Bigass Party Weekend Wrap-Up: Funky Friday in Snakes and Pleather; Baby Blue Rain Gear; The Undead October Party With Video!

Welcome back, Gentle Readers! I hope you're ready to get your spooky on, 'cause it's Hallowe'en in my house! I have some seasonal outfits, but best of all, I am back with a new video (now that I have a phone and can take better ones) of our house decorated for our annual October Party. And I have MANY party pics, so get yourself a cup of something cozy and settle in, my friends! The Undead await you...[cue spooky music]

Starting us off is my Funky Friday outfit, featuring these new-to-me black pleather pants.

No more stair pics unless it's brighter in the morning. It's too freakin' dark out!

• Blouse - Divided, thrifted; first seen here in April with orange trousers
• Pants - FRNCH, thrifted NWT; purchased here for $34.95
• Shoes - Groovy Aubrey, Fluevog; last worn here in September with skants
• Leather coat (below) - Danier Leather, consignment; last seen here in June

I paired the bold pants with my snaky blouse, picked up in the spring - I knew it would be fun for the fall season. 

As it's long on the sides and short on the front and back, it lets me show off the belted waistband. I loved how big the pockets were in the pants, as you can see. 

So many snakes, even skeletal snakes! 

The pants were quite stiff and noisy at times, but I liked the baggy cut. Winners! 

Of course, I matched my outerwear! I knew it was going to start raining hard by afternoon. The leather jacket dried out and the angora/wool hat kept my hair dry.

I had a lot of stuff to lug home - I popped out during the day to pick up supplies for the party. 

Accoutrements: 

Big fan of the new-to-me bucket hat, picked up in the summer at the vintage fair at Market Square. 

• Silk scarf - Lanvin, vintage 70s, consignment
• Bucket hat - Picabo, vintage 00s, vintage fair; purchased here for $24.00
• Gloves - Parkhurst

The stuff: 

My colleague Raouf admired the shoes with the pants. 

Snaky bling: 

The belt is eelskin, close enough. 

• Eelskin belt - Yves Saint Laurent, vintage 80s, thrifted
• Lace cuff - Nashville
• Tortoiseshell snake bracelet - vintage, antique shop
• Earrings - Red Sky
• Silver/onyx snake ring - c. 1986, gift from Mom & Dad
• Silver snake ring - c. 1986, BC Museum Gift Shop

Oops, something's missing.

Another snake!

• Snake brooch - c. 1986, gift from Mom & Dad

L and I spent Friday night playing boardgames and listening to music, while the rain lashed down. It's another Atmospheric River (or as they used to say, "It's going to rain a lot"). 

We were up early on Saturday for brunch, and we had many errands to run in preparation for our annual October Party that night! We were celebrating my birthday of a couple of weeks back, plus longtime readers will know that I'm a fan of Hallowe'en. Last year, it was the Fancy Party - this year, it was the Undead Party. 

I dressed for the rain - some comfy grey things. This is another pre-planned outfit from the Closet Swap-Over (I'm getting close to the end of those outfits). 

• Sweater - Luisa Cerano, thrifted; last seen here in November 2023 with mixed metals
• Trousers - Twik, consignment; purchased here for $10.00
• Shoes - Asos, consignment; last worn here during our August trip to Powell River
• Leather coat (below) - Jeno de Paris, consignment, Powell River; last seen here in April

We met up with Nick for brunch at John's Place, which was PACKED with a huge line-up of people standing outside with dripping umbrellas. 

I only looked like this while we were warm inside, and gobbling down our yummy brunch. 

I love the sweater, which is nice and drapey, with tiny sequins sewn into the wool. 

The new-to-me trousers were fine - I still like a slim leg pant. 

Rear view is good. 

They don't hugely inspire me, but I'll probably wear them a few more times before they go off to Limbo. 

This is how I looked most of the afternoon. 

What you don't see? An umbrella - I hate them. "I may be sweet, but I'm not made of sugar," I often say - a little water won't hurt me! 

Accoutrements: 

I'm not sure what possessed me to pull out my purple gloves - they don't go with this new-to-me scarf. I think I was trying to match with the lilac edging on the coat. Ah, well. 

• Purse - Rebecca Minkoff, thrifted
• Scarf - Givenchy 2012, consignment, gift from L
• Gloves - Danier Leather

The stuff: 

I have my eye on a pair of upgrades for these plastic/vinyl shoes - Fluevog is having another Sample Sale in the Victoria store in a couple of weeks. Uh, YEAH, I will be there with my gift cards!

Spooky bling: 

I wore the brooches on my sweater. 

• Belt - Nygard
• Bug brooch - Le Chateau
• Cthulhu brooch - gift from Cat and Ross
• Skeleton earrings - Baublebar; purchased at Winners here for $16.99
• Silver snake ring - BC Museum Gift Shop, 1986
• Silver/onyx spider ring - gift from Mom & Dad, 1986

I had a browse in the Beacon Ave Thrift Shop next door while L and Nick held our spot in line, and found this chain necklace.

It's a snarl of knots, what a mess. 

But only $5.00!

