The other day when I was grocery shopping, there was a little boy running around in his Superman costume. He was having a ball fake-flying around, clutching his cape with chubby hands and making it lift in the air behind him. You couldn’t help but smile. And it made me think of my older son, and how he loved his Buzz Lightyear costume so much that he wanted to wear it all the time. One day he insisted on wearing it to a movie, and it wasn’t even the Toy Story movie.
When was the last time you loved wearing a costume so much that you had to wear it all the time?
The answer for me is… I can’t remember. It must have been a long time ago. But I remember one summer in college going to pick up the cute four-year-old girl that I babysat from her day-camp. I had planned for us to have a picnic in the park, and I brought some fun wild hats I thought we could wear, pretending to be grand dames or “ladies who lunch.” But the idea fizzled when she looked at me with raised little eyebrows and said, “um, no thanks.”
And I realized this four-year-old was a lot cooler than me.
She was embarrassed. Which embarrassed me, too. We had a quiet, awkward lunch in the park and then I think she met some cooler babysitters.
In college, I took Costume History, and our teacher pointed out the “costumes” that we put on each day. She singled me out. “For instance, you there, in the overalls and baseball hat. What do these items say about you? What message are you conveying?” All I could think was, clearly, they are giving off the opposite message than intended as I wore both items trying to hide.
The white overalls were on loan from a sorority sister who hadn’t yet asked for them back. She was an artist and they had some paint splatters on them. I liked how they camouflaged (or so I erroneously thought) the extra pounds I’d put on that junior year. And it was the same with the red corduroy baseball cap, also a “loan.” It was easy hair maintenance in not having to wash your hair so often. Just roll out of bed and put the cap on and go to class.
I’m not one to go wearing a costume around town on a whim, but I like to dress up for fun when the occasion calls for it.
Through the years I’ve enjoyed wearing a costume for Halloween or for someone’s costume party. I’m game to throw on a peacock costume while chaperoning second-grade Halloween festivities or be a witch at work. So when it came time to plan my son’s 6-year-old birthday party years ago, I thought it would be fun (and save money) if I dressed as a character. That would be one less character to “rent.”
My son loved Scooby-Doo and I planned a Scooby-Doo-like caper. I hired a Shaggy and a Scooby, both of whom arrived in the Mystery Machine. Our local costume shop had a Daphne dress and wig for rent. And I got my husband to play the villain in our little play. We had the party at a local park, so he would be the Werewolf of the Park.
Parents dropped their kids off and Shaggy, my husband and I greeted them. Then, the plan was for Shaggy, the boys and me to walk through the path in the woods to a small amphitheater. There, Shaggy would entertain the kids with some jokes and balloon animals. Shaggy would say “where’s Scooby?” and talk about how “Oh, no, looks like the Werewolf might have him!” We’d walk back through the path and see the Werewolf and the kids would find and rescue Scooby-Doo. After that, we would head back to the meeting place and have cake and ice cream and dance with Scooby.
Only, there were some inherent flaws in the plan.
First, I didn’t think through the ordeal of taking young boys into the woods without enough chaperones. There was no orderly stroll down the trail to the amphitheater. Once we hit the woods, it was a Where The Wild Things Are/ Lord of the Flies type of scenario. I hurried along trying to corral them, but that was when the second flaw came to light. The Daphne Costume was fun, but I didn’t anticipate the difficulty of navigating the trail in the go-go boots. Shaggy was no help either. He was either a method actor truly in character, or prior to the gig he’d had some chemical inducements for mellowing out. Somehow, we eventually got the boys to take seats for Shaggy’s show.
Meanwhile, my husband was supposed to be putting on his Werewolf costume and hiding in the woods. I had gotten him some fake teeth, some hairy/clawed hands, and a mullet wig. He decided to ditch the clawed hands and just used the teeth and wig. Wearing a Titans tee-shirt, he found a spot to hide behind a tree. That’s about the time a family came walking along and a little girl starting crying: “Daddy, Daddy, there’s a scary man hiding behind that tree!”
Third miscalculation: if you hide behind a tree in the park in a mullet wig and bad teeth…people are going to assume you are up to no good.
Now the play had turned into a meta event as Bill really was the lone Werewolf in the park trying to skulk around so as not to be seen by other innocent victims. At this point, Shaggy and the boys and I were headed back through the woods when one of the Mohicans — who had laser-like vision — spotted Bill through the woods and yelled, “There he is! The Werewolf!”
All the kids clambered over the hill to him and started hitting him, grabbing him, and yelling “We got you!” All’s well that ends well, and we did go back to the picnic tables where Scooby met us. Coincidentally, the park issued a rule not long after our event that no more parties would be allowed in that section of the park.
I guess there is something about putting on a costume,
I came home from a recent event telling my husband about a girl who was there selling Butterfly Crowns, and how I want to get one. “When would one wear a Butterfly Crown?” was his measured response. “Any ole time!” I told him. The girl said she had worn one and realized how regal it made her feel, and so now she makes them for other people.
They are beautiful, and I like the vision of a sprite-like figure in the colorful crown. I’m going to get one to wear around my room, or maybe for a Creativity Crown for writing. Or, who knows? Maybe you’ll see me strutting around the grocery store in mine. Because when’s the last time I wore a costume just because I felt like it? Too long…
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To see my last post, an interview with polo player and artist Lexie Armstrong, click here: Riding and Creating with Lexie Armstong
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