Just to recap: I believe that inside everyone's closet, there are plenty of potential quick & easy Halloween costumes - suitable for any "fright night" party - just WAITING to be put together with a little imagination... & $20 worth of additional props from my local dollar store... So without further a-do, here are the final 3 stylish amalgamations of well-known fictional characters or pop culture icons...
*
Franny Gets...
FLAPPERED
as Phryne Fisher, Lady Detective
Dress: Belle Curve chiffon & sequins
Heels: Novo patent
Bag: Vera May
Turban: Witchery
Brooch: Vintage, Gift
Necklace: Sportsgirl
*
A drop-waist dress & a long strand of pearls is all you need to create a "Roaring Twenties" look to garner the approval of the Honourable Miss Fisher herself! The main character in author Kerry Greenwood's series of detective novels, Phryne is a wealthy aristocrat who lives in St Kilda, Melbourne in 1928. With the assistance of her maid Dot, taxi drivers & "red raggers" Bert & Cec, butler & housekeeper Mr & Mrs Butler & her adoptive daughters Jane & Ruth - not to mention her Chinese lover Lin Chung & erstwhile detective Jack Robinson - she solves all manner of crimes from missing children to cocaine smuggling... And she does it with aplomb, flying planes, driving her flaming red Hispano Suiza motorcar & wearing only the most stylish of ensembles...
www.fanpop.com
www.dayna2000.wordpress.com
www.abc.net.au
Finishing this look is a pair of black patent t-bar sandals - a style popularised by "flappers" who wanted a pair of heels that showed off their dainty feet while being secure enough to dance the energetic "Charleston" in - as well as a curved, Art Deco style handbag, turban with vintage marcasite leaf brooch (a popular motif for the beauty-starved post-war time period) & a "gasper" cigarette in a long holder, Phryne's preferred brand.
For an amusing picture of me ATTEMPTING to dance the "Charleston," see below:
*
*
Franny Gets...
MYSTICAL
as Madame Zuleika, Gypsy Fortune Teller
Kaftan: Vintage, 1970s cotton
Heels: Emerson @ Big W suede
Headscarf: Big W
Bangles: Kashmiri @ Tree of Life
*
For me, this vintage tie dye kaftan instantly conjured up images of Gypsy Fortune Tellers, consulting a crystal ball to see into your future...
Throughout history, the Gypsy people - who call themselves Roma or Romany - have been associated with fortune telling, including palmistry, tarot cards & crystal balls, a tradition that continued to grow until the two became interminably linked in the minds of many. Rumour has it that even Napoleon Bonaparte consulted the cards before battle...
Indeed, pop culture has long been obsessed with the idea of the woman with long flowing robes being a figure of mystery & magic, featuring fortune tellers in songs such as "Dark Lady" by Cher & "Devil Woman" by Cliff Richard as well as a myriad of television shows including Dalziel & Pascoe, Taggart, Midsomer Murders, The Waltons & cult children's cartoon, Scooby Doo. In this instance, I am channeling Madame Zuleika from Agatha Christie's 1956 murder-mystery "Dead Man's Folly," made into a 1989 movie featuring Peter Ustinov as Detective Hercule Poirot before a recent remake starring the superbly talented David Suchet as the Belgian super-sleuth.
All that is required to complete this preternatural look is a pair of red suede wedges, a flowing headscarf, tied on the side of the head, armfuls of Kashmiri hand-painted bangles to evoke the idea of a Romany caravan & a water-globe to serve as an admirable stand-in for a crystal orb.
www.kleo.com
www.tarotreadings.com.au
www.agathachristiereader.wordpress.com
[Hercule Poirot] was standing by the tent labelled "Madame Zuleika will tell your Fortune for 2s. 6d." Poirot bowed his head, entered the tent and paid over his half-crown willing for the privilege of sinking into a chair and resting his aching feet... She took Poirot's hand and gave him a rapid reading, agreeably full of money to come, success with a dark beauty and a miraculous escape from an accident.
"It is very agreeable all that you tell me, Madame Legge. I only wish that it could come true."
"Oh!" said Sally. "So you know me, do you?"
"I had advance information - Mrs Oliver told me that you were originally to be the 'victim,' but that you had been snatched from her for the Occult."
"I wish I was being the 'body,'" said Sally. "Much more peaceful..."
*
*
Franny Gets...
FEROCIOUS
as Jane Porter, wife of Tarzan
Dress: Flirt elastane
Flat Sandals: Payless Shoes
*
A leopard print dress such as this could only signal one thing: Jane Porter from Edgar Rice Burrough's popular series of books - first published in 1912 - about jungle hero Tarzan. There have been many movie adaptations over the years but my favourites have always been those from the 1930s, featuring Johnny Weissmuller & the talented Maureen O'Hara, probably better known for her later portrayals of John Wayne's love interest in a slew of Westerns.
Finishing this look was a cinch as the character is SO iconic - a pair of flat sandals (not strictly accurate for the jungle but necessary in modern-day suburbia) & a large plush lion toy from Big W. Voila! Instant Jane.
www.theredlist.com
www.suspense-movies.com
"Me, Tarzan. You, Jane."
www.jrspages.co,uk
*
No comments:
Post a Comment