Inside your head

Skulls: usually, they remind me too much of my brief, shameful dalliance with Hot Topic in middle school for me to wear myself. But in honor of Halloween being tomorrow, we’ve rounded up some jewelry and accessories that would not be found on any faux-goth eighth-graders.

And if you’re talking about skulls, you gotta start with the obvious: Ring, Alexander McQueen, $250.

For the menz: Muerte oxfords, Esquivel, $898.80.

Skull rings, Dior.

Diamond earrings, Jude Frances, $4,800.

Scarf, Topshop, £10.00

Skeletal… cuff? Man, we don’t even know, but it’s kind of fantastic, Delfina Delettrez Fendi.

Sugar skull coin purses, mexicansugarskull.com, 12 for $66.

DJ Skullhead ring from Japanese line Hysteric Glamour.

OK, that’s all for today, gotta finish my costume and get the keg! Yay!

Spooky Scary

Yep, that's Heidi as Shiva. Courtesy of Seventeen.com

As we’ve discussed before, Heidi Klum LOVES dressing up for Halloween. Here are some of her costume ideas, as highlighted by Seventeen.  Sephora windows are highlighting looks for Halloween, but Bare Minerals is giving away treats today for every day looks when you spend $50.  Treats included are the hydrating mineral veil – (it that goes on after you apply your makeup to lock in moisture), primer, exfoliator called RareMinerals renew & reveal, cleanser, a moisturizer called RareMinerals purely nourishing that’s supposed to increase cell renewal as well as an additional moisturizer. Not to shabby, and zero calories, unlike many other treats available today.

If you’re like some of us at Philly Weekly and decided to wait until the last minute to figure out a costume, be sure to watch this Daily Candy video on costumes you can throw together including a Cereal Killer and a Kraft Singles cheese slice.  The Today Show also had costume ideas on this morning that can be pulled together last minute, including the Fanta girls.

Glamour has some do’s and don’ts for Halloween, including walking around like a stripper. Hmm. We tend to think that Halloween is the day when you can get away with almost anything but we guess there are still some rules.

And, if you’re having buyers remorse about your Halloween costume, don’t worry. At least you didn’t buy these $400 Louis Vuitton Bunny Ears that Rachel Zoe is in love with. Usually we like Rachel’s picks, even the high end ones, but $400 bucks for ears? Really?

Mad for Mad Men

Trends from Mad Men seem to be popping up all over. Marie Claire as well as Sammy Davis Vintage, a website run by Temple University grad Sammy Davis have caught on – have you? We’ve read that 1960’s designs like those from Mad Men emerge in times of economic struggle. Perhaps Mad Men isn’t just a look for Halloween. Hmm…

Lauren Conrad also has a look that seems to go back in time. Glamour asks – are you a fan of her newly bobbed and darkened locks? Glamour also asks if you keep it cute, sexy or full out skanky for Halloween.

Check out Rittenhouse Square’s website for info on their costume competition – skanky or not, they’d love to have you.

What Mean Girls taught me about Halloween

Karen: Why are you dressed so scary?
Cady: It’s Halloween!

Mean Girls is one of my favorite movies. There– I said it! Hilariously written and directed, it stars a then-teen ‘It Girl’ Lindsay Ho-Han (pre-public deterioration) and has amazing comedic supporting roles by Rachel McAdams (The Notebook, The Time-Traveler’s Wife), Lacey Chabert (Party of Five), Lizzy Caplan (Freaks and Geeks, True Blood), Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia), Neil Flynn (Scrubs), Amy Poehler (Upright Citizens Brigade, SNL) and– the one and only — Tina Fey.

Fey, who also wrote the script, touched on an amazingly accurate unwritten rule of “Girl World” about Halloween:  “In the real world, Halloween is a night when children dress up in costumes and beg for candy. In “Girl World”, Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it. Unfortunately, no one told me about the slut rule.”

