Halloween in My Closet: Part 4 : The 60′s Housewife

They don’t make housewives like they used to.

First off, I’d like to say I’m sorry for missing the past few days, I’ll make them up… we’ve just been having internet problems, so we missed yesterday. Go figure, just when I say I’ll so something, the internet will betray me.

Today, is Part 4 in my Halloween series, of costumes found in my closet. So far, I’ve been a sailor, a can-can girl, a circus ringleader, and today a 60′s housewife all with little or no additional cost. From now until Halloween, I’ll post a costume made mostly of the the clothes I already own. Of course I’ll need accessories, but while we still have time (4 days) I’ll only post accessories you’ll actually be able to acquire before Halloween. Towards the big day, I’ll work entirely with my own pre-existing wardrobe.

Housewife Essentials

My grandmother was the kind of woman who would scrub the toilet in pearls and high heels, and her hair was always perfect.

The 60′s are such an interesting time… for a lot of reasons, first we have the hippies, counter culture, riots, assassinations, etc. But the reality is the only adults I knew at that time were my gradparents.. my parents were just too young, and though they grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, or more correctly Silicon Valley, they really didn’t experience the hippies that we tend to associate with the 60′s, I mean, my mom was 11 during the summer of love. My grandparents though, did the nuclear family thing. My father’s mother did a great job of preserving the values from this era, so most of my influence was from her. My grandmother was the kind of woman who would scrub the toilet in pearls and high heels, and her hair was always perfect. Though she had a short ‘modern’ haircut during this time, I’m going to switch my influenecs with the hair to Amy Winehouse and various drag queens.

Here are the essentials for this costume: A shift dress, can be found in any wardrobe. Low heeled pumps… sensible, yet sophisticated. A string of pearls, an apron. A martini glass (my grandmother was big into that stuff) and a cigarette.

The Result

Additional Housewife tips….

The hair…60′s hair is always very stylized… and it’s not easy to do unless you watch a few tutorials, Super Kawaii Mama has a great tutorial on doing an Amy Winehouse Beehive. Which I took inspriation from, and my own beehive is not as neat… so sorry, no tutorial here.

The Makeup… I just went heavy on the liquid eyeliner, and used green eyeshadow (because I have brown eyes)… and red lips, mostly because I’ve been seeing it on madmen, though I would imagine a 60′s housewife would be more apt to reach for coral. Check here for more inspiration on 60′s makeup.. it’s more versatile than you think.

Props… I went with an apron.. a martini glass and a cigarette because that’s what I imagine the 60′s to be like, my other grandmother might have been a teetoatler as I can’t remember her drinking at all.. but I do remember her with dishwashing gloves, and she was cleaning a lot. Well, both grandmothers seemed to be cleaning a lot… which is probably why my mom doesn’t like to clean at all. Cleaning supplies might be good props to playr around with, maybe a bottle of Windex (filled with water) a feather duster… any of that will be fun.

I have a lot of ideas of what I can do for Halloween, and I can only post a few of them, and please let me know if there is any one you might want to see, or if you have any suggestions… please leave a comment:

Halloween in My Closet:

1. Circus Ringleader (second by Nikki) DONE!
2. Sailor (done! click here to see!)
   
3. Natasha from Bullwinkle & Friends (second by Anna, and Cammila)
4. Can-Can Girl DONE! (second by Kate and UND)
5. Pirate or …
6. a Founding Father… same base costume as Pirate.
7. The Mad Plaider
8. Beetle Juice (second by Violetville and Cecile)
   
9. The See’s Candies Girl (only makes sense in California… but Jeanne would like to see it!)
10. Evil Babydoll (second by Mette)
11. 60’s Housewife (second by Aidan and Voletville )
12. An East German DDR protester (may be offensive… but Tres Plus Cool would like to see it)
13. A superhero
14. Dawn Davenport (suggested by Imelda Matt)
15. Cat Lady (suggested by shopfair second by Casey)
16. A retro flight attendant (suggested by Heather)
17. Barbara Feldon as “Agent 99″ (suggested by Cecille)
18. ????