Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Stewardesses and scribes

This year J and I decided we're going to be a Pan Am airline pilot and stewardess from the 1960s for Halloween. Very Catch Me If You Can. At first I was going to buy my costume, but after doing some research I balked at the prices I saw online -- 50 bones for a shiny and ill-fitting polyester sheath?! Please. I'd rather spend that $50 on something I've wanted forever but couldn't justify the purchase of, say this.

Anyway, I went to the fabric store, spent a whopping $13 total on materials and set to work making my costume. I used some artistic license in terms of the costume's conception (i.e., though the Pan Am stewardess of yore were much more stylish than today's flight attendants, they still wore conservative electric blue pencil suits).


Cute, but such is life in Technicolor. Unfortunately we have to deal with modern-day lighting here, people.

So I decided my kind of Pan Am stewardess would wear a white cap-sleeved blouse tucked into a high-waisted electric blue mini skirt, complete with blue pillbox hat, neckerchief, and signature logo patch pinned to chest. Here are my finished pieces:

I can't take credit for the belt (from an old shirt I bought at Forever 21), but the skirt (above) turned out better than I expected.

This is the best I could do with the patch. Kept super-gluing my fingers together by accident so finally just stopped fussing over it.

I'm most happy about the pillbox hat I made from felt (above).Yes, the last time I worked with felt was 1st grade when I ended up eating half my film roll container of paste. But that was another time. I followed Humble Bumble B's video tutorial on ThreadBanger for this design, then added the three white buttons as a detail to tie the whole costume together.

For J's costume he'll be wearing his navy blue suit that he already owns (tricky, tricky, we know), and pilot's hat and pin that we bought for about $10 total at the Halloween store.

We're going up to Manhattan for the weekend to visit one of my good friends and her husband. They just moved into a new apartment very near Central Park and we can't wait to see them. Apparently I've been told we'll be attending a "Liquor Treat" party on Saturday night (costumes required), which already sounds fun. Revelry will undoubtedly ensue. J's never been to NYC, so let's also hope he doesn't get any ideas about finding a legal job there after our weekend jaunt up north.

In other news the animals will be staying here, but I couldn't resist taking hilarious pictures of them in costume:

A disgruntled Lola.

An oblivious Moneypenny.

Spooky.

And finally, NaNoWriMo is almost upon us! Are any of you kiddies going to partake in November's thirty days and nights of literary abandon? If you have no clue what I'm talking about go here, but if you're a participant you can find me under the username "TildonKatz". (As a Mad Men fan you should get that reference. Period.)

I'm pretty much done with the outline for the book I plan to write in November. It's about an ex-Nazi doctor who flees to Buenos Aires after WWII to start a new life as a cab driver under an assumed identity. Riveting, isn't it? Will he overcome his prejudices? Find redemption? Be caught and extradited? Can we ever really "start all over" in our lives, or do our pasts eternally haunt us? All will come to fruition in November in what I've tentatively titled "In the Hall of the Mountain King." Obviously I'll probably be blogging less next month (50,000 words in 30 days scares even me), but I'll keep you updated. The nearly finished manuscript for my first book will be going into a drawer and not looked at till Dec. 1st.

What are you dressing up as for Halloween?

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm incredibly excited for Nano, and jealous that you're outlined! I'm diving in (my 7th year) with two names and a list of karaoke songs.

Tami said...

great outfit! i can't sew to save my life.

Penny said...

Can a nazi find redemption? I don't know...seems like a quagmire...lol I think your costume looks awesome and those poor babies! Moneypenny sure does look funny though.

FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com said...

LOL!!!!

I love that wig on the dog..

hilarious :)

And I LOVED that movie... They looked so elegant and gleamingly cute in their outfits

me in millions said...

I am soo impressed by the sewing and making of the hat. You go girl! That costume is going to look fab!

CKHB said...

What a great costume! I wish I could sew...

I'm currently planning to go as Starbuck from the new Battlestar Galactica.

Stephanie said...

Moneypenny looks hilarious! You did a great job on your costume.

Anonymous said...

You are quite the seamstress! Oh, and there is nothing funnier than a dog in cloths/wigs....hilarious!!

Maritza said...

Costume looks sooo good!! You did a terrific job. =)

Anonymous said...

Super impressed with your costume girl! I might just have to steal that idea for next year...

I'm headed to a couple of parties in a black leotard, shimmer tights and heels with two of my friends as Beyonce's single ladies video. I'm a little terrified, but this isn't the first time I've worn a leotard to a party... my boyfriend is going to be a beet. Yup, a beet. We were up late last night working on the paper mache. I love halloween.

Anonymous said...

Crystal... he really loves Tom Robbins. Thus, the beet :)

Nicole said...

Great job on the costume pieces! I love when people make things themselves.

The animals look hilarious!

Anonymous said...

Did you see that ModCloth sells a Pan Am bag?

SeeJaneGetRich.com said...

Awesome costume. I am going to be a chipotle burrito so I could particpate in the Boo-rito promotion and get a free burrito. I plan to just wrap myself in tin foil.

Acai said...

Costume looks sooo good!!
I love it.

Bloggy Blog Designz said...

This looks amazing!

Anonymous said...

"I Think I'll Be A Jewish/Hezbollah Operative For Halloween":

http://bloggingthecasbah.blogspot.com/2009/10/i-think-ill-be-jewishhezbollah.html

What!?! Oh the irony...

Anonymous said...

do you have any photo of someone wearing the pan am dress?

Kim said...

You're so talented! I could never sew anything like that.

And good luck on NaNoWriMo!

The Depressed Yogi said...

WOW i am SUPER impressed with your sewing abilities!! I want to see pics of you in it!

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