Powered by Google
Home
Listings
Editors' Picks
News
Music
Movies
Food
Life
Arts + Books
Rec Room
Moonsigns
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Personals
Adult Personals
Classifieds
Adult Classifieds
- - - - - - - - - - - -
stuff@night
FNX Radio
Band Guide
MassWeb Printing
- - - - - - - - - - - -
About Us
Contact Us
Advertise With Us
Work For Us
Newsletter
RSS Feeds
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Webmaster
Archives



sponsored links
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
PassionShop.com
Sex Toys - Adult  DVDs - Sexy  Lingerie


   
  E-Mail This Article to a Friend

Cowgirls and starlets and hipsters — oh my!
Every day is Halloween in the world of fashion
BY NINA SCHWARTZ

I never had good Halloween costumes. I peaked at age four with my princess-bunny-ballerina get-up, and it was downhill from there. One year I was a "scary witch," complete with green face, broom, and black leggings. When I was 10 and everyone dressed up as hippies, my mother, spooked that her past had become my parody, insisted I be a beatnik instead, which would have been fine had any of my fellow fifth-graders understood just why I was playing the bongos. One year my friends and I were the cast of Popeye — and I was the can of spinach, enrobed in a tube of green oak-tag with a crepe-paper hat. Obviously, I’m still working through the pain.

But now that I’m an adult, I can take matters into my own hands. I have the means, the motor skills, and the desire. So what are the trends? This season, the stores are showing three costumes to be worn to work, to class, to a party, or out trick-or-treating. It’s your choice, because every day is Halloween.

Ride ’em, cowgirl. That’s right, cowpokes. Saddle up the hoss and polish your spurs, because the Old West is back on the East Coast. Nothing says cowgirl like a sturdy pair of Wrangler jeans, and the Western Wear line ($39.50) is available at Rick Walkers. At Urban Outfitters, you can find the matching plaid shirt ($38), with snaps down the front and snap-shut pockets, available in peach, brown, and blue. Urban also has a raffia cowboy hat ($36) and Levi Strauss brown leather belts ($32) with a buckle the size of your fist. But it’s Mudo that has the pièce de résistance: Jeffrey Campbell cowboy boots ($169) in white leather and brown and black suede, etched and stitched and steel-tipped.

Dry martini, dahling. Nothing is more romantic and fantastic than the golden days of Hollywood. Marilyn Monroe, Bette Davis, Greta Garbo — all impossibly beautiful, glamorous, and costume-worthy. First and foremost, you’ll need eyeliner, curlers, and fake eyelashes, which can be found at Hootenanny for mere dollars. Then slip on a satin silver dress ($168) with a plunging neckline from Banana Republic, wrap yourself in the store’s faux-fur pull-through ($48) in black, and fasten it with one of its sparklingly splendid ’40s-inspired brooches ($38–$45). Slide (or shove) your dainty feet into a pair of Chinese Laundry Juno satin heels ($50) with a rhinestone buckle in black, pearl, or pink, slap on your Chopard rhinestone-and-alligator watch ($58), available at Jasmine Sola, grab your Isaac Mizrahi lace clutch ($14.99) from Target, and you’re ready for your close-up.

Hipster heaven. Halloween is a genderless holiday, and guys make great hipsters — a look that’s low maintenance, potentially inexpensive, and relatively easy to achieve. Start with a pair of vintage jeans, available at virtually any secondhand shop, though I’d recommend the Garment District. The jeans must be straight-legged and tight, but make sure to leave a little something to the imagination. While you’re there, find an appropriately irreverent and pop-culturally relevant vintage T-shirt, like an old (tight) Clash concert T or some kid’s D.A.R.E. shirt from 15 years ago. Then grab a pair of Converse Chuck Taylors ($38) from Urban Outfitters, and slip on either an old necktie or a blazer. Elbow pads = bonus points, and J. Crew has your suede-patched houndstooth answer ($248). Put on an air of insolent nonchalance, and you’ve got yourself a costume. Or whatever.

Of course, you can’t expect the whole city to realize that you’re in costume all the time, but that’s the beauty part. Plus, you don’t have to worry about anyone dropping raisins or pennies into your big plastic pumpkin.

Where to find it:

• Banana Republic, various locations; www.bananarepublic.com

• Chinese Laundry, various locations; www.chineselaundry.com

• The Garment District, 200 Broadway, Cambridge, (617) 876-5230; www.garmentdistrict.com

• Hootenanny, 36 JFK Street, Cambridge, (617) 864-6623.

• J. Crew, various locations; www.jcrew.com

• Jasmine Sola, 37a Brattle Street, Cambridge, (617) 354-6043; 344 Newbury Street, Boston, (617) 867-4636; www.jasminesola.com

• Mudo, 9 JFK Street, Cambridge, (617) 876-8846; 205 Newbury Street, Boston, (617) 266-7838.

• Rick Walkers, 21 Temple Place, Boston, (617) 482-7426; www.rickwalkers.com

• Target, various locations; www.target.com

• Urban Outfitters, 361 Newbury Street, Boston, (617) 236-0088; 11 JFK Street, Cambridge, (617) 864-0070; www.urbanoutfitters.com


Issue Date: October 22 - 28, 2004
Back to the News & Features table of contents
  E-Mail This Article to a Friend
 









about the phoenix |  advertising info |  Webmaster |  work for us
Copyright © 2005 Phoenix Media/Communications Group