Let's see, when I was a kid I was a fairy princess, a tiger, Harpo Marx, a vampire on crutches (the crutches weren't supposed to be part of the costume) and a whole bunch of other things that I absolutely cannot remember. As an adult I was a zombie housewife and Andy Warhol. What was your best costume? What were you this year?

-- Kymm Zuckert (hedgehog@hedgehog.net), November 02, 2000

Answers

my best costume ever was either my blue alien (silver shorts and shirt, blue cape, silver boots, silver belt, antenae, and blue skin, done not by makeup but by food coloring, which is much more realistic, with silver make-up) or my dryad (pointed ears, green tunic, greek sandles, wreaths of leaves and flowers around head and waist,green makeup on eyes and lips, and green hair with green glitter. and green nails) those were both in college.

for my daughter, i did a wonderful blue fairy several years ago, a pink princess, and an amazon warrior. last year i recycled the idea of the alien, used the same boots (they fit her! and shes only 10!) and made her a green alien.

I LOVE HALLOWEEN!!!!!

-- nicole (nicolemrw@go.com), November 02, 2000.

My stock costume has always been a gypsy or fortune teller, but I think my favorite when I was a kid was a witch.

Just out of curiosity, how do you get blue food coloring out of the skin, Nicole?

-- Becky Dodd (r_m_dodd@hotmail.com), November 02, 2000.

it actually washes off very easily. i've done it one three seperate occasions, and had no serious problem with lingering traces...

that was blue on two occasions and green on one. i'm not going to swear what happens with red or yellow.

-- nicole (nicolemrw@go.com), November 03, 2000.

Well, when I was in third grade I was a computer (this was in 1984), and as a sophomore in college I was Guinan from Star Trek: The Next Generation. An intricate set of connected boxes formed the computer costume (my face was the screen) and purple robes and an odd circular hat formed the Guinan costume. Great fun on both accounts!

-- Katie (uncorked_shadow@yahoo.com), November 04, 2000.

Best: a pirate at age four

Dorkiest: a ghost costume my mother made with a flap on the mask "so you can show people who you are." DUH! The whole point is -not- to let people know who you are.

Most Ill-Conceived: Freshman year at college I strapped on a couple hippy bedspreads and a pair of hiking boots, sprayed my hair blue, and said I was Ella Fitzgerald (not, at that time, having a clue who she was). Clearly signs that the boy was cowering in the closet . . .

Most Revealing: A couple years ago I went to a costume party as a beachcomber, with big straw hat, leis, tattered shirt, and a sarong that showed a lot of leg.

Simplest: This year I wore my tuxedo and said I was Addison Dewitt from "All About Eve."

/Robert

-- Robert (rbdimmick@earthlink.net), November 06, 2000.

This Year: A sweet and innocent Rennaisance Maiden. This needs explaining.

For the last four years, I had done makeup and acting for a local haunted house. So Halloween would start for me in late August and run through November. I almost always ended up with the strange and unusual characters, like the Freak Show Geek or Fortune Teller of Dubious Gender. For long and complicated reasons, I didn't work there this year.

This year, I'm doing the Rocky Horror Show and have been in rehearsals since July.

So I wanted to be something completely opposite of all of that.

So the big scary normally-goth girl went as a milkmaid. It was the scariest costume ever.

-- Delirium (Delirium@unscene.com), November 08, 2000.

best--a bride from Hell, the first Halloween after my husband and I separated

this year--no costume! Too much work, nowhere to go anyway. I did wear all black for the benefit of my *one* trick-or-treater.

-- Catherine (catcoicrit@earthlink.net), November 15, 2000.