Wednesday, October 29, 2008

After all, her fave consignment shop is called Out of the Closet


Peter Hartlaub says Sarah Palin may or may not get to be Second Dudette, but in San Fraciscso, she'll be Halloween's belle of the ball:

On the campaign trail, the closest that Sarah Palin came to a public appearance in San Francisco was a rally in Burlingame. But the streets of the city will be awash with Palins during this weekend's Halloween festivities. Expect some pregnant Palins, drag queen Palins and even a few Palin-inspired zombies.

Every five years or so, a Halloween costume idea comes along that's so perfect that half the population seems to simultaneously dress up as the same thing. If you were a woman and participated in Halloween 10 years ago, chances are 50-50 that you went as Monica Lewinsky. Other trendy Halloween costumes from the past include Luke Skywalker (1978), Tammy Faye Bakker (1987) and Austin Powers (1997).

Based on several nonscientific indicators, the widespread presence of Palins this Friday night may eclipse them all. There are three things needed to make the perfect trendy costume, and she has them all:

1. Her position in the zeitgeist happens to be peaking right at Halloween.

2. She's a controversial figure, with a hint of sexy.

3. The costume is easy to throw together at the last minute.

The last factor may be the most important one. The vast majority of Halloween costumes are figured out at around 6:15 p.m., with just enough time to execute for an 8 p.m. party. At one point in the late 1990s, I drove home from work on Halloween, picked up a Detroit Tigers cap, then rummaged through my closet for a Hawaiian shirt and shaved my goatee down to a mustache. Less than an hour of preparation, and I arrived at a party as Magnum P.I. (In a 1986 Honda Accord, not a red Ferrari.)

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