1. Receive the following invitation to a bizarro medical school party:
“Your under-the-sea-murder-mystery role has been assigned. You are: A Seahorse.Seahorses are strange. They are small, but command respect. Quirky and distracting, they accomplish a lot…but for good or evil???”
2. Do your homework. This involved texting Kristen for a color palette suggestion: “Tan or yellow or pink”.
LITTLE KNOWN FACT: I may or may not have portrayed a seahorse in the 1992 IceTravanganza rendition of The Little Mermaid through the Wyandotte Figure Skating Club. I am still searching for photographic evidence, but I do possess the program from that event, featuring an adorable ad that my parents placed for me and Kristen. Katie was just a toddler. Her figure skating days would come later… but I digress.
3. Visit two local thrift stores, hoping to be inspired. We are lucky in Jamaica Plain to have both a Goodwill and Boomerangs within two blocks of the apartment. I emerged with several ties, scarves and a couple basic dress options from which my oceanic identity would be crafted.
4. Define your costume goal. I decided to play off the fact that seahorses have a FASCINATING gender role reversal, with the males handling pregnancy and the females handling the manly man roles of nest protection and other strong tasks. This led to the use of a nautical tie and very dominating boots. The scarf was an excellent mane/tail.
5. Convince your audience of your identity. I decided to gallop loudly with those boots and with that little trick about 80% of folks were able to correctly guess my seahorseness. One person guessed, “USO dancer?” and I thought that was a great try.
6. Surround yourself with greatness. From left to right, my friend Carolyn played an inspiring Treasure Map, the co-hostess Melina played a sexy killer shark, and the adorable Gretchen played a very convincing sea otter.
EPILOGUE: You can imagine how giddy Jon was to portray a sea creature and defend himself against murderous conspiracy… let’s just say he was a trooper and had two great costume elements that fit his Snail assignment perfectly. 1) The hoodie doubled as a quick shell. 2) The Flava-Flav-esque Clocks tie pointed out how SLOW snails are… never getting anywhere on time… hahaha….. get it? We aim to please.
Many thanks to Ian, Jeff and Melina for hosting a whale of a party! You’re crazy, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
