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2009 Halloween at Waikiki: Sexy vs. scary
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Zombie and Eve
As an indicator of street trends, Halloween costumes on the festive people streaming along Kalakaua displayed two major themes: sexy and scary. And sexy elements outnumbered the classical death or devil-related looks. And you can see gender division in the choice of sexy and scary costumes. Most girls dressed up sexy and most guys scary. But some guys also flaunted their good body by wearing collar and cuffs only on the top or simply walking in a pizza box as shown in the slideshow.
Hawalleen parade is about seeing and being seen. It is the only night in a year that people can break dressing codes and ignore social constraints in one's appearance. That's why the traffic jam was so bad starting 7p.m.
On the creative leavel, I think guys are more daring and thoughtful than girls in general, because most girls put themselves in black fishnet pantyhose, a mini skirt or hotpants and a scanty top. it was a non-brainer and actually an uniform for girls. They did have a choice of color and character: pink and black were popular. Sailor, witch, police and wasps were the most common. Belly dancers emerged as a new streak of sexy girls with legs and sometimes faces covered and midriffs revealed.
But some girls did transform themselve to an eye-catching and unique character. Take the photo above as an example. The girl created a modern tropical version of Eve by wearing a neon color spiky hairdo, a paradise bird brooch on her bra and monstra-leave mini skirt. One of a kind. In my slideshow, you can see a woman pained in red wearing horns like a warrior.
The most impressive costume was "Caged by Death" by a guy. It's one shivering moment of scariness that made everyone passing by wondering if all of us are living in the cage of death. A sailor boy who rode a bicycle with his blond braided girl between the cars on the Kalakaua street was a sensation, because they created a romantic story and singled themselves out from the hordes on the sidewalks.
A guy wore Hawaiian boardshort and slipper with a nut lei, showing off his well toned muscles. I appreciated Hawaiian elements in the costume. I consider best Halloween costumes are those localized and personalized, rather than off-the-rack ones.
On character choice, fewer Caribbean pirates and more Obama, Michael Jackson and senior citizens. I don't quite understand why so many people wore a wrinkled grandma or grandpa mask. It certainly was not sexy nor scary, then for what? Popular characters include Jesus (with a thorn crown), Gladiator (with shield and helmet), Alibaba (with dazzling rings), Ninja (in black and eyes only), Spiderman and Superman.
I also enjoyed the ethnic diversity represented that night. Indians, Greeks and Kimono girls are staples at Waikiki Halloween. My neighbor from Africa dressed up as a tribal leader. And I was happy to see Arab costumes a few times. With sampling from all cultures, Waikiki Halloween is truly a global stage.
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