October 30, 2019

Halloween is nigh and an abundance of orange pumpkins, black spiders and their webs, and white ghosts will undoubtedly arise. But for some us, Halloween is a time to transform: transform ourselves, our spaces, and even the nature of things with which we engage. And the reason we’re able to do this is because there are others, en-mass, who are using this day to play and transform too. It’s a time we’re free to play with more eye-grabbing makeup and more flagrant attire, perhaps Frida Kahlo style. We can also be more adventurous with how we style our surroundings. For example, you could style your space like we did for our Unicorns and Rainbows shoot (above, right), or get inspired by our Canadiana Woodland Wedding (below). And in these efforts and enjoyments, we undoubtedly pursue, discover, and devour conversations and content out of – shall we say – the “usual”. Stranger Things anyone?

Oh yeah. Prepare yourself. There’s going to be liberal use of air quotes throughout this post. 

But even these expressions I use, pertaining to “more” and “out of the usual”, will seem wrong to those fortunate enough to lead lives outside the confines of nine-to-five corporate standards of attire, self-presentation, and appropriate interests.  Whatever “appropriate” means. For the lucky creatives, and we do count ourselves amongst them, whose work and personal lives know no limitations upon their preferred modes of self-expression, they do not need need Halloween to transform them closer to what makes their hearts sing. For those of us not in such a situation, Halloween is that time to transform into and engage with the things that just might be too much on any other day. 

So let’s start with transformations of the self. Let me describe a situation to you. You put a little more flare into your makeup or spritz on a cologne with stronger nasal tickling powers, and you get asked, “What’s the special occasion?”

I tend to want to scream back, “Just because I bloody-well-can!” And I can admit to vanity; yes, sometimes I do want the compliment, but usually, the extra effort is for me; it’s not extra effort made in the hopes of attracting attention or praise. It’s simply because I wanted to. Sometimes you just want a change and to experience more than one version of yourself. The phenomenal makeup looks featured above are from numerous Instagram makeup artists. In order of appearance, the photos are from @Nikki_Makeup, @doubletake.artistry, @lindahallberg, and @doubletake.artistry again. These are just some of the stunning looks we’re trying to sneak into our daily presentations.   

Whatever catches your eye, on Halloween, if you’re capable, go find out what it takes to accomplish the look, and enjoy the process of making it happen. Transformation isn’t just about the end result; it’s also very much about the process you go through to get to that result. 

If painting your face isn’t your thing, perhaps transformation can come through attire. Let’s start out with bow ties. I think people should be wearing more bow ties every day. Can’t get over them ever since Matt Smith’s portrayal of the eleventh Doctor on Doctor Who. 

And if bow ties aren’t your thing, maybe a bohemian inspired dress will be the exact transformation you might want to experience. To see more of these dresses, check out our Bohemian styled wedding shoot. 

Shall we transition to transformation through things with which we engage? Let’s!

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve consumed stories and narrative like I might not always have access to them. Seriously. Where I grew up there were only two television channels, and one of them listed horror films as comedies. That was some year-round Halloween trickery right there. So of course, I’m going to recommend some content with which I think you should engage, and simply enjoy, during this transformational time. I’ve already listed Stranger Things and Doctor Who – anyone notice I’m a geek yet? – but I have a few more recommendations for you. 

One of the pieces of content I’ve loved over the past couple of years is the animated film, Coco, by Adrian Molina and Matthew Aldrich. In it, we see spaces in family homes constantly enhanced and taken care of to celebrate the dead, and in a way, celebrate the other side of things to put it delicately.  I also obviously have a thing for travelling to worlds which are built and brought to us as a result of extraordinary storytelling. 

The second piece of content, which uses comedy to inspire transformation in the sense of challenging stagnant acceptance of the winners’ rendition of the history of the Americas, is John Leguizamo’s Latin History for Morons. I can’t express how happy I am that more and more content like this is accessible all-year-round, which means it’s easier for us to discuss and learn from that content on a continuous basis. And this is important because 9-to-5 standards might still have their place, but unchallenged accounts of history do not. 

And last, but not least, @theglitch.og. I just love how graphic effects used in this Instagram account are just mind-bendy to a fulfilling degree. If you want your visual creativity to experience a transformation, you must check out this account. If you like the two images above and below, you’re going to like them even more in their original video format!

Now, a word to the wise and unstoppable. I mean the ones who’ll take suggestions and go down the rabbit hole of inspirational makeup, styling, and media content and blow this month’s budget trying to make all of these ideas happen right now. Take a second to recognise we’re not asking you to break the bank in an effort to feel the glee of transformation. And we’re especially not challenging you to make it all happen on a single day. We’re just saying that it’s a day where you can choose something. And after that day is done, maybe you choose little hints and experiences of transformation on the days where time and/or budget and/or social circumstances allow. Hey, shifting from the notion that certain things can only be done on a single day of the year is a transformation too. 

So if the only transformation you make this Halloween is stripping off your stressed out shell and taking a moment to reconnect with the grounded, grateful, and greatest version of you that you haven’t had time to experience in a while, that’s just as powerful a transformation as any of those we’ve mentioned thus far. 

But trust me on COCO. 

xx – mona

————————————-VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV————————————-

credits

Makeup look inspirations: Nikki Makeup, Doubletake Artistry, and Linda Hallberg // Frida Kahlo Styled Shoot: Olive Studio // Unicorns and Rainbows Styled Shoot: Olive Studio // Bohemian Chic Styled Shoot: Olive Studio // Mind-bendy images: theglitch.og on Instagram