in need of halloween plans for the weekend? here are a few suggestions going on this weekend...
...in new york:
the 36th annual village halloween parade takes place on saturday from 7 to 11 pm on the avenue of the americas between spring and 21st streets. the annual parade is open to any costumed member of the public and features live bands, enormous puppets, dancers, visual artists and revelers from all walks of new york city life.
…in boston:
tonight check out a very halloween-ish lineup of bands, including a place to bury strangers, dead confederate and all the saints, playing at the middle east upstairs (472 mass ave in cambridge). show starts at 8pm, tickets $12.
…in chicago:
the monsters of folk are playing tonight at the auditorium theater (50 e. congress), at 7:30pm. or catch a screening of the rocky horror picture show, tonight and tomorrow night at midnight at the music box. the screening includes a pre-show dance party and costume contest.
…in los angeles:
on saturday night lacma will hold their popular annual halloween party, with this year’s theme inspired by the current exhibit heroes and and villains: the battle for good in india's comics. the event includes extended hours, live music, djs spinning, complimentary cocktails and, of course, a costume contest (previous winners included an ostrich and centaur).
...and last but not least, in philly (in case you aren't attending pearl jam or the world series...)
a bowling costume party! the 5th annual vampire and vixens halloween party at lucky strike (1338 chestnut st, center city). $10 in advance or $15 at the door and includes one free drink and entry in the costume contest. vip tickets are $30 in advance and $40 at the door, and get you open bar from 9-12pm and exclusive access to the vip floor.
or, just head over to the infamous eastern state penitentiary on friday and saturday night with terror behind the walls, when the prison becomes a massive haunted house. the tour starts at 7pm and costs $30.
i’ve lived in philly my whole life and have never done this because i’ve heard it’s that scary.
photos from the village halloween parade, taken by joe marquez.
the other day i posted some ideas for decorating pumpkins that don't involve carving, and one of our readers sent these photos of some awesome painted pumpkins that i just had to share...read jennifer's comment and check out the pumpkins below!
for the past 5 years I've been painting pumpkins for andy's pumpkin express. myself and about 20 other artists from the state paint the pumpkins and they get sold at the event in brick NJ. 100% of the proceeds go to the diabetes fund. pumpkins are done in acrylic paint. every artist there has a specialty pretty much; theres landscape painters, portrait painters ect. i'm more of the animals/movie poster painter, and every year i do another led zeppelin pumpkin.
thanks for sharing jennifer, your pumpkins rock! especially the led zeppelin one :)
that's right...it's girls on film on music, halloween edition! here are some creepy cuts selected by bunny and monkey (a.k.a. the girls of girls on film on music).
the rolling stones - some girls
easy dress up option for men – be a girl. problem being that even men as pretty as mick make seriously unattractive women…
bananarama - the greatest hits collection
blonde, brunette and redhead - a pick n’ mix for three ladies in need of a group costume pronto. and then you get to walk around and tell everyone you’re being “banaaaah-nah-raaaah-mah”.
kate bush - never forever
this album is kate at her best, both in terms of her songs ("babooshka", "army dreamer") and cover art…one musician on this album is credited with playing the harmonica, mandolin, balalaika, sitar, koto, banshee, saw, mando and delius. i have the feeling the “banshee” is the official instrument of hallowe’en…
steve martin - a wild and crazy guy
A SUIT AND BUNNY EARS. a man on the same page as me when it comes to his sartorial approach. and i do mean just every day.
bobby "boris" pickett - monster mash
thriller may be the current “grave yard smash” but i’ve always has a certain affinity for this one. and don’t be surprised if at the holidays i’m suggesting you pick up "monsters' holiday”...
misfits - walk amoung us*
anything by the misfits on halloween is prime, but i think danzig really knocked it out of the park on this one, zombies, martians, checking with your mom if it's ok to kill tonight, perfect!
various artists - luxury condos coming to your neighborhood soon
though it never received the attention of athens or seattle, hoboken was one of major players in the '80s indie scene, and the evanescent coyote records helped document this scene with this 1986 compilation. how is this halloween you ask? “elvis, what happened? what happened was you died” lyrics from the mr. bonus song “elvis, what happened?” proving that if you look, anything can me spooky.
last week i asked you all to send in some of your halloween costume ideas and pictures. i’ve gotten some great ideas so far, but i’m giving you more time to send ideas and pics, seeing as halloween is this weekend. so for now, here are some of the ideas from our readers and home office employees to get the creative juices flowing…
oh and the rad robot costume was one of our home office employees last year…can’t wait to see what people have in store for this year!
homemade raggedy ann and andy costumes - ann hair was done by tying red yarn to a filigree-styled headband and bowing it at top. only cost was matching socks ($5) and sailor hat ($5) - from janella
for halloween, i'm going to the beaux arts ball here in lexington (the hood internet is going to be there!) & i'm going as a g lion. i spray-painted a party dress gold today and made a gold petticoat to go underneath, as well as spray-painted a tail and ears. i have really african-inspired earrings and lots of gold makeup, and i'm going to tease my hair to no end! last year i was amelia earhart, before that laura ingalls wilder, marie antoinette and elizabeth I. loving those historical female figures! – from leslie
my boyfriend and i are going as peace and quiet: i'll be a hippie and he'll be a mime! – from alyssa
i'm being a star trek geek! - anonymous
wednesday adams – from employee
little bo peep and her sheep – from employee and friends
as for me...i’m going to be at a pearl jam show on halloween, so i’m taking that opportunity to dress in 90s grunge gear…my inspiration is rayanne graff from my so called life.
