So, as all of you should know, Halloween is my favourite holiday of all time. ALL TIME.
It definitely goes back to when I was a little kid and my brother and I would go to my grandparents' house immediately after school every October 31st. There we would have pancakes, or something else that wasn't typically a supper food, and watch Halloween movies until it was finally time to get ready to go trick or treating. My cousin, my brother, and I would all get into our costumes while my grandmother would get into her's. She was always a clown, or a nun, or a witch, but she dressed up every, single year. She loved Halloween that much. We would leave my grandfather in charge of the candy bowl [he had a system that was, 'this candy I don't like for you, two of these candies I do like for me'] and we would go all over their neighbourhood. After exhaustion and sore feet set in, we'd go back to Nana's house and eat as much candy as possible before my parents arrived so we could all watch the fireworks the neighbours always set off. Of course, Grampy always helped us 'sort' the candy, which usually meant taking stuff we didn't like for himself.
I loved it so much that even after I stopped trick or treating I'd still go to my grandparents' and get ready and hang out until it was time to go to a party, or explore the local small pox hospital.
I still love Halloween. That's why I thought I'd be totally disappointed by London. Everyone I talked to said it wasn't a big deal, that no one really celebrated it. It's for kids, you'll never find a costume, you'll never find anything to do.
Pfft.
I wasn't not going to celebrate Halloween. Bonfire Night with its fireworks and creepy burning of Guy Fawkes: The Doll Version wasn't going to cut it. So, I did some searching and found that, yes, there were going to be bars celebrating Halloween. Excellent. Even if it was just me and a bunch of Americans, this was going to happen.
I wanted to go as Velma from Scooby Doo, but clothes in England are insanely expensive. I really didn't think I'd wear a red, £50 mini skirt enough to justify the price tag, so I decided to be a cheater and purchase a costume.
First I had to learn the lingo. For some reason, dressing up in costume is referred to as 'fancy dress'. Costume shops are fancy dress shops. The first couple of google map searches were pretty frustrating because I didn't want fancy dresses, which in my mind were things you'd wear on New Year's Eve. I wanted a costume.
Once I figured it out, I wrote down directions to the easiest one to get to [a tube station with one entrance/exit and a fancy dress shop on the same street as said tube station] I set off to Escapade. I admit, I did leave costume shopping to the last second. Everyone kept saying it wasn't a huge deal, so I left it until October 28th.
The shop had a queue that went down the street and into the road. I am not even joking.
It took 20 minutes to get into the shop.
The shop itself was packed, costumes were everywhere. They had three changing rooms. I grabbed a very inaccurate skeleton costume and got in line. I should have worn leggings and a tank top because then I could have changed in front of the mirror instead of waiting an hour for a changing room.
Escapade's website had a Freddie Mercury costume, but it was expensive so I was sort of relieved when I couldn't find it in the shop. I don't think I would have been able to resist it. I debated on getting a Star Trek costume, or maybe a superhero costume... The male versions. I super wasn't in the mood to be Daughter of Wolverine or Ironette [not even kidding, that was the name of the costume] when I could be the 'real' thing, except with boobs.
I put my male costumes back when I heard the shop employees discussing the sizing. It went by height. Apparently, a large was for someone over six feet. Smalls were in short supply, and the costumes were made so generously there was no way I'd find someone small enough for a five feet, two inches person. Especially at the last second.
But, back to the changing room situation. It was pretty ridiculous. You were allowed to take three costumes in with you. Two girls decided to take their friends into their dressing room so they could try on more costumes. Then, their friends would be their gophers and go grab more. These girls had dozens of costumes in the changing rooms and in the hallway outside. The whole time the changing room attendant sat there with a stunned, or stoned [or both], face on, pretending not to notice what was very clearly going on. After 45 minutes, an Italian guy, tired of waiting, leaned into the changing area and shouted, "Hurry it up bitches, it's a piece of fabric and a zipper. Move it!" Hilarious. The accent said 'Italian', but the phrasing said 'I watch a lot of American television'. He was my new best friend [confirmed when it was finally my turn to try on my costume and he went, 'Good luck, beautiful!'].
Anyway, the skeleton costume lights up. The heart isn't shaped like a real heart, sadly, it's a romantic heart. It's not protected by the chest plate, they made the chest plate smaller and sort moved it between the ribs. Otherwise you wouldn't see it flash. I already broke it once because my boobs attacked the lighting system when I put it on. Luckily, I fixed it. The costume itself makes me look a little pregnant because I needed a small but they didn't have any more.
But none of that matters. Because I have a costume, and tomorrow night is Halloween!
