trick or treat

Woke on this dark gloomy morning and had planned to post something bright and cheery - something with aqua in it, like either some of my shots from the David Koma show, or Holly Fulton - and then I remembered today is Halloween. So dug up this one from a few years back: a friend asked me to take her daughter trick or treating, while she worked. Her daughter had decided I should go as a black cat, and she did my make-up, and my hat.

It's kind of a weird holiday here in London: there is, or was, an enclave of 'Americans', as the locals called them. A few houses, in leafy Kensington, that were all done up for Halloween. All the yummy mummies in greater London would drive their kids over and wait while they hit up those houses for candy. In all the years we've lived here, our doorbell hasn't rung once. True story.

Musing, tho, on Halloween costumes past. For fashion bloggers, this is such a great concept: dressing up. I remember one year, my concept was 'JAP (Jewish American Princess) on holiday'. Because I'm a)from Long Island and b)Jewish on my mother's side - which makes me Jewish - I thought, well this is simply self depreciating humour. I wore a pair of ironic jeans, with high heels - a look I NEVER wore back then - and even took the time to wrap cardboard with tinfoil, for a three way suntan reflector. Carried a little camera.. at the party, once I'd put the sun reflector and the camera down, everyone was asking me why I didn't wear a costume.

Lesson learned: subtlety, and irony, have no place on Halloween. Go for the big getures.Hope you all have fun today, and get lots of candy.

tricks aren't only for kids

It was raining softly outside this morning, and my first thought was: that poor little toilet paper ghost is going to be all melted!

Yesterday when walking through the Boltons near home - a lovely eye-shaped island, surrounding a church, of large white mansions - I suddenly came upon this image. Then I felt, rather than saw, the movement of a child, running into the huge house.



When I told Mr. Dot after, he said 'they must be Americans' because - and this part I never got - Halloween really is perceived as an American holiday here, altho it came from British/Celtic culture originally. Curious, I started googling, and the very first article, in the Independent, caught my eye: Trick or treat: Is Halloween another tacky American import or a bit of harmless fun that boosts the economy? (I swear: that is all one title: longer than most of mine! But it's a good read.)



Because it's raining, and because I have work to do at home, I'm not out trying to shoot trick-or-treaters, as I know there will be, at best, a few stragglers (I do hope number 5, the Boltons, gets someone appreciating their efforts!) Instead, I've assembled some blurry/spooky shots taken at the V&A: a weird juxtaposition of events, the opening of the ceramic exhibit upstairs (which Mr. Dot's friend wanted to see), and, in the lobby, a fashion-week related event.



And it got me thinking, how lovely a tradition Halloween is. I mean, what is fashion, anyway, but expressing ourselves creatively. And Halloween is that one time of year when we can really go nuts, even if we're no longer children. The funny thing about the Brits is, they might not do Halloween, but they LOVE 'fancy dress' parties, which is really the same thing.

As a kid, I gave a lot of thought to my daily 'outfits', but we thought all year about our Halloween costumes. Some years I wanted to be pretty, all fairylike, but other years.. one year I went as a tramp. Why? What was I thinking? (One year, just after college, I went as a different type of tramp. Wore tight jeans, low cut top... sadly, no one got it). My favourite costume, for sure, was as a Geisha, in a pink silk kimono my dad had brought back from Japan, one of my favourite items of clothing. I wish I knew where it is, but I can remember so clearly the raised gold embroidery of the dragon... beautiful memories.

Are you dressing up this year? If so, what are you going as? If you'd like, send me a jpg, I'll post it. Hope wherever you are in the world, you're not getting tricked, but are, instead, getting lots o' treats.



Thank you to an anonymous 'girl in Finland' for sourcing this wonderful ceramic girl: the artist's name is Kim Simonsson and the ceramic girl is actually quite large: almost the size of a real little girl. Wonderful, wonderful work.

Actually if you got this far, you deserve to see a much better post: check out thats so rad today, it's such a hoot! (& the last shot, when I took the first shot I hadn't focused it, so I used a glass filter. This was the first result that came up & I kept it because it feels so spooky... kinda like 'the scream' by Munch.)