The Glamazone: Halloween Season Review

Hey y'all! This past Halloween was a crazy one! There were a slew of parties I was invited to (as usual), but it also seemed like there were more parties this year due to Halloween falling on a Thursday. Some people (and companies) opted to have their parties on the weekend before Halloween while others decided to wait until Halloween night and the following Friday and Saturday.nights. What did this all mean for me? Besides attending a Halloween event with Snooki and J Woww from MTV's "Jersey Shore" featuring contestants from various seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race, and doing a show at the legendary Stonewall Inn between all of this, I had to come up with a few different costumes! I also try not to repeat costumes ( I've only repeated a costume once in 15 years!) so this year was going to be interesting. Among all of this chaos came the annual problem: where to find good costumes in plus sizes.

In the past I've gotten costumes from Torrid and a few other places, but a lot of places are online and I typically have to order them well in advance so that I have time to try them on and to get the proper accessories with them. It seems that every year the options for big girls become fewer and fewer, so this year I decided to take matters into my own hands! I broke out my sketchbook, took out my colored pencils, and drew some ideas. Next, I went to the garment district here in New York City and bought fabric from some stores, and finally made stops at Michael's and JoAnn Fabrics for some pieces to accent my main costume this year. With all of the materials not in my possession, I began the process of sewing and making my own costume. It took a few days and the process was tedious, frustrating, and downright annoying, but it was all worth it in the end. There were plenty of moments when I cussed my sewing machine and when I felt like giving up, but once I had a comfortable and good looking costume, I felt quite accomplished! I was the superhero I always considered being for Halloween and I was pretty sure that I would be the only plus sized version of this lady at most events I went to. One of my other costumes included me wearing a lace top from Rainbow and lace leggings from Lane Bryant along with red gauntlets and a matching belt made by a friend. I put this all together with half of a Freddy Kruger mask glued to my face to make a commentary about beauty. This costume went over well and ended up spawning an idea for a performance for the Stonewall Inn drag show. Halloween is now a week behind us, so now what? A word of advice: This is the time to go stores and online and buy costumes! Almost all of them will be reduced (some up to 70% off) and those pop up stores try to get rid of as much as possible so that it's less to pack up. This is also the best time to load up on all of those accessories, temporary hair color (spray), and other products! This will probably be the last weekend to do such things since many stores and companies have already rolled out their Xmas holiday displays and sales. Happy shopping and remember, if they don't have it in your size, you can always make it (if you have the time and patience!). Until next time. Remember, being beautiful is not only about what you wear!

Sasha