This is my Halloween 2006 costume. The idea evolved from a pile of old cloth-bound wiring left over from our on-going post-K renovations. The high collar is woven from electrical wire and eyelash yarn. Stick a turkey feather here and there, throw some pancake makeup on (green was the only color left at the store when I did my last-minute shopping) and voila! The red tunic thing was a K-Mart remnant bought the day before Halloween. Who knows what it was a part of…a devil costume? The beak is painted felt. The corset is made from black duct tape. This costume a lot of compliments when we went walking down Decateur and Frenchman, though there were plenty of more awesome costumes to be seen (like a bionic man with LEDs on his face and shirt and a Spermman). Only problem is: it’s hard to drink beer when you’re wearing a honker like that. I had to fashion a straw ladder in order to sip from my go cup. It was very awkward. I still had to move my beak aside in order to put my lips on the straw. Oh well. I’ll figure out those design flaws for this year’s Halloween costume. Here are some other shots:

This wasn’t my first avian-themed costume. Once upon a time I copied Bjork’s swan dress for a costume. I bought a white slip from the thrift store and sewed a bunch of white tulle and lace trim onto it. I found remainder white faux fur fabric, some brown and black remnants, and some goggle eyes and made a stuffed swan head and neck to wrap around my neck and hold the dress up. I loved that dress. But, alas, I have no pictures of it and I lost it when we had a fire at our old apartment. Someone somewhere must have a picture because I wore it for both Halloween and Mardi Gras. That’s how much I liked it. Anyway, maybe the 2006 Birdy costume should be renamed the Phoenix costume. What do you think?

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