Tae’s H’Ween Costume

Halloween is pretty much the only holiday I acknowledge. I start putting my decorations up at the end of August, and the rest go up in October. Samhain. Temporarily thinning the veil between life and death. Putting to rest everything from the previous year and moving into the next. I always see this bit of time between November and the calendar new year as a sort of limbo, the year is done- we’re just wrapping up the loose threads before the next can officially begin. It also helps that my birthday is very close to it. 😉

This year I had two costumes for the festivities. One for walking around and another for dancing in. The first costume was my interpretation of the Black Rabbit of Inle from “Watership Down“. For anyone who hasn’t read the story the Black Rabbit is the bunny-grim-reaper figure, who ensures all rabbits die at their predestined time. A haunting noir shade that floats in and guides dying rabbits to their afterlife. “Inle” means moon or darkness in the rabbit language (Lapine) in the book.

I chose this character because this particular Halloween was very important to me. Moving into the next stage of my life, relocating back to the city this summer, and have had a lot of changes this past year. I wanted to acknowledge the end of what was before and guide that part of my life out so I can fully exist in the “now”. (I sound like a fruitcake, yes?) So instead of a scythe and cloak I went for the Inle theme (plus any excuse for bunnyears is a good one).

My friend Ritesh Das took some incredible photos of me in my costume this week! No, that’s not my real hair- it’s a cheap wig I bought for the costume. 🙂

I made the bunny-ear headdress myself! It has all sorts of antique trim, jet beading, and huge black fake flowers. And dangling bows and ribbons, of course.

It was very weird being a brunette. I’m so accustomed to being the freckled ginger that suddenly having raven black hair was a real shock. I did love having 52″ of hair though, oh yes! I couldn’t stop touching it, I wish my natural hair was that long!

I chose to wear velvet head to toe because rabbit pelts are so soft and lovely- like velvet! The necklace is a real rabbit skull I painted with silver-leaf paint.