The Dresden Dolls’ Halloween Ball
Steve, Stuart, and I went to the Dresden Dolls’ Halloween Ball as a Krusty Burger employee, Edward Scissorhands, and William Wallace.
There were two ways you could get tickets. You could either win them from WBCN, or get them directly from the band. The band sent out an e-mail to their fan list that anyone who sent a spooky hand-made picture of the band would earn a spot on their guest list. I’ve no drawing ability, so I commissioned a work from an artist drawing portraits at the UMass Amherst Campus Center concourse. I was out at UMass to promote my company at a career fair, saw the artist, explained the situation, and he agreed to do it. I think it came out great.
They hung all the entries up on the walls in the balcony.
This is Stuart’s entry.
They even hung up his letter.
Stuart’s costume was very impressive.
The scissor-hands were also a constant source of entertainment.
He cuts my hair:
He cuts off Ted Williams’ head:
He eats some food:
He duels with Freddy Krueger:
He tries to drink:
Thinking ahead, he brought a straw:
The costume was also a big hit with the ladies. They think of how nice Edward was, and then the think of Johnny Depp. These are both good things.
Karl turned me on to the Dresden Dolls a while ago. He and Kathy dressed as a priest and a boy scout respectively.
They were edged out of first place in the pair-costume contest by another crowd favorite, the Ambiguously Gay Duo.
This was the best costume party I’d ever been to. There were a lot of professional-looking costumes.
Look at the massive horse body this centaur was dragging around.
Two costumes types that can’t miss are 80s nostalgia (Teen Wolf) and sexy-anything (sexy-Bo Peep).
Speaking of sexy, this police woman was whipping the other one. They were both wearing vinyl.
Being topical is always good, too.
Here’s a crowd shot. Notice the gigantic Abominable Snowman in the upper-right corner. I like this costume mostly because it had a crushed Herbie the Elf stuck to his back.
When I saw his head lying around, I couldn’t resist taking a picture of us.
Here’s another pair costume. I’ll give you a hint. There should be a string going from underneath her skirt and attaching to his head.
There were also some living statues scattered around.
It was a very friendly crowd. Thse are a couple of the people I talked with for a while.
Warm up band wasn’t very good, but I guess that’s par for the course.
The Dresden Dolls put on a great show. They describe their music as “Brechtian Punk Cabaret”. Buried in their difficult-to-navigate website are MP3s of two of their biggest hits, girl anachronism and coin-operated boy (live version).
The band finished up around 1AM, but we still had some energy, so we went over to the DeLux for a nightcap. I had a Scotch, of course.
This woman stoped us in the parking garage. She wanted a picture of herself and Edward Scissorhands because she said her son was scared of him. Here you go.
Steve took these on the way to the DeLux.
Here we are at the DeLux.
I love Halloween.
October 31st, 2003 at 9:14 am
did you make your scissorhands?
October 31st, 2003 at 9:14 am
Ted Williams and the Abomibinable (how the hell do you spell that??) crack me up. Those might be the best costumes of the night. Stuart’s costume was really cool too. I like how he tried to look so serious in all the pics!
October 31st, 2003 at 3:29 pm
Yes the Scissorhands were last week’s after-work project. Thick plastic card cut into strips, covered with Duck Tape and attached to gloves plus a bit of paint.
November 3rd, 2003 at 9:31 pm
those are some fabulous costumes!
November 5th, 2003 at 8:47 pm
How about some pictures from River’s Halloween party? If you don’t want to post em, could you e-mail the one of Lisa, Suki and I. Thanks!
November 9th, 2003 at 8:53 pm
I found a couple related links:
WBCN’s photos: http://www.wbcn.com/wbcn_com_files/Grave_Rave_Folder/index.htm
steve’s review: http://www.apocalypse.org/~steve/shows/102903.html
November 11th, 2003 at 4:38 am
hey, i found your site via your post on the ‘dolls forum. just wanted to say my friends and i loved your costumes. we kept seeing ‘edward’ walk by doing an amazing job of staying in-character. we wanted pictures but never quite caught him. ^__^ very cool, though.
November 11th, 2003 at 7:46 pm
Hi there. Tis me, Issanna. I am the girl in the red vinyl dress and black boots with the red wig. my firend john was the used tampon. thanks for putting us on the site. we found it amusing and greeat and the show was the best.
