Halloween 2009

Every year, Halloween brings out an endless slew of people dressed as strippers (an oxymoron, I know), Jesus, Mario, and slutty [insert symbol of innocence/normally staid occupation here]s. Though there were plenty of these haunting Chicago, overall, the quality of costumes seen this year was higher than last year, possibly because it was not an election year.

Somewhat surprisingly, I did not see a single Bernie Madoff or Kanye West costume. There were at least half a dozen people dressed as swine flu though, with padded stomachs and swirly tail accoutrements.

In no particular order, some of my favorite costumes this year included:

1. A guy dressed up as Chicago legend and Hot Doug's proprietor Doug Sohn accompanied by a girl dressed as a hot dog
2. Stunningly realistic Chicago parking meters, a fearsome sight indeed
3. Libyan Dictator Muammar Qaddafi/"part-time UN Secretary-General"
4. Quail Man, complete with tighty whities
5. Cereal Killer with bloodied cereal boxes and plastic knives stuck through them
6. A Bunch of Grapes (purple balloons in assorted sizes all over the body)
7. Vince from the Slap Chop infomercial, wielding a slap-chop and greasy hair
8. And finally, Redneck Siamese Twins. There are no words to explain this, so I'll just include the following picture. Yes, that is one pair of overalls. Watching them walk, or dance, or sit down was knee-slapping hilarious.
   

In the realm of conceptual costumes, I decided there was no way I'd be able to top last year's rendition of Picasso's Blue Period. So I went another route and decided to go as Gogo Yubari, the crazy Asian chick from Kill Bill. I collected a navy blazer, plaid skirt and white knee-length socks, and pinned the coat patch to the pocket. Then, I spent a while nailing a metal chain around a foil-wrapped styrofoam ball, studded with shish-kebab skewers painted silver. The resultant morning star was actually semi-dangerous; I kept accidentally stabbing myself with it all night.

Here, we have the illustrious Doug Sohn, myself, Haley (dressed as a Mii) and Britton (dressed as a "nurse").