Halloween 2012: Dorothy Gale, from Kansas

Valentino lace bodice dress / Lili Gaufrette pink socks / Jeffrey Campbell glitter high heels / Rewind Vintage Affairs handbag
dorothy gale, from kansas


Halloween is, and has pretty much always been, my favorite holiday. Perhaps it's my flair for the dramatic, or maybe my incessant sweet tooth, but I live for Halloween. To celebrate, I will be dedicating a few posts a week to Halloween costume inspirations. I don't particularly believe in store bought costumes; I like the thrill of putting it together myself, and what's more fun than giving a classic costume a modern, couture spin?

To kick of the month of October (yes, I'm a day early. Favorite holiday, remember?), I've put together a modern day Dorothy Gale, after one of my all-time favorite movies. I was the child insisting "I'm not a witch at all, I'm Dorothy Gale, from Kansas" and getting to dress up as Dorothy as a four year old was a dream come true. I love the idea of reprising that character now that I'm grown, and these Jeffrey Campbell boots just may be the perfect ruby slipper for me to do so.

"Bad For You" - Haley Bonar

This is such an adorable, simple song. The message is clear and concise: everything's bad for you. I listen to it with a smile, having grown up eating dirt along with carrots straight from the garden and spending my time singing and talking to myself in the woods day after day. It's no secret that we've become much more protective of our health and safety in recent decades, and often for good reason, but doesn't it sometimes seem a little excessive? That's what this song means to me: maybe it's not actually all that bad?

I loved envisioning what the wise grown-up singing this song would wear. Very proper, very modest, very smart, but perhaps a little off - she takes everything a little too far, both in her wardrobe and her advice. This Moschino Cheap & Chic dress gives a hint that the wearer is a little off-balance with it's quirky blocks of color and that surprise pop of yellow. The look is put over the top with this outrageous Meadham Kirchhoff faux fur coat, evoking a crazed monster. Everything really is bad for you after all, it seems. 

Listen to a live version of the song here.

Moschino Cheap & Chic lace cocktail dress / Meadham Kirchhoff  faux fur coat / Rupert Sanderson pumps / Alexander Wang leather wallet / Rebecca Minkoff sunglasses
Everything's Bad For You