<3
Issanna
November 16th, 2003 at 5:37 pm
Wow, that Edward Scissorhands costume in particular really rocks.
November 17th, 2003 at 7:34 am
The William Wallace costume has a long history in Boston. I am glad to see that it is still going strong. Mr. Scissorhands seems to be a new favorite though. Well done costume designer McGarrity! Halloween is still the best holiday of the year in my book!
November 20th, 2003 at 5:16 pm
Did anyone one of you go to actual Halloween Dresden Dolls show?
November 22nd, 2003 at 2:05 pm
Edward and William Wallace went to the Dresden Dolls event also. See other pictures on this site.
December 8th, 2003 at 2:56 am
i have a question for you, would you be willing to sell your gloves to me, or perhaps tell me how yo made them? if so i would greatly appreciate it thanks
December 26th, 2003 at 12:23 am
i too would like to have details on the construction of those gloves.
They’re great!
December 29th, 2003 at 11:57 am
O.K. here are the detals of how you can look like Edward:
Scissor ingredients:
* Pair of cheap (fake leather) gloves
* Plastic corrugated card (~4mm thick) from a craft shop that you can cut into shapes
* Duck tape
* Acrylic paint (grey, red, black)
* Matt grey spray paint, washers, nuts and glue (Optional)
Scissor construction directions:
* Cut card into scissor shaped pieces: Long ones (~2 feet) for 2 fore fingers on each hand, shorter ones for rest. Double or treble the card layers at top to make thicker.
* Look at the DVD to see the different shaped finger pieces
* Cover fingers each in duck tape
* Cut card into various scissor handle shapes and attached to main scissor sections. Cover in duck tape
* Attach to gloves (side on) so they move with your fingers
* Add box shape to build-up back of hands cover in duck tape
* Cover all of gloves with duck tape
* Optionally spray all over with matt grey paint
* Touch up handles and fingers with red, black and grey paint
* Optionally glue on paint on nuts
Make-up:
* Eyebrow plastic to hide eyebrows
* Liquid Latex for cuts
* Cream make-up: Geisha (for most of face), black and light tan (mixed for eyes, cheeks and lips)
* (Ask make-up shop for advice and show them a picture)
Other costume bits:
* Neck belts
* Black shirt (underneath), collar up
* White shirt
* Suspenders (US)/braces (UK), cut and held with safely pins
* Old grey suit trousers
* Wig cut to stand-up and LOTS of hairspray
Notes:
* I found it tough to get the gloves off once they were on
* Move your fingers a bit when you walk and keep the long fingers separated like scissors so you don’t look like Freddy Kruger. Hold arms out a bit from body.
* Shuffle a bit and keep your neck stiff
* Take straw for drink
* Find trusted friend to manage taking your wallet out of your back pocket for getting drinks
* Acting a bit sad like Edward will reward you with many hugs and photo ops from most girls (open arms expectedly and shuffle forwards)
Good Luck,
Stuart
March 3rd, 2004 at 8:31 am
Wow, thos are fabulous costumes! I was looking for a site that told me how to become “edward scissorhands”, and I finally found this! Thanks alot, and you can guess what im being next halloween! lol, that costume is amazing! You did a fabulous job…. I serioulsly thought you were Johnny Depp, your THAT good… Thx
March 15th, 2004 at 9:50 pm
AAAAA WWWWWWWWW!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAA WWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!! EDWARD!!!! AAAAAA WWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE EDWARD!!!!! AHHH!!! AAAAAAA WWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IM IN LOVE AGAIN!!!!! AAAAAAAAA WWWWWWWWWWWW!! I love you edward! Kiss kiss! MEMORIES WE HAD!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA WWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!
March 31st, 2004 at 9:13 pm
Great costumes! I came here lookin for edward scissorhands costume ideas cause that what i’m going as halloween 04. I already got the hair.
You’re costume rocked. im going to school as edward.
April 12th, 2004 at 6:57 pm
hi, i wanted to know where you got your scissor hands! im looking everywhere and cant find them. please e-mail me and tell me where you got them.
September 8th, 2004 at 7:11 pm
Hi im fourteen and I love Edward Scissorhands…I wanted to be him for halloween but i couldn’t find any of the right materials. now i can deffinitely be him this year!!! thank you soooo much
September 25th, 2004 at 7:48 pm
Yay! Finally, I can be Edward for halloween xD
September 30th, 2004 at 12:36 am
Hey, awesome costumes… I definitively used this site as a reference for my own edward scissorhands… hands. Click on my url to see them… I added push rods and used metallic tape instead of duct tape. Edward rocks.
