Dress like heiress or rock star to give Halloween a new twist

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Oct 22, 2004 | by Scott Iwasaki Deseret Morning News

One of my favorite days is coming up. In nine days it will be Halloween.

I love Halloween. It gives me an excuse to dress up . . . the same way I do all the other 364 days of the year.

There's just something that gets me going when I think of Halloween.

I love vampires, bats, werewolves, skeletons, jack-o'-lanterns, spider webs, spiders, fangs, beady eyes, witches and warlocks.

And while I don't eat a lot of candy, I do love the trick-or- treaters. I love seeing what kinds of costumes they are wearing.

Recently, while reading some music news online, I came across a couple of the scariest Halloween costumes I've ever seen:

-- The scariest is of hotel heiress/overrated media star Paris Hilton, available on www.Buycostumes.com. The get-up features a blue stretch denim lace-up tank top, matching ruffle skirt, removable "Hello My Name is Paris H." badge and a stuffed puppy. The puppy, of course, is named Tinkerbell. It's scary, I know, but at least it's not the costume Hilton wore . . . or didn't wear . . . in her infamous homemade video.

-- The second scariest costume is the one of Kelly Osbourne. It's got a black jacket, attached pink tie and black, pinstriped Capri pants. You provide the make-up.

After seeing these two costumes, I got to thinking about other Halloween costumes I'd like to see, which would be much more palatable than those:

-- David Bowie during his Ziggy Stardust days. A glitter-covered orange, flared-leg jumpsuit with a spiked wig of orange hair. That would spice up the night.

-- Alice Cooper. A white, sleeveless unitard (also with flared legs) and a black top hat, along with eye make-up and a python (real or stuffed, your choice).

-- Kiss has been done to death, but how about the leather masks of Slipknot.

-- Then there's the Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket hat of guitarist Buckethead.

-- Marilyn Manson would be an interesting endeavor. Of course, it depends on where he is in his, ahem, artistic pursuit. Long stringy hair, white contact lenses and a form-fitting body stocking, perhaps?

-- An Ashlee Simpson costume would have a reversible wig to go from blond to brunette in the blink of an eye.

-- Eminem wannabes could dress up as Michael Jackson.

-- A couple of years ago, one of the teachers in my daughters' school dressed up as a volcano. That would be good this year, too, a la Mount St. Helens.

-- Or perhaps you could get together with your two closest friends and hit the streets with portable fans, calling yourselves Jeanne, Francis and Charley. But not if you're trick-or-treating in Florida.

E-mail: scott@desnews.com