My goth meets vintage inspired Halloween costume

✯ Day 308 of Vintage 365 ✯

It's been a long time...a very long time (the better part of two years, if memory serves me right) since I last posted an image of myself here on Chronically Vintage. A point that is, I assure you, in now way intentional.

Instead it stems primarily from the fact that my health has been so poor that, quite honestly, I am rarely well enough to go out and when I do, it's almost always for medical appointments. Though you better believe I sport vintage fashions on those days (and on the ones around the house when I feel well enough to be dressed), exhaustion and stress usually wear heavily on my face, so I'm not too keen on having my picture snapped.

Another element is that, while I adore writing about vintage fashion, CV never set out to be a fashionista's blog in the sense of frequently showing outfits I wear. Nevertheless, again though, it's been too long since I last posted any snaps of myself, so today I'm rectifying that with some images that my sweet husband captured of me around dusk on Halloween night last Monday.

The light had already faded substantially, so we had to up the ISO quite a bit (so hence the grain), but in a way I like how that adds to the aged, delightfully eerie vibe of these All Hallows Eve shots.

Decked all in black, with a darker, more goth take on my favourite vintage make-up look, my outfit intentionally channelled Mortica Addams (we'd just watched the movie Addams Family Values the night before, so that was completely fresh in my mind and seemed like a fun jumping off point for my Halloween night ensemble).

 

A quite night (we only got three trick-or-treaters, but I'm not complaining, as that beat out the past two years when we didn't get any at all) spent at home, watching spooky TV shows and movies while nibbling sweet treats was how we spent our Halloween this year.

(Next year I'd love to get a store bought costume, perhaps of a Victorian or Georgian era style dress, but we'll just have to wait and see how things unfold.)

I'm constantly inspired by the beautiful, creative, timeless looks that so many of you create and share on your own blogs, and while I can't promise overly frequent wardrobe posts here, I will try to not let quite so long go by before I share photos of myself with all of you again (in fact, I've already got a post planned in the near future featuring my lovely new vintage winter coat).

Special Halloween edition of Hey, it's OK!

✯ Day 302 of Vintage 365 ✯

Earlier this year I wrote the first in what is to be an ongoing, occasionally occurring, series of posts called Hey, it's OK, modeled after a similar style of post that appears regularly in Glamour magazine.

More so, than perhaps any other post I've ever written for Chronically Vintage, I received private emails from people either relating personal stories that tied into what I said in that post or simply letting me know that they really enjoyed the idea of being told that things were "OK" for a change.

I strongly believe that most of all heap far too much unnecessary judgement on ourselves and fall pry to undo stress over what others may thing of us, so I can see can completely see why that post resonated so deeply with others.

I'm all about positive thinking and cutting yourself a much needed break, so in carrying on that spirit, yet also factoring in our delightful countdown to October 31st, today's post is a special Halloween themed edition of "Hey, it's OK", which I hope you'll enjoy and feel extra positive about yourself after reading.

...to completely adore making, not buying, your own costume every year.

...to love picking out the perfect Halloween pumpkins, but then much prefer to watch others carve them.

...to start planning your Halloween party in July.

...to be so excited the night before Halloween you can hardly sleep!

...to have no desire to wear a costume (be it nurse, cat, devil, police officer, or whatever) that looks like it would scarcely be big enough to fit your five year old niece.

...to stuff yourself silly on on caramel apples, kettle corn, iced sugar cookies, and mountains of candy all day on the 31st, without the slightest twinge of regret the next day.

...to have so many Halloween decorations you need to store them in multiple spots throughout the house.

...to delight in watching, and knowing every word of, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, each year.

...to still secretly fight the urge, tooth and nail, to go out trick-or-treating every year!

...to start counting down to next Halloween the moment the clock strikes 12:00am on November 1st.





{This All Hallows Eve, remember to cut loose, channel your childhood, and have a festive blast! Vintage Halloween postcard image via About.com.}



During the holidays, perhaps more than most other times of the year, it's important to try not to add to our personal stress loads. To cut ourselves a break and try to focus on the joyful spirit of the day.

Halloween isn't Christmas, New Year's or Easter. You don't need to cook a huge feast, worry about sending out tons of cards or buying countless gifts, it's a night of merriment and delight, when we get to reconnect with our youth and celebrate the timeless fun of jack-o-lanterns, scary movies, spooky costumes, miniature chocolate bars, and things that go bump in the night!

Beautifully autumn worthy 1940s Revlon make-up

✯ Day 300 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

When one thinks of the words "Halloween make-up", any number of images, from cute little faces done up with mother's cosmetics to the hair raising work of horror movie make-up artistes spring to mind.

