Costume Hunting with Bostonist

Halloween weekend is upon us, and though Bostonist considers the holiday one of our favorites, until yesterday we still had not come up with the ideal costume to wear to the many parties to which we’ve been invited. (We briefly considered recycling last year’s costume, but several resulting minor lawsuits and the lack of an available portable power supply have rendered this impossible.) As a result, two trips were required to scare up a disguise for the frightful fetes on our calendar.

We first stopped at what is considered the biggest costume outfitter in the city, Boston Costume on Kneeland St. As would be expected, the store was mobbed with last-minute Halloween shoppers; masks, make-up, fangs, fake blood, plastic appendages, fake moustaches, and spider web pantyhose were scattered hither and yon.

Bostonist picked up a wig and some funny glasses before heading across the river to the other Mecca of Halloween attire, The Garment District in Kendall Square. The crowd there was equally frantic; one young woman opted to skip the long wait for the dressing room and tried on her leopard-print skirt right in the aisle. “All I need now is a platinum blonde afro,” another woman was overheard muttering to herself after picking up a selection of leg warmers.

In addition to the regular Halloween garb, the secondhand clothing retailer’s large vintage section and design-your-own-t-shirt servce helped round out our costume. Bostonist won’t tell you what we’re going to be, but we think you’ll be able to figure it out. If you happen upon a pair size 10 moon boots, we would really appreciate your letting us know.

Contributed by Bryan Maleszyk