Clarissa wears her 2015 Halloween costume (all photos by Lis Saya)
It’s been a few years since I went out on the town for Halloween. It was once my favorite “holiday.” A costume designer since I was a little girl, Halloween was at the top in dressing up for any occasion! This costume came together by “accident.”
The pink, pleated cape has an 11-foot “wing span”
I borrowed the headdress from my daughter’s friend, Drie Young, who is a clothing designer and currently sells vintage clothing on eBay at Ghost Rabbit. This fantastic cape was borrowed from my daughter who had recently received it as a gift. The plastic pink necklace was borrowed from my grand-daughter. A few months ago, I was in a second hand store and bought a pair of black, faux leather, hi-top, 8″ platform boots with tons of buckles. All the accessories were from my own personal stock. I put together this costume in 5 minutes. Voile’…when others saw my costume and the dance I did in this cape, I was told that I could have won several Best Costume awards at various venues around town had I known about them…!
Feathered head dress, glittered rhinestone eyelashed mask, beaded Mother-of-Pearl inlay earrings, black lipstick, plastic hot pink necklace, beaded/buttoned black leather fringed belt, a pair of old cashmere gloves worn down to the skin, turquoise beaded cuffs,with purple pink glued-on nails, accessorize the normal “beaded” dress
I even performed wearing this costume during the closing ceremony dance of the “Clan Conference” at Centennial Hall last night. Though I wore my traditional beaded dance tunic over this cotton dress. Elder David Katzeek saw me walk in during the traditional dancing and he immediately motioned me to come up and dance with all the dancers! It was a kick! Nobody knew who I was and that is always the best part of Halloween! Because I was wearing 8″ platform boots, I was 5’10” and nobody realized that I was Clarissa Rizal…hahahaha! So much fun!
Though after I had gone out on the town dancing to various live bands, I realized that I totally enjoyed being taller. I realized that the Western world was made for people who were about 5’7 to 6′ tall. In fact almost everyone is about that height. Alas, I am back to being 5’2″. Sigh…
On a cold, surprisingly dry Halloween night in Juneau, time for some warm seaweed salad!