A little late for Halloween posts, but we left our cameras at home!
The whole buying team and some of Free People Direct dressed up as coke cans on Halloween! One of the buyers made all of the red tube dresses and everyone stenciled their own, added their own Americana accessories (denim jackets and Converse) and wore can tabs on chains around their necks.
Happy Halloween! I hope everyone has a fun way to celebrate and have a big hurrah before winter arrives!
Here at the home office, we are happily enjoying a number of festivities, including an adorable doggy costume parade thrown by our sister brand, Anthropologie! I went over and had a look, and there were so many cute little costumes! I snapped a few pictures; check them out!
Here comes the parade, led by a cute lobster and a football star!
A cute little bat!
Detective Pug is looking for clues...
Meanwhile Hula Dancer Pug gets ready to dance!
Here we have a great big bumble bee!
...And a little tiny bumble bee!
Last but not least, my personal favorite doggy costume, the Phillies Phanatic! So cute!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on October 31, 2008 11:47 AM
Spookshows.com just added a collection of vintage poison labels to their collection of Halloween images. You can download a zip file with high quality images and can do with them what you wish. The site suggests cutting them out and putting them on cocktail glasses for your Halloween party!
"Anoka, Minnesota is believed to be the first city in the United States to put on a Halloween celebration to divert its youngsters from Halloween pranks. When Anokans awoke to find their cows roaming Main Street, their windows soaped and their outhouses tipped over, they decided something had to be done."
"Anoka has always worked to keep a family spirit alive in its Halloween festivities. Activities have included pillow fights, a kangaroo court, fireworks displays, royalty coronations, concerts, dances, window painting contests, house decorating contests, celebrity appearances, costume contests, style shows, story-telling, races and, in the 1960s, a snake dance that took long lines of participants in and out of area businesses and homes."
Sounds like fun! Check out the site for more history and some cute old photos.
Check out this fun horsey that showed up outside of Building 543 today! He is so festive and perfect for the season! The horse was bought at a charity pumpkin auction!
Those googly eyes crack me up!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on October 29, 2008 5:13 PM
Heidi over on My Paper Crane made these amazing gingerbread skeleton cookies. They look so cute and delicious. The recipe is vegan and can be found on ChooseVeg.com.
As you might have noticed, we are really getting in the mood for the Halloween Season here at Free People! It's so much fun!
We went around the home office and asked people to tell us about their most memorable Halloweens. There were so many cute and hilarious stories - have a look at our video and see for yourself!
Don't forget to check out our latest B15 Threads as well! Luren from our Visual Display Team shows us how to make the cutest tutus!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on October 24, 2008 1:41 PM
Hooray! We have a new Free People wallpaper for you, and it has a super cute Halloween-theme, made for you by our graphic designers! I have it as my desktop right now!
Go here to download it, and be sure to check out our desktop wallpaper set on Flickr for more fun FP wallpaper!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on October 24, 2008 1:25 PM
Halloween in Philadelphia always brings talk of the Eastern State Penitentiary, a creepy old historical prison where they do a haunted house every year.
Right now you can also view an exhibit called Ghost Cats by Linda Brenner. The work consists of a series of white cat sculptures, representing the colony of cats that lived on the prison grounds until the closing in 1971.
I've posted one of Ann Wood's castles and a boat before, but this one was made for Halloween! Ann constructed this cardboard wonder for the window at the Lower East Side shop Johnson (you can see it in person until Halloween).
Check out her blog for some detail shots and to hear about the hidden ghosts and enchanted horse!
It's getting very autumnal outside, and here at the home office, that means it's time to paint pumpkins! People from all the brands got together this afternoon and painted pumpkins which will be auctioned off to raise money for the Children’s Scholarship Fund of Philadelphia. The fund provides tuition assistance to help Philadelphia children, in K- 8th grades gain access to safe, high quality schools. We had such a blast painting pumpkins! Some of them turned out to be real works of art!
Yay autumn!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on October 20, 2008 4:13 PM
How About Orange posted these free pumpkin carving patterns from World Wildlife Fund. Check her site, she also posted some other pumpkin carving sites. I did a google search to try to find really amazing pumpkins, but all I could find were pumpkins carved into creepy animals or presidents' heads. Does anyone have any cool links???
Another cool feature happening with flickr groups... Check out this collection of vintage halloween images. Anyone can post images from the 1800's-1960's. Find amazing postcards, decorations, and costumes. Does anyone still bob for apples?
