This is the second part of my Halloween costumes blog. To recap the last four years,
1998: Bonnie
1999: Matt C.
2000: Jerry I.
2001: Steve B.
I am happy with the costumes and how they turned out. Some weren’t great. I still enjoy dressing up on Halloween. It’s not about the candy anymore. It is all about the dressing up and seeing what I can come up with for a costume. The last few days at work, I have been asked by many people what I plan on doing this year. It does give me joy to know that I make an impression each year with my costumes. They know I take this holiday seriously. They know that I will go the distance to create an amazing costume. I do pay attention to detail. That’s what makes the costumes so great. I can’t just toss on a lab coat and say I am doctor House. I’ll need to get a cane. I’ll have to work on a limp. If I was able to grow facial hair, I’d do that too. Every detail must be there. If not, then the whole costume would be in vain. I have told a few people what I am doing this year but for the most part, I am trying to keep it a secret. I have purchased some of the items I need for this years costumes. Don’t worry, I’ll have the final post in this series dedicated to my 2010 costume. This post isn’t about this year. It’s about the years prior. Let’s take a ride in the wayback machine and see what I did between 2002 and 2005.
2002: Monica Lewinsky (1 out of 5 stars)
I have no idea what I was thinking when I decided to dress up as this infamous woman. I guess I was out of time that year and this was really the only idea that popped in my head. You’re probably saying to yourself,
Really? Her? You dressed up as a woman? Why?
Answer? I don’t know. I honestly, do not know. My roommate at the time, dressed as a bong. That was an awesome costume. Add in some dry ice and the costume was magical. Wish I thought of that one. But he did. Damn him for being more creative than me that year. I had shortly just moved in with him. Him and I got along great. Best roommate I have ever had. He’s only one of two. The second roommate, not so much. Whatever. I am going off track. Where was I? Oh, yes. The bong friend. We had a kick ass party that year. It was awesome. We couldn’t stress enough about you having to dress up to enter the party. But we all know how that goes. Not many dressed up. Still, the party was fun. The costume was weak. I’d probably say it was one of my worst moments in Halloween history. If you must know (you’ll see the picture), I did complete the costume with the stain.
I wish I had a photo of my friend as the giant bong. The only photo I do have is unusable. The party was fun. As for my run with being real people? This was the end of it. I had already spent the last five years being someone I am not. I say that now but who knows. What if I am planning on being someone I know again this year. It’s fun for me and fun for those that know the person. To the outside world, they are clueless and don’t appreciate the work I put in to the costume. Don’t worry, folks. I am not going as a real person this year. My creative juices have switched gears to more familiar icons. If you’re from the Midwest area, then the next costume is something you’ll recognize immediately.
2003: The Red Arrow (5 out of 5 stars)/Dead Doctor (2 out of 5 stars)
If you have been following my blog for a while, I am sure you know I am a workaholic. I love my job more than I love my family. What better way to show my love for my job than to be the icon 
the company is known for in its’ ads. Out of all the costumes I have been so far, this is the first one that took the most time. I am not saying it’s the best hand-made costume out there but it is the best hand-made costume I made myself (at least so far…). I swiped some boxes from work. I bought cans upon cans of spray paint. I set up shop in my apartment. Not the wisest thing to do. I was probably high at one point. I am not a painter. I can’t draw very well. I can do a stick figure and that’s all (according to Phil In The Circle, if you can draw a stick figure, you can draw anything). The costume was finished and I was pretty pumped about walking into work as the Red Arrow Guy.
