“Sometimes you can
learn the best lessons in life wearing a low cut black dress, some high heels,
and an awesome beehive wig.” – Tracie Dee
My favorite holiday is Halloween. Ever since childhood,
there has just always been an attraction for me to have one day a year where
you can dress up and transform yourself into anyone or anything you wanted to
be….for just a day…. yet have the ability to safely to return to your usual
self the day after. I think of it as the safety net of holidays where you can
let your freak flag fly free for awhile, yet roll it back up safely and tuck it
away when your done.
Oh the
possibilities!!!!
I always dressed up for Halloween as a child, and revisited
this tradition again as an adult about 10 years ago, to hand out candy to the
trick or treaters. (Hey, why should kids have all the fun!) I usually start to think of Halloween and my
costume ideas around August (I guess seeing jack ‘o lanterns and scarecrows
mixed in among sunscreen and flip flops on the store shelves can really start
to inspire a girl to start thinking of things that go bump in the night). This
year, my inspiration actually came from a witch’s costume that I bought half
price last year but didn’t use. I decided to go out on a limb and go farther
with my Halloween costume and character than I EVER have before….I decided that
I was going to go all out and try my hand at being…..ELVIRA, THE MISTRESS OF
THE DARK!
Now Elvira is larger than life in a lot of ways, and I’m NOT
just talking about her bra size…although I’m sure that is quite impressive,
too! I knew if I was going to try and portray her in a way truly deserving of a
character like Elvira, it was going to take some work. I wasn’t about to just
toss on a wig and low cut black dress and hope for the best! So for two months
I did my best to learn and soak in (if you will) all that is Elvira. I watched
her videos and interviews on YouTube. I read about her online. I researched how
to do her make-up the right way. I worked hard on transforming that ordinary witch’s
costume into something “Elvira-worthy”.
I did my best to learn how to act and be Elvira in a way that I felt
would do her justice.
Along my journey of what I refer to as “The Elvira Project”,
I’ve also learned more about this iconic character then I ever thought I would,
beyond just straight up facts and details. I have had the pleasure of getting
to know her (in a way, at least) and discovering just why her popularity with
her loyal fans has endured for all of these years.
She has an appeal that’s attractive on many levels, besides
just her physical beauty. She is funny. She is sweet yet sassy and as down to
earth as can be. She makes you feel comfortable and just happy to be around
her. In many ways, she is the like the girl next door…..if you happen to live
next door to a haunted house that is owned by a family heavily into goth, that
is. I can imagine if you just moved to her neighborhood that Elvira would bring
you over a cake to welcome you, while apologizing for the boob marks in the
icing which occurred while she was reaching across the table.
(Hey, it can happen….and please don’t ask how I know this.)
Elvira proves that we don’t need to take life or ourselves
too seriously ALL of the time. She is brave enough to just be herself,
regardless of what others might think. She is proud to stand out from the crowd
and makes no apologies for being different.
Once you get to know
Elvira….you just can’t help but love her.
You know something? I think I want to be Elvira when I grow
up! But even if I can’t (Oh, gosh darn it!) I am honored and proud to at least
get to be her for a day or two…..or maybe even three (but who’s counting). I
think we all might have a little Elvira inside of us…..but we just have to find
the courage within ourselves to let her out every once in awhile.
Life lessons learned from a low cut black dress, a pair of
high heels and an awesome beehive wig. Who would have ever thought!
“The Elvira Project”
has sure been an interesting journey, I tell ya! For me, half of the fun came from the process
it took to take myself from “regular redhead” to “vivacious vamp”. I kept a
video diary over the two months that it took to complete the whole process. If
you would like to check it out, here it is!
Until next time! Happy haunting! Ta ta and toodles!
~Tracie Dee~
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