Are You Ready for Halloween?

October 6, 10:30 AMTucson Baby Boomer ExaminerPamela Powers

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Blackberry lipstick, Who What Wear

Halloween is three weeks away, but aficionados of the holiday have been planning their costumes for a year. 

In Tucson, Halloween is not just a day, it’s a season. With Halloween on Saturday, October 31, and the All Souls Procession activities the following weekend, hip Tucsonans have more than one costume or have a costume that can be modified for multiple parties and the All Souls Procession on November 8.

Here are a few fashion tips to help you build your look for this Halloween.

Who What Wear, an Internet fashion portal for the latest trends, suggests blackberry lips for this fall. Fashionistas Katherine Power and Killary Kerr are suggesting dark lipstick for everyday wear, but it also works for Halloween. (If you enjoy trend-watching, check out their website and sign up for their e-newsletter.)

For the retro look, resale stores on Fourth Avenue are well-stocked with Halloween costumes, vintage clothes, and outlandish accessories—evening gloves, hats, gaudy jewelry, masks, fake teeth, wigs, magic wands, crowns, petticoats, whatever your heart desires. 

If you want a particularly sexy costume, check out Fascinations on Speedway in midtown Tucson. In addition to their usual stock of toys and lingerie, costumes for biker chicks, naughty school girls, French maids, sexy uniformed officers abound at Fascinations during the Halloween season.

For the kinky look, check out Hydra on Congress Street downtown. Leather clothes, uniforms, slave collars and bracelets, stiletto shoes and boots, plenty of chain, and other accessories are all available at Hydra for those who want an edgy look.

A surprising place to buy Halloween accessories and costumes is your local grocery store. I found a great lace and sequin cape at Fry’s at Grant Alvernon.

Of course, there are plenty of places to buy or rent costumes in Tucson, but since you have three weeks, why not make one? If you are handy with a sewing machine (or even just with scissors and safety pins), check out SAS Fabrics by the Pound on Speedway Blvd. SAS is a treasure trove of fabrics and sewing notions—sequins, lace, braided rope, chains, silk flowers, leather scraps, and other decorative do-dads—for every purpose. Be prepared to spend some time digging through stacks of fabric and fake fur of every style and color. 

If you're on a tight budget, shop your closet for Halloween costumes. (I'm not suggesting you be one of those boring people who attend Halloween parties "dressed as themselves.") If you're like most people, you probably have some out-of-date clothes that can be restyled into a costume. For example, one year I needed an ankle-length black skirt to complete an outfit. Instead of buying one, I dug a full-length black knit nightgown out of my drawer and accessorized it with a frilly shirt, belt, beads, petticoat, and heels. Voila-- a free costume from my closet.

Dust off your sewing machine, check your closet for funky clothes, and shop early for the best selection of Halloween costumes and accessories.