September 30th, 2004 at 8:07 pm
I’ve been looking 4 an Edward Scissorhands costume forever! thanx! Cool BraveHeart costume. You guys have a great sense of humor!
October 2nd, 2004 at 11:21 pm
omg how did you make the Braveheart costume, ive been looking everywhere on how to make it, did you find it on a site or what? if you did will you send me the addy thx.
October 5th, 2004 at 7:10 pm
Hey your site is great. I was interested in finding out any details anyone may know about how to make or where to buy those Ambiguously gay duo costumes.. I’ve looked everywhere! Please help, email me with any suggestions Thanks a bunch!!
October 12th, 2004 at 10:07 am
Thanks for the awesome tips on making the scissor hands! I’m going as Kim Boggs and my boyfriend is going as Edward it’ll be a blast! Thanks again, your costumes look great!
October 12th, 2004 at 8:35 pm
me and my friend are going to a party dressed as the Ambiguously gay duo, so i also wanna know if anyone has some good ideas for an Ace and Gary costume
October 13th, 2004 at 1:21 pm
Hello every one loving the edward scissor hands get up, where are the hands from as i need a pair for this year?!?!
October 13th, 2004 at 10:22 pm
hey the edward costume was awsome.. you sould give a little more tips on the scissor hand stho i really need it
October 14th, 2004 at 8:43 pm
Hey!!! ive been dying to figure out how to make the best scissor hands for edward this year and i cant figure it out!! how did you or you friend make them cuz they look so reall!! email me please! thanks!
October 16th, 2004 at 6:10 pm
Before posting another lame comment, SCROLL UP TO SEE STUART’S INSTRUCTIONS FOR MAKING SCISSOR HANDS.
Griffin asked about my costume. The easiest way to make a William Wallace Braveheart costume is to have a slightly obsessive friend make one for himself, and then borrow it a couple years later. If that’s not an option, here are the basic ingredients:
* Tina Turner wig, trimmed and braided.
* wooden sword wrapped in duct tape with drops of red paint on it to simulate English blood
* leather belts to hold the sword and to throw over your shoulder
* blue face paint from your local Halloween store
* a long piece of fabric to wrap around your waist several times and throw over your shoulder, held in place with safety pins
* an earth-tone T-shirt
* boots
* no underwear required
October 20th, 2004 at 5:45 pm
Hi, i was wondering-
can I have a pic of JUST the scissorhands? I’m not asking how to make them, i just need a base picture for reference, since all of the ones in the pics are at strange angles o.O
Thanks…!
October 20th, 2004 at 7:39 pm
Were can I get the Ambiguously Gay Duo costumes. I need to know ASAP. A friend of mine and I want to impress the croud with a sexy outfit of the Duo. Can I get some help please!!!!!!
Jess
October 24th, 2004 at 5:17 pm
These are all the pictures I have of the scissor hands.
I know nothing about the Ambiguously Gay Duo costumes.
October 25th, 2004 at 9:19 pm
I saw the edward scissorhands wig, that is th eonly part pf the costume i need left. i was wondering wond kin dof wig you bought.
thanks
josh
October 25th, 2004 at 10:52 pm
im also going to be edward scissorhands. i was at a local costume store and found the best possible wig for the costume. its called a caveman’s wig and it also comes with a beard. just use the wig, it is the closest thing i have seen to his hair in the movie without having to use hairspray and other things to make it look better.
October 28th, 2004 at 7:25 pm
That teen wolf costume is absolutely amazing. Where the hell did you get that b-ball uniform?
November 1st, 2004 at 1:25 am
I was also amazed by the Teen Wolf costume. I have been able to scrounge up the basketball uniform, but was wondering where he found the werewolf make-up for the hairy arms, face and legs? Any hints/tips would be greatly appreciated so Teen Wolf can make an appearance in my small Minnesota town for next Halloween.
November 21st, 2004 at 8:08 pm
Just wanted to post my version of Ed. I thought yours was great as i was gathering reference imagery. I tried to make mine a bit more sophomoric for an evening of debauchery with friends. I give you, Edward Partyhands: http://www.tobygrubb.com/projects/051_edw.jpg with working appendages: lighter, blunt, whiskey nip, syringe, “tobacco” pipe, ky jelly, vibrator, bottle opener.
