This was the first year of Halloween where Seth insisted on choosing his costume. I knew this day would come. Gone are the days of dressing him up as Stay Puft, Poncho Villa, Peter Venkman, or a bearded viking. I knew he'd want something super popular that every kid likes, and sure enough, he chose Batman. I was relieved that he wanted to be the 1960's Adam West style Batman, which is way more fun to make than the black, plated-chest Christian Bale style Batman.
As usual, I started out thinking I'd do something really simple and cheap, but I got so excited about all the details, the next thing I knew I was dusting off my sewing machine and designing my own patterns with tons of trial and error. I kept having to remind myself that the average person doesn't care about where exactly the stars on Wonder Woman's cape are placed, or the precise height of batman's boots, so I drew the line on getting TOO crazy. There is a whole community of obsessive costume makers online (the kind who show up in San Diego each summer at Comic Con) who thankfully make me look sane. As painful as the process sometimes was, figuring it all out served to deepen my satisfaction with this project. It felt more like my own art.
I learned a lot during this process and I think it's now safe to say I know how to sew stuff. This, I feel, puts me into a whole new category of the domestic mom. I've fought it based on my own silly sterotypes. It's hard enough to have any street cred as a liberal or a feminist when you're a mormon stay-at-home mom who likes to wear makeup everyday and spends a lot of time in the kitchen, but now that I sew too? How could the Daily Show crowd ever take me seriously?
Anyway, these sweeties are really fun to dress up because they're SO into it! I think a fair amount of two-year-olds would just rip off the wig and play, but Ada loves it along with the rest of her costume. (That could however be more a result of me and Aaron's genetic failure to provide Ada with a decent head of hair. Sorry Ada.) And then there's Seth. The bodysuit part of his costume is the one part we purchased. It's a leotard and tights that we died gray. As open-minded as Aaron likes to be, I could still sense his discomfort when his son kept professing his deep love for leotards and tights and kept wearing them around the house while I made the other parts of his costume. He loved how his costume turned out. We have to remind him sometimes that he's not actually Batman.
7 comments:
way to go Lindsay - those kids are looking good! I love your Halloween posts. ;)
the picture of them with their capes open is the best! i'm glad you enjoyed making the costumes and that you were rewarded when the kids loved them even more. and you still have cred with me cous, i approve of your DIY crafting (you just have to put it in punk terminology and you're set).
Stereotypes, schmereotypes! If you like doing it (and you obviously do, as do I), doesn't matter! I love that you love to do this. Makes me feel normal. I want to go to comic con next year and just look at costumes! The kids look great!
andrea, i was hoping you'd pick up on my facetious tone.
and i too am glad to have a friend who's into costuming!
Everything turned out wonderful! I love the facial expressions behind the costumes. That says it all!!!:)
Lindsay, you are truly destined for greatness. Any kid would be fortunate to have you as a mom. The first time your teenager roles there eyes at you, I will tell them they are lucky to have a mom like you.
I agree with Aunt Karen - the open capes pic is the cutest!
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