I love October. It’s got baseball playoffs, the World Series, loved ones’ birthdays, and at the end we dress up and celebrate Halloween.

In case you don’t know, I’ve always loved Halloween. I’m pretty sure it’s genetic, as my parents dressed up in some crazy/silly get-ups in their youth. (There’s a photo floating around of my dad in drag. No, I won’t post it.)

As a kid, my mom would ask what I wanted to be. I’d pick something and she’d proceed to make the costume. (Mom also used her sewing talents to make some of our clothes.)

One year, I embraced gender duality and told my mom I wanted to be the bride/groom I’d seen in Big Top Pee Wee. She proceeded to cut up the dress I wore as a flower girl in my tía Nellie’s wedding and at my First Communion (we were into recycling before it was trendy). She got an old suit that belonged to my cousin Danny and pieced together my greatest costume ever.

I won first prize for that costume.

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October is also the time when I post the series on low-cost, DIY and culturally-relevant costumes. You can find costume ideas from 2008 and 2007 here. I’ll be back with more for 2009.