Ukrainian Dancer, Age 11

I told you it would get worse.

Spanish Dancer, Age 10

…so…my sister went as a Spanish Dancer the year before, and I thought she was really pretty, and I decided to have a go at it.

Oh don’t worry. It gets worse. Much much worse.

Phantom of the Opera, Age 9

After seeing The Phantom of the Opera in Toronto (with Colm Wilkinson, eeeeEEEEeeee) I just *had* to go as The Phantom for Halloween. I even wore a bald cap and had makeup on my face under the mask.

Geisha Girl, Age 8

I had this beautiful and heart-warming story about the creation of this costume but eeek I am just too busy with this year’s Halloween costume(s) so it’ll have to wait until later!

Edit: Alrighty – time to type! I was (am) a fan of The Mikado, and badly wanted to go as one of the characters. Initially I wanted to be Katisha, but her hairstyle was just a bit too much to rock. So Yum Yum it was! I remember the extensive planning my mom went through to make this costume; we went to the library and she checked out a bunch of clothing and costume books, she watched, paused and made notes about different sections of The Mikado movie, and somehow she made a geisha hairstyle out of an old witches wig (that had to be greatly altered).

I think I wore blueish-purple gloves when I went out at night. All of our Halloween costumes were made big enough to accompany snowsuits underneath, as most Halloweens in Ontario were cold and/or snowy.

Darth Vader, Age 7

A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, before there was Star Wars I-III, digital re-mastery or the idea that you can show the same film in theatres again and again year after year, I loved Star Wars, and loved Darth Vader. I’ll still always love the original movies, where the main special effects were done with models and puppets and you see a final Rebel celebration on a moon of Endor (and not throughout the entire galaxy). When I dressed up as Darth in grade 2, none of the kids knew who I was, but all the grown-ups did. My uncle did a great job making my helmet. This costume was based on Vader from Star Wars IV, so the helmet eyes were slightly tinted red, as was seen in the movie (I think the helmet eyes always had a bit of a red tint, but it’s most noticeable in the lighting conditions in IV).

Skunk, Age 6

My beloved skunk costume, with its oh-so-fluffy tail. This was my costume for grade one – I remember our (fantastic) teacher dressed up as an old man and tried to fool us all, but…we figured it out (thanks to a lot of screaming and finger pointing).

Skeleton, Ages 4 and 5

Did I mention that the skeleton costume glowed in the dark? It glowed in the dark. (I never put on glow-in-the-dark makeup up, but I drew it this way, just for kicks). I remember being in kindergarten and being in the little kindergarten Halloween march around different classrooms – and in one class, one older, dressed as a pirate, pointed me out and said “Hey, lookit the skeleton! Cool!” …good times, good times.

Skeleton, Ages 4 and 5

One of my most awesome costumes, that was later revisited in life, and was anatomically correct (unlike the drawing you see here). My mom made every single one of my costumes, up until a few years ago, and she excelled at the skeleton get-ups, making sure all dem bones were accurate.