 1922 shade but as any reader of this blog knows, I'm not loyal to any particular vintage era. I've been wearing Blood Red nearly daily this October and I've found that it works equally well with 1930s
and 1950s looks.
Of course most importantly of all Besame does not test any of their cosmetics at any level production on animals so you can wear their lipstick guilt free. Blood Red retails for $22 on the Besame website, which may sounds like a lot when compared to drugstore lipsticks but the quality can't be beat and the shades last forever. I have tubes from two years ago of Besame shades that are nearly full despite regular wear. Do yourself a favor and if you plan to buy a lipstick this fall, make it Besame Blood Red, after all what color could be more perfect for the Halloween season!
As I'm someone who loves to dress up and adores old horror films, it should come as no surprise that Halloween is my favorite holiday, (with Christmas a close second.)
I celebrate the dress up aspect of Halloween all year, but I still decided that I wanted a Halloween costume, not one that was too costumey, and preferably one from the 1920s. I am firmly convinced that the 1920s and 30s were the golden era of Halloween costumes. Beautiful paper dresses,many hand made, with charming appliqués where popular.
Witches, bats, cat's, jesters and clowns where all common themes.
These enterprising young ladies transferred themselves into gorgeous spider webs:
and some pin ups apparently stuck with their swim suits, and the ubiquitous pointy cap:
Still one of the most popular halloween looks in the 20s and 30s was a simple dress with Halloween themed cut outs, as worn by this charming lady (I love that her cat is in the photo).
This type of dress is what I wanted for myself and what I found last year from the amazing Etsy shop Guermantes Vintage, she specializes in rare items from the 20s and 30s and is a bit of an expert in Halloween dresses and costumes. My costume is a beautiful witch dress. These photos are from last year, when I had the blog on hiatus. My dear husband is very sweet about taking pictures but I wanted to give him a break as these pictures from last year are just fine, and of course I plan to wear the dress quite a bit this October. I don't wear it as a costume, I just wear it about (and yes I wear it to work too.)
It's not paper but its some kind of shiny fabric with a big pilgrim collar and paper cat cut outs.
It's meant to be one size fits all so its quite loose and I cinch it with a black ribbon at the waist.
Rather then that pointy 20s dunce cap/witch hat I added a pretty fall floral clip from Chatter Blossom.
I also pinned on a black cat brooch from Mrs. Polly's lucite. (Sadly my cat has lost one of his eyes, but I've decided that just makes him match up with one of my favorite Edgar Allan Poe stories so its all good.)
The best thing about this dress though is that it reminds me of one of my favorite films. The silent classic, Haxan, from 1922. It was made as a documentary but is really a horror film and exploration into the history of witch craft. It contains some of the most beautiful , and spooky, images every captured on film.
Haxan can be viewed in its entirety on you tube and also Hulu. It's a cinematic classic that has had a profound influence on film making. The critically acclaimed 2015 film The Witch definitely owes a debt to Haxan.
Today marks the 130th anniversary of silent film star Buster Keaton
Keaton shaped the film industry like the few other stars have and his early films are cinematic landmarks filled with clever ideas and innovations. Keaton wrote most of his own films and directed many of them. Unsurprisingly many of the first films ever made where horror films, but Keaton's The Haunted House is not a typical spook story, Keaton was too clever for anything typical.
Instead Keaton plays a hapless bank teller
who get's tangled up with bank robbers, winds up on the wrong side of his crooked boss,
and seeks refuge in a spooky old house
where a theatre troupe is rehearsing a production of Faust.
The film was directed by frequent Keaton collaborator Joseph M. Schenck and costarred Virgina Fox, who appeared in several Keaton films.
The entire film runs only 21 minutes and is a delightful example of early horror comedy. You can view it in its entirety in the you tube link below.
It's been a long time since I shared a film strip Friday post with an educational film strip, but with it being back to school season this seemed the perfect time. Here is Let's Be Good Citizens at School from 1953!
I really love my hair stylist. She's right in my neighborhood and is the first stylist I've ever been loyal too, before I went to super cuts in the mall, but now I'd never go anywhere else. Sharon is kind and totally supportive of my vintage hair thing. She's also a bit of a miracle worker. She managed to magic the green out of my hair this weekend. Best of all she's a dog lover and her salon, Artistic Hair, is very dog friendly. Mr. Tuvok accompanied me to my Saturday appointment.
He was very calm sitting in my lap throughout the appointment and like me he was pleased with the results: a brunette bob.
Sometime's I think we don't know whats best for ourselves. I love short curly vintage styles and dream of 40s victory rolls, but I think the bob suits me best. I think I'll keep it, for awhile.