I’ll go ahead and say that in some ends of pop culture, this rule isn’t just for high school. Don’t believe me? Go to any state college campus or Old City this weekend. In honor of Emily G’s Unnecessarily Sexy Halloween Costume Roundup, I’ve decided to share a favorite scene. Enjoy:

Halloween roundup 4: ART HISTORY 100 COSTUMES

Halloween is getting closer! It’s, like, this weekend. I’m so excited! So here’s another roundup of potential costumes, this time inspired by that Art History 100 class you took freshman year. But nothing where you’re going to have to carry a giant picture frame around all night, we’re aware that bulky costumes get real old real fast. Here’s some figures from art who are still recognizable when they step out of the frame:

ARTIST: Roy Lichtenstein

WORK: Any of his comic-inspired paintings (although the example we used is “Girl With Hair Ribbon”)

DIFFICULTY: 10

GOOD FOR: Women (or men) who have a lot of patience and don’t touch their face habitually

OK, MAC has posted a bunch of Halloween tutorials and ideas on their facebook page, and while they’re all pretty neat, this one is amazing. I have no doubt that if I were to attempt this it would be smudged within ten minutes, and the costume/hair parts look like a pain a half to procure, but still. That’s great.

Kahlo, Magritte and more, after the jump…

More »

Over The Top

With Halloween right around the corner, we’re so glad that The Huffington Post has gathered pictures of inappropriate costumes. We’re not offended by much, but some of these costumes are a little surprising to say the least.

Glamour has their eye on Paris Hilton’s most recent up-do. What do you think?

Chanel seems to be into do it yourself manicures this season, with lines of green and now purple nail polish, as highlighted by Nylon Magazine.

Philadelphia Magazine posted a slideshow from Utley All-Star Animals, a night of shopping at Boyds which benefits the Pennsylvania SPCA.

Glamour highlighted these products back in February. On a dreary day like today when you might not want to wear wellies, we’re thinking they’re not such a bad idea. First off there are heel covers from Sole Mates that cover your heels, to prevent you from sinking into the grass.

According to their website, “The patented design of the SoleMates High Heeler™ is mechanically engineered to fit snugly on most heels and yet the flexible material grips securely without damaging the heel or compromising the aesthetics of the shoe.” Since we sometimes sink into the grass, we’re willing to give these babies a try.

Also highlighted in Glamour were Swims galoshes which are the chicest rain shoes we’ve ever seen. The rest of their line can be found on the swims website, which has a gorgeous layout and even tells you how many rain days cities from around the world have. While Philly isn’t included, New York is with 95 days of rain a year! It’s a far cry from Las Vegas with 18 rain days a year. Geeze.

Lastly, a model from the Ralph Lauren campaign was allegedly fired for weighing in at 120 pounds. At 5′10″ apparently that’s too much. Perhaps her firing paired with attention being paid to plus size models will lead to changes in the fashion industry?

Bat for Lashes

The Budget Fashionista has a great little breakdown on how to apply something many of us ladies like to wear around costume season: false eyelashes. I’ve made (and added on) a step-by-step based off of their super informative “how to” on fake fringe:

You will need: False eyelash kit, eyelash curler, cotton swabs, a mirror, patience.

1. Purchase a kit (preferably one with extra glue and remover).

2. Standing in front of a mirror, curl your own lashes with an eyelash curler

3. Carefully remove false eyelashes from the kit and measure to your lash line. If the lashes are too long, trim them with a pair of small eyebrow/grooming scissors before you bond them– don’t risk cutting your own lashes!

4. Use the enclosed applicator to place the lashes while applying a thin line of glue. Give the adhesive a minute to get tacky. Once the glue is ready, apply the lashes to your upper eyelid.

5. Let them set for a minute (don’t touch them except to adjust them on your lash line), and then cover any exposed adhesive or awkward lines with with eyeliner. The Budget Fashionista recommends liquid liner.

Be sure to remove them before bed (especially if you wear contacts!), or you will have your hands full in the morning. I feel asleep with them on once and couldn’t open my left eye for a few minutes. Not fun. If you take them off within hours after wear, the lashes will peel off easily. Most pairs of false lashes are good to wear two times. Enjoy!

Is it Halloween yet?

We stylebloggers looooove Halloween so much that it’s– dare I say?– creepy. Emily G has had three Halloween themed round up posts (nerdy, unnecessarily sexy and childhood nostalgia) and has been talking about costume prep since before it was technically even Fall! My costume is in the making and is top secret! How’s yours coming along? Will it be ready in time for this?

