Being Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall was by far the most time intensive of any Halloween costumes I’ve experienced. And even if nobody really knew who we were (besides our friends, everyone thought we were “people from black and white pictures?”), we loved being Bogie and Bacall so much that we’re already thinking of excuses to do these costumes again!

Our outfits were inspired by the famous couple in the movie where they fell in love- To Have and Have Not, which is also a story by Ernest Hemingway. We really wanted to look like we had just stepped out of a film noir movie, so we painted our faces with gray stage makeup and eyeliner, and I sprayed my hair with silver hair paint. My gloves, Phil’s shirt, tie, trousers and shoes were already in our wardrobes, but I headed to the thrift to find the trench, my suit, shirt, and shoes. Our hats and my tights were purchased at retail price, but I figured they were things we would wear again, so it was totally worth it!

I’ll tell you what, I had loads of fun reenacting this scene, but I must be honest- wearing all of that grey face paint was quite a pain! It was getting it on everybody’s faces, on my camera, my phone, and I swear my face itched more that night only because I couldn’t scratch it! Ha! But looking at pictures of us, in grayscale, standing next to someone else in color- totally worth it!

L O OK    C A R E F U L L Y !    T H E S E    A R E     C O L O R    P H O T O S .

Ah yes, I know I said we weren’t having a Halloween party at our house, but I decided at the last minute to have some friends over for a low-key party on Sunday evening. While Catherine and I were shopping at Target for tights to complete our actual Halloween costumes, we picked up some decorations and snacks to make Sunday evening’s party a bit livelier. I found this black and white striped dress for $5, so of course, I donned my head mannequin‘s wig and a hat to complete a proper Halloween hostess’s outfit.

When we got home, I hung up cobwebs and black streamers, while Catherine stitched together some thrifted shirts to make a hilarious Lumpy Space Princess costume. (I had no idea who this character was until Catherine enlightened me.) Just before the party began, we decided we should make fun names for all of our snacks, so I quickly drew up some labels and added them to the food table.

When all of the guests arrived, we played a few games, ordered pizza, and giggled the night away. I kept forgetting that I had taped various black plastic spiders to the walls of our apartment, and startled every time I walked by one. Silly me.

The night ended with a candle disaster on my heirloom doily (I’ve had to clean up a mess like this before, so no worries- I can get the wax out!) and a rousing game of Never-Have-I-Ever, which ended in an even more revealing round of This-One-Time-Did-I-One-Time. Ha! Once people began to fall asleep on the sofa, we figured we should call it a day. We all had to get rest because the next day was Halloween, whent the real party happens. So excited for my costume tonight! I can’t wait to share pictures with you when we’re all gussied up in our face paint and hairspray.

Are you having a Halloween party this year? Phil and I won't be doing anything major at our own home, but we hope to make it out to the epic Kent Halloween bash on Saturday night, and will definitely be going to a Canton Halloween party at The Auricle on Monday. If we were to have a Halloween house party, of course the music would need to be fabulous! This is what I would play:

image source: It's Better Than Bad on Flickr