I can't wait.
<3 Jade
It definitely goes back to when I was a little kid and my brother and I would go to my grandparents' house immediately after school every October 31st. There we would have pancakes, or something else that wasn't typically a supper food, and watch Halloween movies until it was finally time to get ready to go trick or treating. My cousin, my brother, and I would all get into our costumes while my grandmother would get into her's. She was always a clown, or a nun, or a witch, but she dressed up every, single year. She loved Halloween that much. We would leave my grandfather in charge of the candy bowl [he had a system that was, 'this candy I don't like for you, two of these candies I do like for me'] and we would go all over their neighbourhood. After exhaustion and sore feet set in, we'd go back to Nana's house and eat as much candy as possible before my parents arrived so we could all watch the fireworks the neighbours always set off. Of course, Grampy always helped us 'sort' the candy, which usually meant taking stuff we didn't like for himself.
I loved it so much that even after I stopped trick or treating I'd still go to my grandparents' and get ready and hang out until it was time to go to a party, or explore the local small pox hospital.
I still love Halloween. That's why I thought I'd be totally disappointed by London. Everyone I talked to said it wasn't a big deal, that no one really celebrated it. It's for kids, you'll never find a costume, you'll never find anything to do.
Pfft.
I wasn't not going to celebrate Halloween. Bonfire Night with its fireworks and creepy burning of Guy Fawkes: The Doll Version wasn't going to cut it. So, I did some searching and found that, yes, there were going to be bars celebrating Halloween. Excellent. Even if it was just me and a bunch of Americans, this was going to happen.
I wanted to go as Velma from Scooby Doo, but clothes in England are insanely expensive. I really didn't think I'd wear a red, £50 mini skirt enough to justify the price tag, so I decided to be a cheater and purchase a costume.
First I had to learn the lingo. For some reason, dressing up in costume is referred to as 'fancy dress'. Costume shops are fancy dress shops. The first couple of google map searches were pretty frustrating because I didn't want fancy dresses, which in my mind were things you'd wear on New Year's Eve. I wanted a costume.
Once I figured it out, I wrote down directions to the easiest one to get to [a tube station with one entrance/exit and a fancy dress shop on the same street as said tube station] I set off to Escapade. I admit, I did leave costume shopping to the last second. Everyone kept saying it wasn't a huge deal, so I left it until October 28th.
The shop had a queue that went down the street and into the road. I am not even joking.
It took 20 minutes to get into the shop.
The shop itself was packed, costumes were everywhere. They had three changing rooms. I grabbed a very inaccurate skeleton costume and got in line. I should have worn leggings and a tank top because then I could have changed in front of the mirror instead of waiting an hour for a changing room.
Escapade's website had a Freddie Mercury costume, but it was expensive so I was sort of relieved when I couldn't find it in the shop. I don't think I would have been able to resist it. I debated on getting a Star Trek costume, or maybe a superhero costume... The male versions. I super wasn't in the mood to be Daughter of Wolverine or Ironette [not even kidding, that was the name of the costume] when I could be the 'real' thing, except with boobs.
I put my male costumes back when I heard the shop employees discussing the sizing. It went by height. Apparently, a large was for someone over six feet. Smalls were in short supply, and the costumes were made so generously there was no way I'd find someone small enough for a five feet, two inches person. Especially at the last second.
But, back to the changing room situation. It was pretty ridiculous. You were allowed to take three costumes in with you. Two girls decided to take their friends into their dressing room so they could try on more costumes. Then, their friends would be their gophers and go grab more. These girls had dozens of costumes in the changing rooms and in the hallway outside. The whole time the changing room attendant sat there with a stunned, or stoned [or both], face on, pretending not to notice what was very clearly going on. After 45 minutes, an Italian guy, tired of waiting, leaned into the changing area and shouted, "Hurry it up bitches, it's a piece of fabric and a zipper. Move it!" Hilarious. The accent said 'Italian', but the phrasing said 'I watch a lot of American television'. He was my new best friend [confirmed when it was finally my turn to try on my costume and he went, 'Good luck, beautiful!'].
Anyway, the skeleton costume lights up. The heart isn't shaped like a real heart, sadly, it's a romantic heart. It's not protected by the chest plate, they made the chest plate smaller and sort moved it between the ribs. Otherwise you wouldn't see it flash. I already broke it once because my boobs attacked the lighting system when I put it on. Luckily, I fixed it. The costume itself makes me look a little pregnant because I needed a small but they didn't have any more.
But none of that matters. Because I have a costume, and tomorrow night is Halloween!
I can't wait.
<3 Jade
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