Kudos!
December 21st, 2004 at 5:58 pm
this is really cool but please take me out of it im the lad who said her son was scared of edward ………………please take it out i was very drunk
December 21st, 2004 at 6:00 pm
JK JK JK JK JK JK JK JK it is a JOKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hahahhahhahahahahahah
September 25th, 2005 at 5:00 pm
Hello,
I was browsing the web and came across your site with your friend in the Scissorhands costume. I thought you might be interested in entering him in this contest.
2005 EJ Costume Contest- http://everythingjohnny.tripod.com/id229.html
Thanks!
Ramsey Borrego
www.EverythingJohnny.com
October 2nd, 2005 at 7:17 pm
You did a great job on it. I came across the site while looking for close up pictures of othe people’s Edward costumes. I’m going as Edward Scissorhands this year but I’m opting for the leather strappy suit instead of the shirt and suspenders. It’s gonna be a challenge to make, but hopefully I can pull it off.
Again, great job on the look. A lot of the ones I’ve stumbled across are pretty bad. Yours wins hands down.
One question - what’d you use for the scissorhands?
October 2nd, 2005 at 7:21 pm
^^ Sorry, that’s probably really annoying. I guess I should’ve read the thread of comments.
October 5th, 2005 at 12:10 pm
was wondering do you know where to get a ambiguosly gay duo costume
October 13th, 2005 at 10:13 pm
Lucky Fucker! I want to go to a The Dresden Dolls Halloween Ball. Do you think they’ll ever have one in Houston? I hope so. I would go as Helena (thats what I’m being this year) or as Lestat (but a girl).
That’s so cool. I wouldn’t have thought of going at Braveheart. Did you do the butt sceen?
October 24th, 2005 at 7:50 am
TEEN WOLF… WHERE DID YOU FIND THAT STUFF. I WANT TO BE TEEN WOLF FOR HALLOWEEN
MAIL ME AND GIVE ME THE RUNDOWN. PLEASE THANKS.
October 24th, 2005 at 10:57 pm
I need to know where I can purchase the ambiguously gay duo costume ASAP. Thank you.
October 28th, 2005 at 10:11 am
hola !! yo soy estefania y te quiero decir que te ves bien chido…
November 23rd, 2005 at 7:14 am
Hi All,
i have been looking on this site and have spotted the Teen wolf costume on one of the photos…
Can anyone tell me where to get one from i have search all over the internet…..
Many thanks
December 3rd, 2005 at 5:04 pm
hey! that greats .. i too love hallowen ,
the bad is that a can´t go to see the dresden dolls well,
i see other day
January 1st, 2006 at 2:09 pm
LoL, this post is just wicked. I love all the costumes, most especially the Edward Scissorhands’. He pulls it off quite well, in fact. The Krusty Burger i employee costume is very cool. Good thinking. ^_^
Indeed, halloween IS a fun celebration =) Sad, but I dont celebrate it tho =T
April 6th, 2006 at 8:40 pm
Where did you find the teen wolf costume…more importantly the bball uniform.
April 20th, 2006 at 3:05 pm
Hi! I don’t know you, but I loved the fotos!!!! I’m from Brazil and sadly, we don’t have Halloween…
I found this site when I was looking for Freddy Krueger images!!! I love horror movies…
That’s it!
Kisses kisses…
April 20th, 2006 at 3:08 pm
Haha… I’m not anonymous… here’s my name… sorry, my computer’s strange…
October 1st, 2006 at 12:16 am
Hey, can you email me if you know the person in that teen wolf costume, i have been wanting to do the same exact thing! I’d love to know…thanks
October 1st, 2006 at 12:19 am
Above posting, my email is pwrplus1@aol.com in case you know.
thanks
jeff
October 3rd, 2006 at 5:34 pm
Hey Matt. I remember you. I was the guy in the Ted William’s costume that year. ‘Nice to have stumbled across your site as I didn’t get too many pics of myself cuz I could hardly see. Fortunately, between 4 parties, I did win a total of $2,500.00 in cash and an all expenses paid trip for 2 to Gran Lido Braco in Jamaica !!! Ted’s Cryo-container now sits proudly behind my bar.
Send me pics of what you do this year.
- Sam cynicalsam@hotmail.com
October 21st, 2006 at 7:33 am
How do man!!
Im goin as edward scissorhands this year, but dunno how the hell to make the hands!!
