In the end, I realized one of the fundamental truths of being female on Halloween: if you wear black clothes and ears, everyone else is just about legally obligated to reconize this as an acceptable cat costume. If the black clothes are form-fitting, you are a sexy cat. Again, as long as the ears are visible, no questions asked. A tail is preferred, but not required. Fortunately, I was able to provide both ears and tail to go with a velvety black jazz leotard I wore for a dance performance in high school (incidentally, hooray again for losing college weight), black tights and boots. I got meowed at by a stranger, and complimented a few times on a costume I threw together in the last few minutes available to me. Andrew came as a convincing gumshoe, complete with fedora and a tendency to say things like "the dame was hysterical" if we'd been walking in silence too long. We aso discovered that with the jacket he was wearing and without the fedora, he looks even more like the most recent Doctor than usual, so it was practically two costumes in one.
But more importantly, what can we learn of world domination from this saved Halloween? I'll give you a hint: the ears are the key.
I am firmly of the opinion that most of the time, all people need is the shape of something to believe it. Black clothes and a silhouette that involves two triangles widely spaced on a head means cat. Blond wig with an intricate braid and pink ribbon means princess, and pale green shadow and glitter around the eyes means some form of fairy or sprite, regardless of the rest of the costume. In most cases, people's brains will fill in the details that the eyes aren't getting.
As I begin to assemble the tools for my Plan to overthrow conventional power and substitute my own, it's becoming clearer to me that it will be important to ride momentum. Being a hero is about standing up to adversity; being an Overlord is about making it seem so natural to have you in charge that people will revolt if someone tries to take you down. And how do you achieve that? By fitting the silhouette of the Leader in people's minds.
I do this with black wings! And people can assume dark butterfly, black angel, some sort of fairy. Well done ears. And glad t'hear it worked out.
ReplyDeleteI was a black cat a few years ago (not a sexy one, i don't think) and i got mreowwwwed at a lot. and some one did hit on me, which was not the point of the costume, or what i had intended. i guess people do just fill in the details! enjoy gaining power and riding that momentum!
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