And I noted that the strips are real leather, not fake. 

Untangled (I'm really good at undoing knots in chains and jewelry).

This has a nice rock & roll vibe to it. 

After lunch, we ran our errands (sex shop for wigs, drug store to help Nick find temporary hair dye, to the record shop for L because...L likes music, and then a massive grocery shop), came home and tidied up, set up food platters and dishes, and L built a playlist.

Vizzini, you'd better advise your buddies! We're having a party! 

"I'd like to thank you all for coming. The humans are going to be loud."

I won't keep you in suspense - L and I did a couples' costume, as Nadja and Laszlo from the TV show "What We Do in the Shadows", a mockumentary about vampires living on Staten Island. It's a very funny, droll show, and inspired us to do our Vampire Anniversary photoshoot (here) back in 2020. 

One of our errands during the day was to go get wigs for both L and I - kudos and thanks to the lovely owners of the Adam & Eve Boutique (best sex shop in town!) for helping us out.

And here I am in Nadja mode. 

I wore a few of the same components from our anniversary.

• Suede jacket - Danier Leather, vintage 80s, last worn here for that same photoshoot in March 2020
• Top (below) - April Cornell, vintage 90s, thrifted; last seen here with this same skirt in October 2023 (a witchy PANK outfit)
• Skirt - Twinset, consignment; last worn here in April with more PANK
• Shoes - Classy Nora, Fluevog; last seen here in January with tweed and velvet

Some of the photos are blurry - there was much rushing around.

I tried to wear these round red sunnies (had them for decades - we also have them in blue), but couldn't do it. Too much red! 

Rear view. 

I had many fans of the long black hair on me.

I started with the above outfit, then shucked the heavy suede jacket after a couple of hours, and lounged around in this top.

The top, skirt and shoes are all part of my regular outfit. Shopping my closet! 

After 10:30pm, I changed into my long, sheer black lace dress. I took these pics then.

I layered this vintage nylon teal slip (a pic of me in it solo here, from October 2022) under it - the neckline matched so well. 

• Dress - consignment; purchased here for $60.00
• Slip - vintage, thrifted, not tracked
• Shoes - Summertime Moonbeams, Fluevog 2007, consignment; last seen here last week

I always like to do a more sexy outfit later on. 

I felt like a queen in this. And I did abandon the shoes after about an hour - I was barefoot for the rest of the night.

Accoutrements: 

I forgot about the lace cuffs for the first outfit pics, but did remember to put them on eventually. The stomacher is from my steampunk days, around 2012, I think - it was in the Archive box with the suede jacket and I realized that I could loosen up the laces and it would fit 10+-years older me just fine. 

• Stomacher - can't remember, but bought at Heart's Content in Fan Tan Alley
• Cuffs - LA Express, 1994

The stuff: 

Nadja wears her hair in little cone buns...and when I saw the cat ears at Adam & Eve, I knew they would work perfectly. 

• Earrings - thrifted
• Silver/crystal ring - Soul Flower
• Silver/onyx ring - Tocara, vintage fair
• Brooch (not shown) - vintage, thrifted
• Cat ears - Adam & Eve Boutique, $5.50

I did my outfit change in my closet and dumped all my stuff in a pile, so forgot about the brooch - I wore it at the neck of the blouse in the first outfit.

I got pics of L as "Jackie Daytona, regular human bartender", an alias of Laszlo's, but by the time he changed, we were both rather...enthused...with the party and neglected to take any pictures of his transformation.

L's wig covers his curly grey hair, and we darkened up his beard/moustache with some Just For Men stuff that was three times the price of mascara (it's totally just mascara). Men, if you want to temporarily darken your facial hair, just buy mascara! 

Everything is from our closets - a white vintage shirt with very boring (human) cufflinks, a tie from an old skirt of mine, a brown vest, his everyday jeans (cuffed, as worn by Jackie), and his work shoes. 

A totally normal outfit of human clothing! 

In one episode of the show, Laszlo is disguised as Jackie by using a wooden toothpick.

"Oh, hello, sexy human! What a lovely specimen you are! Perhaps I should chomp your neck!"

And then he removes the toothpick...

"Laszlo! It was you all along!"

I look extremely goofy there, but I was in character - Nadja's very over-the-top! - most of the night. It was a lot of fun, and a great time was had by all. 

Now, are you ready to see our decorations? 

Enter at your own risk! Welcome to Lucky Brew's Bar & Grill, with new proprietor, Jackie Daytona, regular human bartender. 

Please click here to enjoy a 4-minute YouTube video I made. It's also narrated by me, so turn the sound on and forgive the rambling. Stay to the end, there's a special guest kitty appearance! 

For me, the best part of a costume is the props, and the additional little things that make the outfits real. 

I know the close-bracket is missing - I was in a hurry.

I made this tour posted with the top half image found online. I pointed out to people "by popular demand!" and volunteered to sing (the joke is that Nadja and Laszlo are TERRIBLE). 

I also made a copy of the record album (also snagged online), the centre label of the record, and made the splash graphic.

This was the source of much hilarity. 