Halloween roundup 1: NERD REFERENCE COSTUMES

Photo and pumpkin by the lovely Alli Katz

When I was but a wee Emily G, I’d throw on whatever leopard suit or fairy dress my poor thankless mother had sewed for me to wear, impatient to get down to the business end of Halloween: ungodly amounts of candy. I mean, I could be a Ninja Turtle anytime, I only was given nigh-unlimited free chocolate for doing so one day a year.

But now that I’m an adult and a wading pool of bite-sized Milky Ways is just a walk to K-Mart away, I just want to dress up. As an adult, I spend inordinate amounts of time coming up with costume ideas, starting about a month ago, but the obsession really begins today, the day after Labor Day.

I am not talking about sexy witch or sexy kitty-cat or Michael Jackson costumes, the latter about to surpass the Heath Ledger Joker as the most overdone costume in America and the formers being eternally boring, and I’m not talking about something that comes in a plastic bag from one of those Brigadoon-ass mall Halloween stores. I love to come up with things that nobody else is gonna  be wearing, but can be done without spending a ton of cash or energy.

So seeing as how it’s no longer appropriate to wear white and I wore a jacket out of the house today, I’d like to kick off the season with the category of The Nerd Reference Costume.

Dressing as something that’s really geeky is made simultaneously easier and more difficult by the presence of conventions and cosplay and the like; it means that while you may be able to find perfect replicas of Leeloo’s orange Gaultier suspenders from the Fifth Element for sale like fifteen years after the movie came out, they’re also priced for people who will be wearing them to the next 20 conventions they go to, rather than just the once. But here’s a few ideas that don’t require too much more than some thrift-store digging and maybe a trip to the Rite-Aid:

COSTUME: Herbert West

FROM: Re-Animator

GENDER: Male

PERFECT FOR: Guys who are or know someone in med school or are in science from whom they can get an old lab coat

BECAUSE: Re-Animator is a 1985 horror movie that probably did more damage to my psyche than 18 years of Catholicism; let’s just say that the phrase “getting head” will never be quite the same after this movie. Herbert West is a mad med student who discovers the secret of reanimating dead tissue (by injecting it with what appears to be glow-stick fluid). This one may be on the obscure side, but if you are lucky enough to run into someone of your sexual preference who recognizes you as Herbert West, you are officially on the fast track to getting laid.

PROPS: Green glowstick mocked up as huge syringe, big ’80s glasses, white lab coat, white dress shirt, black slacks, plain black tie, fake blood with which to spatter self

DIFFICULTY: 3/10

COSTUME: Colonial soldier

FROM: Battlestar Galactica

GENDER: Either

PERFECT FOR: People who have nice muscles

BECAUSE: The casual outfit for soldiers is both easy to throw together from stuff you already have and very distinctive. Plus, if you’re a lady who vaguely resembles Starbuck, you can keep a cigar clamped in your teeth all night, drink your whiskey straight out of the bottle and look like the biggest badass in the room.

PROPS: Gray high-necked tank top, black racer-back tank top worn backwards, dark-ish cargo-ish pants, hexagonal painted-silver cardboard dog tag, combat boots

DIFFICULTY: 1/10

COSTUME: Pris

FROM: Blade Runner

GENDER: Female

PERFECT FOR: Women who went through a goth phase in high school or know someone about their size who did

BECAUSE: Most of the identifiable cues are in the hair and facepaint, thus leaving you to string together the clothes with whatever ratty black stuff is left over from 8th grade. It will also help if you’re very tall, bendy and able to do cartwheels.

PROPS: White and black facepaint, black studded collar, black tube top, sheer black long-sleeved shirt, black shorts, those tights with the weird built-in garters they sometimes sell at K-Mart (ripped up), big black boots, tall black leg warmers, either a poofy Bowie wig or an entire can of hairspray

DIFFICULTY: 5/10 (for the makeup/hair/cartwheels)

Halloween: Don’t fret!

Halloween sexy; I get it.  A friend explained to me that Halloween is her “super slut” day and just to make sure she can be totally shameless, she usually hosts a party in her home.  In her words “if the party is at your house, you don’t have to wear pants!”

If you’re shopping locally for your Halloween slut-gear, check out Philly based Ebay store Supreme Awesomeness.