This came about mostly because I had the right length hair to pull it off. In other words, a rather short pixie cut. With some ample hair spray and a curling iron, I was able to get the Betty Boop hairdo down perfect. Spit curls take a little bit of practice as you don’t use the curling iron just hair spray and your finger to form the curl to your face.

Next is the make-up. Very pale foundation and powder. Fake eyelashes or some really really good mascara. Define your eyebrows more to try to get that long thin 1930s look. If you are super serious you can get special eyebrow paste that covers your natural eyebrows to make it flat and smooth, then apply foundation to hide it and re-draw a thin pencil eyebrow. This is how the movies do it now without shaving an actresses real eyebrows as they did in the 30s. Next is the signature bow lips that Betty has. While this is too exaggerated for everyday ,it is perfect for Halloween. Use foundation to “hide” the sides of your lips. Then use a lip pencil and lipstick to make a smaller round bow style lips that come out slightly from your natural lip line.

Other important items are of course the accessories to add that little extra touch. In this case, the big hoop earrings. I believe I got these at Claire’s in the mall.

For the outfit you can really wear almost anything as nowadays Betty has been seen in almost every style of clothes. I went for the traditional short black dress with thin straps, black fishnets and a garter. The garter was a bit of an issue to find as I wanted black. Sometimes you can find white ones for weddings at Walmart in their DIY wedding isle. Even Victoria’s Secret didn’t have any garters. I ended up having to call one of those “adult” shops and asking if they sold them and going to get it there. It was inexpensive and the place was not bad as it was designed for women. If you plan ahead you can buy them online easily, or hand dye the easier to find white wedding garters.

Strangely enough, roughly ten year before that I was also a flapper. When I was a kid my mom made me a red tunic dress with red and white fringe along the skirt. All my friends were flappers also and we went around trick-or-treating as a group. Candy cigarettes in holders no less.

Anywho, this time around I wanted something a little more sophisticated. And went to my go-to thrift store at the time and looked around. I lovely this place! Right near my work on South Carrollton in a little old converted house. Stuffed to the gills with vintage, consignment and thrift store items. Run my a nice old lady who obviously knew here stuff and cared about her customers. While obviously, real vintage 1920′s dresses were a little out of my price range and likely a little too fragile for a night out on the town. A nice 1980′s reproduction of the flapper style did quite well.

This form fitting black dress had sequins on the bottom and long black fringe from the mid thigh to below the knee. The fabric had sort of an iridescent shine to it. When I told the owner it was a Halloween costume she even gave me the green peacock feather and black ribbon for my headpiece for free. I bought a black feather boa from a Halloween store. My hair was already the correct length and I did my best to try to make it do the wave thing some girls did back then. Not sure I achieved it but not bad for a first try. Ended up selling this on ebay and passing the neat dress on to a new lucky lady.

But Halloween is the best excuse to play dress up for adults. Enter the forgotten prom dresses in the back of your closet. (Or the sad lonely dresses at the thrift store waiting for someone to give them a second chance).

Below is the scariest picture I can think of….me in a pink dress.

So a few years ago I went with the 80′s prom queen. My sister happened to still have her poofy, lacy, sparkly pink prom dress and matching bolero! And it fit me. Score, free costume. I bought a blonde wig and a tiara from the Halloween store. Some cheap pink dress shoes from the thrift store and preppy pink mauve lipstick, so I was ready to go.

PS the wristwatch totally makes the outfit. I guess I was really concerned with keeping time then. : )

This is a costume I made for my father. All from vintage items from the thrift store and for less than $15 bucks. It is of course the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland. My niece was Alice and my other friend I made a Queen of Hearts costume for and her boyfriend was the King of Hearts.

How to Find a Thrift Store Costume:

Tip #1 – start looking early
It took me more than a month and frequent trips to find all the items. But of course I go once a week anyway.
Tip #2 – do some research
Look at the original source of the costume (in this case the animated classic Alice in Wonderland). Price new costumes or look at ones other people have made for inspiration.
Tip #3 – be flexible
This isn’t a cosplay contest, you don’t have to be exact. People just need to look at you and be able to identify your character. So what, the shade of blue is slightly different. Relax and have some fun.
Tip #4 – accessories, accessories.
These can make or break your costume. For this one the tag on the top hat really seals the deal.