I think back to that thick, inexpensive drug store make-up in stark shades of snow white, lime green, and tomato red that we used as kids. I also recall Halloween eve's spent sitting on the counter sink as my mom drew pointy eyebrows on my face with her eyeliner, then covered my lips liberally in her darkest shade of lipstick, in order to turn me into whatever spooky trick-or-treat character I wanted to be that year.

In fact, I think that for a lot of us girls, it was Halloween night that we first became acquainted with many of the seemingly magical tubes, vials, bottles, and containers of make-up that adult women reached for every day.

And come the end of the evening, when, with full pillow cases and slightly smeared faces, we returned home, it was back to the bathroom or our mom’s vanity table we were whisked, to have our Halloween faces scrubbed off with copious amounts of cold cream.

There was something exciting and comfortingly ritualistic about this yearly tradition, so it comes as no surprise to me then that I still make a point of wearing special make-up each Halloween.

Sometimes I'll "paint" my face to go with a given costume, or other times, when I'm just donning black and orange for a night spent at home handing out sweets, I'll give my beloved, daily 1950s inspired make-up a decidedly goth feel, channelling shades of deep grey, inky black, and mossy green; the deepest of merlot wine hues slicked over my lips.

And yet, there are also those occasions when one wants a softer look, something in the peach, pink and cheerful red family. Especially if your costume or Halloween night ensemble is more sweet than spooky.

If such is the case, they you may find the chic 1940s ad below, with it's glistening pumpkin and autumnal colours, provides you with just the right dose of inspiration.

{Strikingly elegant, completely Halloween worthy 1940s Revlon cosmetics ad via curly-wurly on Flickr.}

 

I adore the warm palette here, in shades of apricot, rust, bronze, and shimmering gold. The make-up itself is classy and gorgeous. Youthful, feminine, and fitting for practically any occasion. (Her sophisticated updo is fantastic, too! If only I had a fraction of the thickness of hair needed to successfully pull that look off!)

So whether you'll be reaching for gobs of grease paint this year, or just a whisper of pumpkin hued lipstick and nail polish, be sure to celebrate Halloween by doing something out of the ordinary with your make-up. After all, if you can't paint your face on All Hallows Eve, when can you?!

A wonderful selection of 1950s Halloween recipes

✯ Day 299 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

In yesterday's post we chatted about Halloween decorations, which are certainly one very important component of a good holiday party (be it for twenty-five friends, or a more intimate gathering with the family members under your own roof). Today we're going to take a peak at selection of charming vintage Halloween recipes that can further help bolster your festive fete.

The (starry night) sky is the limit when it comes to how creative you want to be with your Halloween food. You can span the spectrum from sweet little frosted pumpkin shaped sugar cookies to dark, soot black bowls of squid ink pasta for grown-up dinner parties (or those youngsters in your midst with more adventurous palates).

I find that each year I'm struck by the desire to both reach for tried-and-true standards (caramel corn, candy apples, pumpkin pie), while also trying out new Halloween recipes (or at least giving classic foods a spookier twist). One of my favourites, year after year, that harkens back to my childhood, is to homemade pizza made with jack-o-lantern faces.

Over the years I've gone swank (taking my cue from Martha Stewart and serving an all black and orange cheese and wine party) to silly (everyone has to set out a dish of "monster's eyes" - aka, peeled grapes - at least one in their lives!). Usually, particularly not having kids of my own to entertain yet, my Halloween menu (be it for a party, a few friends, of just the mister and I) falls somewhere in the middle.

It's a blend of favourites like almond tipped witch's finger cookies and sage infused creamy pumpkin and apple soup. Fragrant black licorice cupcakes to warm, salted roasted pumpkin seeds.

Naturally, I'm always on the prowl to add new (or should I say, "old") vintage Halloween recipes to my repertoire, as I know many of you are, too.

That's why today's vintage recipe post isn't focused on just one dish, instead it's a collection of two charming vintage cookbook pages (which come by way of thepeachmartini on Flickr) that include a great assortment of fun, completely child-friendly Halloween recipes from the 1950s.

 

These pages feature some of the most beloved Halloween recipes of all time, like caramel apples and hot spiced cider, as well as other less common ones (like pumpkin ice cream) that I'm eager to make  over the next few days.

All of these delicious 1950s recipes are easy-peasy and relatively inexpensive, meaning they can be whipped up with just a few ingredients (most which you likely have on hand already) and a hour or two at most (only the ice cream takes longer than that before it’s ready to serve).

