Thursday, October 30, 2008

La Catrina

I am going to attend a Halloween party this Saturday. Halloween is on Friday and Dia De Los Muertos is on Saturday…so is All Saints’ Day. I got my costume inspiration from the day of the dead celebrations. If you don’t know what either of those days celebrate, google it.

Meet La Catrina:
Photobucket

La Calavera de la Catrina(“The skull of the female dandy”)Zinc etching by Mexican printmaker José Guadalupe Posada-1913

In a nutshell, she is the female version of death. Some say that the figure, depicted in an ornate hat fashionable at the time, is intended to show that the rich and fashionable, despite their pretensions to importance, are just as susceptible to death as anyone else. Ain’t that the truth?

La Catrina is associated with a common symbol of Dia De Los Muertos, the Calavera which means “skull.” Her origins go back to Aztec mythology where they celebrated the goddess Mictecacihuatl (The Lady of the Dead). She was believed to be the queen of the underworld and kept watch over the bones of the dead. Want to see her?
Photobucket

At first, I wanted to go with more of a skull face…like La Catrina:
Photobucket

But as I did more research, I became drawn to the flowers and designs adorning Mictecacihuatl’s face:
Photobucket

My favorite artist, Josh Johnson, is going to help me out by drawing/painting the designs on my face. I am going to have some bones on display, but you will have to wait and see which ones I am showing.

I found the perfect hat for the costume:
Photobucket
It’s tall and has a very wide brim. It was very hard to find as it is more of a spring hat. In the winter, the stores mostly sell felt hats. Thank goodness for T-T-T_TJ Maxx.

I spray painted it black and will add flowers, feathers, and what not to it to make it perfect.

Photobucket

It would be cool if I had a dress like this:
Photobucket
But I don’t. Therefore, I opted to go with a more modern version of The Lady of the Dead. I found a super cool dress at a thrift store. I think that it will do just fine.

Look at these versions:
Photobucket
Photobucket

And now look at these people attempting the costume but failing in a major way:
Photobucket
"La Pimpina"

href="http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y241/sarahsmile3/Halloween%202008/?action=view¤t=76101269_adcfc87cb2.jpg" target="_blank">Photobucket

At least the dog looks cool

These people are on the right track
Photobucket

I hope my costume works out. I am so excited!!!!
Happy Halloween to you all!

4 Comments:

Blogger Tracy Fennell said...

This is officially an AWESOME costume idea. Rawk.

5:47 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Love it! Want to see some pics! I'll call Dalasaurus this weekend.

3:14 AM  
Blogger j3 said...

dope concept...only you can perfectly pull it off. i really dig the renditions too--very cool.

i am j3 and i endorse this message.

3:49 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The lady with the boa made me snort and water came out of my nose.

12:43 PM  

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home