Mad Hatter
A – the top hat
Came from a previous costume and came from a supply store and is plastic. Jazzed up with some orange ribbon as a hat band that I already had. Made the 10/6 tag by had from an index card.

B – the jacket
Wide label and crazy colors was what I was aiming for. Found this 1970′s blue ladies suit jacket for $6 (even came with matching skirt) at my fav thrift store.

C – the pants
Once again a thrift store find from the ladies section (don’t limit yourself to half the store). Bright purple 1980s pants for $4. Finding pants that fit was an issue.

D – the vest
Or as the Brits call it a shirt waist. Same thrift store, $3 for a tan vest. It was even reversible and flipped to a denim on the otherside.

E – the tie
Searching for a big floppy tie for a bow like in the movie. As men used to tie them from what were basically scarves, that is exactly was I got. A navy blue silk scarf for $1 (yay sale days!)

F – the dress shirt
This is a plain old white dress shirt my Dad already owned.

Time to pick a costume or put the finishing touches on the one you’ve already picked out. This month I’m going to showcase some of the past costume I’ve worn.

A few years ago I was a grown up Cinderella. Rather than go for the el cheapo costumes from a Halloween Warehouse store, I decided to do it right. What would a real faery godmother make for a hopeful princess to wear? A flimsy slutty polyester dress or a real quality piece of clothing? So, I made my own formal gown (shhhh so a family member made it for me as my sewing skills aren’t that great.)

Anywho, a gorgeous pale blue satin two piece dress. The top is a classic bodice with some very light boning and a zipper up the side. The skirt is a very full ankle length circle skirt.

Worn with a petticoat or crinoline (which I actually did sew myself, by hand no less). For the petticoat I didn’t want to spend a fortune for those bridal crinoline so went DIY instead. I happened across some sheer curtain fabric at the thrift store in a matching pale blue for about $5. So with so much fabric I just folded the curtains in half and sewed a channel for a drawstring. Put about six panels of curtains on the drawstring and voila. A matching blue petticoat that was poofy, swishy and not scratchy. I didn’t mind it peeking out either. And when Halloween was over I simply removed the threads holding the channel in place and now have nice sheer curtains. You can of course go to the fabric store and get that stiff netting and make a similar petticoat as well.

The most important part of a costume is accessories. The black ribbon I wore as a necklace really made the outfit scream Cinderella. I also got a blonde Cinderella wig and some elbow length gloves. My “glass” slipper were actually clear blue plastic jelly shoes (vintage from the Salvation Army thrift store of course). The only thing I would have added would be some sashes at the waist and some little poofy sleeves, but alas I was short on time.

My dress is now up for sale on my etsy. It would of course make a good prom or bridesmaid dress as really that was what the pattern we used was for. Or even a period piece for those wanting a medieval or Marie Antoinette style dress.

Chef Paul’s Culinary & Cultural Adventures

Man of November

Devouring Scotland

Now for a little confession. I have never used a sewing machine! Still I collect vintage patterns. I’m not entirely clueless, I understand in theory how it all works and I can sew by hand and cross-stitch, etc.

This past week I was shopping in my local thrift store looking for old photo albums. (Im re-doing all my mom’s albums as her’s have heat damage and the plastic pages melted).

Generally, this store always has emptied them of photos. But a few pages were stuck together. On those pages were the above photos. Appear to be from the 40s and 50s of the same young man. No names listed.

It would be great to find them a new home in either someone’s scrapbook or collage.

Lost some photos of your own? Check out http://www.deadfred.com which tries to find the owners of old photos.

I hadn’t realized til recently that she was also a model before being in TV and movies. Wow, she was gorgeous. Didn’t have the signature red head look yet though. Found a great website with hi-res images of old movie stars.

Some foods can be considered kitschy classics however. Take for example this flag cake. Likely people have been making a version of this ever since we started having 4th of July. Some people use all berries. This recipe includes candied cherries and marshmallows.

Compare it to this cake from a 1954 newspaper article.

What you didn’t know Google had a feature to search old newspaper archives? It is pretty awesome and has improved browsing.