I volunteered to sing "Kokomo" and warbled it off-key, to our guests' horror.

We also had a party poll: "What are the best kinds of skirts?" Of course I answered, "Hoop Skirt, Poop Skirt" which the pollsters had missed (shocking), which resulted in even more hilarity, and a trip to my closet to explain to a bunch of my male friends what mini, midi, maxi, pencil, mermaid, etc. etc. skirts were. So educational!

I didn't take a lot of photos of the decorations due to the video, but snapped a couple of my favourite things. 

My little black glitter wire tree and decorations. 

I found this doll head at the Dollar Store last week, and thought it went well on the veggie platter. 

The broccoli was the most popular, followed by the carrots.

I was inspired by an image I saw online of a cheese ball covered in prosciutto to make an arm and a hand - I made the fingers out of pepperoni. 

Cheese, fruit and chips. 

Another "arm and hand" platter, gummy eyeballs, cheesy poufs, and an extra platter of meat.

This was fairly late in the party - the food was almost untouched until that point of the party hit when everyone becomes ravenous, and then it was all gone! I also had dishes of Hallowe'en candy all over the party area. 

And now, our amazing friends, who really WENT with the theme and outdid themselves. Huge THANKS and love to all of them for committing to the theme! 

Our undead pirate ghost (note the homemade seaweed on his shoulder), Greg, and Michael, who was a De-Composer, right down to the leaves in his hair. Such a great idea from such a bad pun. 

Roseanna outdid herself as always, turning an old Amelia Earhart costume into an "Amelia Earhart lost at sea" costume to be undead. 

Emma - our fabulous downstairs neighbour - came as a recently-turned vampire clergy. I appreciate the fresh blood and her actual vampire fangs (they stayed in all night!). 

Casey also came as a vampire, a very classy one with an ascot.

L in the kitchen as Laszlo in the background, and another shot of Roseanna. 

Ugh, my phone focused on the cat scratching post (yes, that is what I wanted, phone!!). Roseanna had little gold pearls on her face, and green-tinted make-up and hair. She made the headpiece for her original costume, and added the plastic "coral" branches and seashells. 

The crab on the left started life as a scorpion skeleton from the Dollar Store, that she modified - she made the squishy cloth shell. 

The goggles even have a plane image! 

In awe of this creativity! 

Linda and Brad arrived - that's her on the left (no shot of Brad, sorry, B!) as a succubus. Randall (middle) wore his skull shirt.

Nick had his punk costume from previous parties, and put blue dye in his hair - I made him up lightly to look undead. 

Alison and Tony came as bats!

Ooh, so scary! 

Alison brought this amazing purple velvet, satin-lined cape to give to me, but I already have two dressy capes that I rarely wear, so I gratefully declined. 

Yvonne was the lucky recipient, and looked stunning in it. 

Vero with Caro (middle) and Linda. 

Caro did zombie make-up. She missed wearing lipstick! 

Vero had a fresh vampire wound on her neck (not visible here). 

I loaned her my gold skeleton hands for the evening, and she wore this amazing taffeta brocade skirt that she bought from me in July. 

I loved Cat's costume - she was a forest ghoul! 

She made the dress from an old duvet cover (amazing!). Those are an old pair of Fluevogs of mine that I passed along to her - I love seeing them again, but she kicked them off pretty quickly.

Ross was a walker from The Walking Dead. He's wearing a mask (he's good at masks!). 

Totally creepy, man! 

A Saviors patch on the jacket.

From the Neegan years. 

Casey and Ross looking extra scary! 

Rock on, my dudes! You guys are the best! 

Michael held up two of the gummy eyeballs.

This is one of my favourite pictures of the night. 

Amanda did an ode to one of the new Beetlejuice movie characters. 

Love all that stitching! So cool! 

Me and Emma.

See, I've put my lace cuffs on. 

Caro and Emma, who took her white over-piece off. Sorry, our place is always warm for parties.

Sexy dress! We laughed - she didn't put shoes on. "I only live a couple of floors away!"

Randall, Ross, and the only pic of L as Laszlo. 

The party went on till the wee hours, with the last of our guests heading home at 2am.

Amanda, L and me (in character). 

"I will bite your neck!"

What a fun party - I so love seeing my friends and having a good time.

Can't wait till the next one! 

Just as things were winding down, my Winesday Women pulled me out on the deck to give me a birthday card and a $100 Fluevog gift card. 

Group shot! Caro, me, Vero, Cat (hee hee, in character) going after Yvonne. 

And all of our hands. Aw, I love you all so much, honeys. 

The golden skeletons are Vero, that's me with the purple nails (I stripped off the polish and cut my nails on Sunday), then Caro, then Yvonne, then Cat, going counter-clockwise. 

And one final shot of me - rather blurry again, sorry! 

Showing the "Bite Me" nylons I found at the thrift store recently for $1.95. 

Vizzini, are you sufficiently recovered today? 

"I wish more chips had been spilled."

He was out hoovering around for food once everyone was in full festivity! 

I hope you enjoyed our fun-filled weekend. Thank you so much for dropping by!