How did u do it? what did u use to make the blades??
Cheers
Dougie
October 25th, 2006 at 1:23 pm
where did you find the teen wolf gear expecially the uniform??!
October 28th, 2006 at 5:16 pm
Love the scissorhands, dude. Was gonna go as ed, but gf talked me into Vincent Vega to her Mia Wallace. I think I’ll party as Vincent tonight, but go as ed on halloween. I want to be totally leathered out Edward, though. My gf can do my hair, and I can make some hands like you did. Great craftmanship on the scissorhands. I wonder if they make chrome tape.
November 9th, 2006 at 12:06 pm
god i love the dresden dolls, dude, you are sooooooo lucky!!!!!!!!!!!! i’d have done anything to have been there. *extremely jelous*
i will get my time!!!!!
love ya
x
December 6th, 2006 at 7:52 pm
That teen wolf costume is awsome, i’ve been searching the web for hours and can’t even find a blank jersey which i could use! Where did you get your gear from. Also where did you get the body hair from!? Any info would be awsome!
Cheers
Alex
January 13th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
i went to a party as edward - i absolutely rocked!!! stuart - applause all round!!!
January 23rd, 2007 at 10:10 am
Nice pictures are seen here….And…haha…I can’t stop laughing on seeing Stuart….MyGod!…haha
Don Lapre Jeffery
webmaster@donlaprewilliams.com
www.donlaprewilliams.com
March 21st, 2007 at 5:34 pm
hey thanks for the scissorhandcostume instructions, those were great help to build my own one, here’s a pic http://irc-galleria.net/view.php?nick=veli_hopea
September 23rd, 2007 at 2:44 pm
TEENWOLF COSTUME LOOKS REALLY GOOD, IVE BEEN LOOKING FOR AGES FOR THIS TYPE OF COSTUME FOR A DOO WE HAVE IN DEC.
CAN YOU FILL ME IN ON WHERE/HOW CAN GET HOLD OF THIS
THANKS
ANDY
September 27th, 2007 at 10:28 pm
That Teen Wolf Halloween costume is awesome on your page, is there any chance you can find out where to get that…I have been looking everywhere for one and I cant find it. Thanks.
Jim
October 8th, 2007 at 8:08 pm
I am in love with that TEEN WOLF costume!! Has anyone anyone received any info on how that costume was put together. Please let me in! CLASSIC
October 9th, 2007 at 3:24 am
I also have been looking for the teen wolf beavers jersey forever. Please let me know if theres anywhere I can find it
October 9th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
I also am looking for the TEEN WOLF costume!! Anyone who finds any information on this could you please let me know!
Thanks
October 13th, 2007 at 5:50 am
I want to be Teen Wolf this year how did that guy pull that off? Any suggestions will help.
October 14th, 2007 at 9:16 am
I’m assembling a teen wolf costume this year for halloween. I found a “Beavers 42″ t-shirt on e-bay that I bought. Also, purchased a “Chewbacca” full body fur suit from another site. All that’s left is to find some short yellow basketball shorts, pair of tube socks, and fake beard and werewolf hair. Should be great. Can’t wait for All Hallows Eve.
October 23rd, 2007 at 4:50 am
Where did the teen wolf suit come from! i have been looking for one all over.
October 29th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
Whoever wants to be teen wolf can borrow my costume. I got the bball uniform custom made (yeah i just really really wanted to be scott howard. a lot.) I wore it this weekend, so I’m being something different on Wednesday, (Mystery from the pick up artist).
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:43 am
If you’re really keen and want to make a teenwolf costume: have a look at this website
http://www.instructables.com/id/Teen-Wolf-Costume/
October 16th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
I am the TeenWolf in the picture - just found this site. Wish I had found it long ago, and I would have helped out with everyone’s requests.
For the jersey, I bought a blank t-shirt (made of jersey material) and cut off the arms and neck to make a jersey. I used iron-on tape to make the letters numbers and trim. I luckily found a pair of shorts on eBay that matched the jersey.
For the arms and legs, I actually bought a few yards of fake fur and sewed the suit together. It even goes under the jersey for realism.
For the make-up, I bought a $5 “werewolf” make-up kit at the Halloween store, then bought crepe theatrical hair and glued it on my forehead combing it back under the headband, and applied it as a beard pretty much as well (after applying the make-up). Be sure to get the remover when you buy the spirit gum. It will come in handy.