I hope that this October 31st, whatever kind of menu you're planning, you're able to indulge in many of your favourite Halloween foods and also try out a new recipe or two as well, like the enjoyable vintage ones here.

Are your Halloween decorations up yet?

✯ Day 298 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

Counting today itself, there are are just seven days to go until we land on October 31st. I don't know about you, but that has me giddier than a ghost at a buy one, get one free sale on heavy chains!

Though I opted not to mention it at the time, earlier this month I was very ill for a few days, so as a result it took me a longer than it has most years to decorate my home for Halloween.

Luckily, though I'm still feeling the aftershocks of those rough days, I was gradually able to deck my halls with pumpkins and witches, scarecrows and monsters of all sorts am now completely ready (sans donning my costume and pouring treats into the Halloween pirates treasure chest candy serving container that I use each year) for October 31st.

I love decorating our little apartment for All Hallows Eve - in fact, I love decorating any house or locations (school gym, public library, etc) for this most spooktacular of holidays. So you can image my delight when I recently came across the marvelous forties photo below of a group of lovely ladies adorning a room for Halloween.

{Marvelous vintage photo of a decorating committee getting ready for a Halloween party via dragonflydesignstudio on Flickr.}

 

The person who posted this great image on Flickr didn't provide any background information for it, and I don't recognize any of the women in it as being famous faces (do you?), so I'd venture to say that this was a group of "every day gals" who were part of a decorating committee (perhaps for a ladies auxiliary or PTA).

I adore that in this vintage photo we not only see an array of causal daytime fashions and hairstyles, but also get to observe some charming Halloween decorations from the era, including illustrated wall hanging and festive garlands.

If you haven't had a chance to decorate your own surroundings, and are planning to this year, for Halloween, I hope that this absolutely wonderful 1940s photo will help give you that extra little push of encouragement you may need to get started, as I certainly did the trick (or treat) for me!

It's never too early to start thinking about Halloween

✯ Day 230 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

As some of you may recall for autumns past, I have more than a little passion for Halloween. Indeed, All Hallows Eve, with this sense of mystery, scads of happy memories, fabulous costumes, awesome parties, delicious treats, and plethora of great vintage decorations, is my favourite holiday of the year.

Though I refrain myself from putting out any decorations quite this early (I'm not a Hallmark store after all ), that doesn't mean that - despite the toasty summer temps - I haven't already started thinking about Halloween. Because, believe me, I have.

There's less than two and a half months left to go, you know, that's not exactly an eon, and (perpetual Girl Guide that I am) I know the importance of being prepared.

Shortly I'll begin making my Thanksgiving and Halloween cards, I'll take the totes of black and orange decorates out of the storage, I'll debate whether to buy or whip together a costume out of garments and items I have on hand. And, as October 31st draws ever nearer, I'll watch my excitement level grow with each passing day.

I know that I'm not the only one who can already feel the spirit of Halloween tumbling over the summer days to reach us. Other Halloween fan(atics) like myself are drawing up blueprints for how they're going to decorate their yards (unfortunately being an apartment dweller, I don't have a yard to decorate), sewing costumes for their kids, scouring magazines (hello, Martha Stewart!) and cookbooks for frightfully fabulous new recipes to churn out in the coming weeks, and getting giddy over the fact that it'll soon be time to watch your most beloved Halloween movies again.

Naturally, I've already started honing in on anything I come across online that's both vintage and Halloween themed. One completely charming Halloween gift idea I chanced upon recently gets oodles of points in both those categories.

 

 

While it's awesome to make or prepare your own sweet treats and thank-you/hostess/birthday/etc gifts for Halloween, sometimes it's also great to have lovely premade options to turn to, especially if you're short on time. Thus a beautiful, fantastically vintage feeling Halloween gift basket like the one above from The Elegant Cookie (love that name!) can be a wonderful option.

The Elegant Cookie has a slew of delightful vintage themed Halloween gift options (or treats for yourself, too!), but I think that this particular gift basket, with it's darling black cat adorned items including old-fashioned Halloween note cards, a vintage photo frame, vintage Halloween embellishments, four spider web cookies, six Lindt truffles, and cute witch ornament is my favourite of their current offerings. (Should you have fallen under its spell, too, you can pick one up for $39.99 from The Elegant Cookie.)

So while, knowing that not everyone is quite as Halloween gung-ho as I am, I'll hold off on going full-blown Halloweenista on you for a few more weeks, given that we're drawing ever nearer to autumn, I wanted to devote today's post to reminding you that it's never (ever!) too early to start getting ready for Halloween 2011!