Was it a great costume? You betcha. Was it easy to work in? Hell no! I spent most of my day at work not wearing it. I was covered in red face paint which when I wasn’t wearing the costume people thought I was going as the devil. I have never been the devil for Halloween. It’s too cliché. The costume wasn’t the only one I was that year. Since I really had no interest in being the Red Arrow the whole night, I bought a costume at a store and went to a party as a dead doctor. This was the only time I was two different costumes. Both were good. When I was writing up the costumes I was each year, I was questioning about the doctor costume. I remember it being when I lived alone. Doing some deduction, I came to the conclusion that I was the arrow in the morning and the doctor at night. Hell, I went to a costume party. If I was going to have fun, I couldn’t possibly walk around in the bulky box I was wearing. The Red Arrow costume wasn’t something I was going to hold to. For the past few years, I have kept pieces of each costume. It helps if I need a suit or what not for the next year. Saving these things has saved me some money when purchasing the crap I need. A manager I worked with didn’t want to see the arrow get tossed. He took it and kept it in his office for some time. I don’t know if he has it anymore. I should ask him. Be strange if it is still around. That thing should be framed. Hell, I even made the store’s monthly magazine they send out. Woohoo! I was famous.
2004: Army Guy ( 0 out of 5 stars)
I am not a fan of buying costumes that are premade. It’s not my style. I want to use the creativity I have to create one. It’s fun to watch the project unfold before your eyes. You start with all this 
random crap and before you know it, you have the costume you’ve been imagining in your hands. I don’t know why I bought it. It was probably the one year I didn’t really have an idea of what to be. I am not proud of what I did. Buying a costume isn’t me. I create them. It’s what I do. The guy in the photo with me is Steve B. He was the manager I went as back in 2001. The only bright side to the costume, is the attached photo. I might have sunk to buying one but at least I don’t wear the same outfit year in and year out. No lie. This is the outfit he wears every year. Talk about being cheap.
2005: Woody (5 out of 5 stars)
I shouldn’t have said the comment about wearing the same costume over and over. For the year of 2005, I did it. I didn’t rework an old Halloween costume. I did rework a costume I wore for another reason. Each year, our company has a “springtime party”. Usually, the store picks a theme for the party. We decided on Disney as ours. It was obvious to all on who I should be. I am tall and lanky. I had the perfect frame to be Toy Story’s, Woody. Like always, I made the outfit myself. I purchased a yellow shirt and drew red lines on it. I took an old white tee-shirt and made it a cow patched vest. The hat was lent to me by a customer. It was fun dressing as Woody. Not to sound sappy but when a little kid would see me, they would get all excited that Woody was there. I got plenty of compliments from how well it turned it. The only thing that put a damper in the whole costume was the prize. It was said the best costume would get a 25 dollar gift card. I was a shoe in. I was even told I was going to win. Time passes and when the winner was announced,
Everyone won. Everyone who dressed up wins.
Any prize? No. Thanks for taking the prize from me. I wasn’t looking for the prize but with the work I put in to it and knowing that I was destined to win, it pissed me off. Let’s skip forward to the current year of 2005. I just switched stores. It was just the start of October. I was again out of ideas and dressing up at this store was a big no. It wasn’t forbidden. They like it when we dress up. They just don’t want us to look scary or if you’re a lady, slutty. I didn’t know many people there. I was still the new guy and wasn’t sure what people would think of me walking in with a bad ass costume. So I went to work that day in plain work clothes. I had no interest in going out. I was going to stay home and relax. A friend called and wanted me to join him at his party. I like beer so I couldn’t pass it up. With no idea on what to be, I decided to rummage through some old costumes and pulled out the woody costume. I ended up buying a hat for it. I know I didn’t really reuse a Halloween costume but I did reuse one. Not my greatest moment but the costume was and still is bad ass. It’s probably one of my best costumes I have ever made.
As you can tell, the costumes are getting better. Trust me, the next batch of costumes (2006-2009) will blow your mind! I will conclude the Halloween segment of my site with the announcement and the chronicle the events that lead up to the completion of 2010’s costume. I hope you’re enjoying the series. Please take the time to take the below poll. I’d love to know which costume is your favorite. Again, if have a costume photo, send it my way. I’d love to see them. I might even post some I love!
pitweston
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