Current events (and scandals!) are always ripe sources for Halloween costumes. As a native of LA, I’m much more interested in what the mayor is doing to improve this city rather than who he’s sleeping with. Still, if you want a risqué couples costume with limited effort (and cost), why not be Antonio Villaraigosa and his girlfriend, former Telemundo political reporter, Mirthala Salinas?

Here’s how to do it:

For Villaraigosa:

• A dark suit with a red or blue tie
• Spiffy shoes, make sure to get them boleados (shined)
• Shave off the goatee and/or mustache (sorry for all those Chicanos attached to their goatees)
• Short hair, it’ll make your ears look bigger
• A cheesy smile (emphasis on cheesy)
• NO wedding ring

For Salinas:

• Spiffy suit in either a dark or light shade
• Spiffy shoes
• Long black hair
• Simple jewelry
• Telemundo 52 logo printed 4 times in color. Form a box with some cardstock so that it looks like a television reporter’s microphone (for the mic, I suggest borrowing one from a friend who has a karaoke set).

That’s it.

Other things you might want to think about: add a nametag since two people in suits isn’t much of a costume. You can make this a threesome by having a friend dress up Corina Villaraigosa, the mayor’s ex-wife.

Bonus: hide from immigrants’ rights activists at the party or carry around plans for reforming LAUSD in your pocket.

Next up in the low-budget costume series: Cantinflas

One year for Halloween, my cousin Victor called my mom asking for help to put together a costume. My mom suggested her patented scarecrow costume. It was easy to put together, you’d be sure not to look like the rest of the kids at your school, and you’d be a favorite of the costume contest judges. Victor won an award that year.

Since then my mom, Lori and I have all dressed up as scarecrows. I know there are plenty of ways to put together such a costume, but I’ll stick to the Mosqueda-style scarecrow and add a few pointers on ways to make it a little less PG-13, scarier or cuter.

What you need:

1. Straw hat; the more beat-up, the better. We had some straw hats from the father/daughter dance in Girl Scouts. I believe the theme for the dance was line dancing.
2. Jeans or overalls. We always used jeans since we didn’t have overalls.
3. Flannel or denim. As you can see, we chose flannel. It’ll keep you a little warmer on a cool night out trick-or-treating.
4. Scraps of fabric with different patterns. These will be the patches you’ll sew on to your jeans and shirt.
5. Strips of fabric about 3/4 of an inch thick.
6. Corn husks for tamales. Sew (or glue, tape, staple) strips of the dried corn husks on to the strips of fabric. Sew the strips to the cuffs of your jeans, collar and cuff of your shirt. You’ll want to make it look like the corn husk stuffing for the scarecrow is coming out of the hat and the patches (see photo). And yeah, straw would be more authentic, but using corn husks is more rascuache.
7. Orange fabric for a jack-o-lantern mask (optional). You can also try a burlap sack as a mask.
8. Old-looking shoes.

To make your scarecrow gory, just add some fake blood or carry a bloody prop knife. We all know scarecrows can be pretty creepy.

If you want to show some skin and try a more adult look, opt for a short denim skirt or shorts instead of pants. Wear colorful or striped stockings.

Finally, to make your scarecrow cute, you can add some cute face paint (draw on nose, rosy cheeks) or makeup. I skipped the makeup last time I did the scarecrow costume for Halloween ’98, but I still got a compliment from a UCLA cheerleader. That was pretty cool.

Next up in the low-budget costume series: philandering politician and mistress (hmmm, I wonder who that may be).

For Halloween 2001, I dressed up as La Adelita, or a soldadera. An Adelita was a woman soldier who did things like cook and care for wounded as well as fight in the battles of the Mexican Revolution.

After searching online for photos/artistic renditions of soldaderas, I got some inspiration and started to put together my low-budget costume. Here’s what you need (and where I found my stuff):

1. White ruffled Mexican blouse (you know, the kind waitresses at Mexican restaurants often wear). I found my blouse in the closet where my mom keeps all of our old folklórico trajes (costumes).
2. Full-length skirt. I borrowed my flower-patterned skirt from my tía Luisa since the “peasant skirt” wasn’t in fashion yet.
3. Boots. I borrowed ankle-length boots from my mom or tía Luisa. I can’t remember, it was a long time ago.
4. Rebozo (shawl). I used a rebozo we had stored away with our folklórico costumes.
5. Bandolier (bullet belt). I bought mine at a costume shop in Westwood. I’ve seen these on sale for $6.99 online.
6. Dangly gold earrings. Once again, borrowed from my aunt or mom.
7. Doll of a Mexican baby (optional). I borrowed this from my roommate.
8. Morral (a woven Mexican bag). Even though you’re dressed as someone in 1910, you still need something to carry around your car keys and lip gloss.

The only cost associated with this costume was buying the bandolier. I braided my hair in two braids rather than leave it long and flowing in the wind as in this painting. I didn’t wear a hat, but you could add a large straw hat to the outfit. You can make the costume PG-13 by wearing the blouse off the shoulder. It’s only PG-13 since your skirt will still be miles longer than the skirts of your fellow female party-goers.

To make this a couples costume, you can have your date go as Pancho Villa or Emiliano Zapata. Last year, my younger brother dressed up as Pancho Villa. He called himself Pancho Vanilla, silly boy.

Now aren’t these costumes of historic Mexican figures much better than these tacky costumes of “Mexicans”?

Next up in the low-budget costume series: scarecrow.

I’ve never done the Frida Kahlo costume mainly because it’s a pretty popular costume in my social circle. About once a year, I see at least one Frida. At one particular party (see above photo), two friends were dressed as Frida. As you can see, you don’t need to be a woman to do this one.

What you’ll need:

• A huipil (embroidered Mexican dress or blouse). You can go for something white with lots of lovely embroidered flowers and animals or try a brightly colored blouse with a geometric design. Most Chicanas I know own at least one huipil (either the dress or blouse version). If you don’t, shame on you. Borrow one from a friend.
• A long, flowy skirt (if you go for the long huipil, you don’t need a skirt). You know those “peasant skirts” that were popular in spring/summer 2005? That would be perfect here.
• A rebozo (a shawl).
• Chunky jewelry for your neck, ears and wrists. If you have jade, even better.
• Flowers. You can pick up some fake flowers at the craft store, or just get fresh flowers from a local store. You should know where to put these. And if you don’t, then shame on you.
• A unibrow. If you don’t already have one, draw it in with a little eyeliner. Most women I know don’t try to draw in a mustache ’cause we already have a little fuzz there.
• Bonus accessories: your date as Diego Rivera (or Leon Trotsky), a stuffed monkey on the shoulder, or for a more creepy look try a rod through your torso.

Once you get everything together, just put it on. Consult Frida’s self-portraits or just do your own thing. You can do a twist on it too and paint one side of your face as a calaca and be calaca Frida.

Next up in the low-budget costume series: la Adelita.

According to my site statistics, I’ve been getting a lot of people referred to the site after searching Chilindrina costume. I find this funny since I’ve never posted any photos of such a costume or even mentioned it on here.

Of all the costumes to search for, this one should be pretty easy (and inexpensive) to put together. I even wrote a haiku about it:

Low-budget costume:
Pigtails, freckles, sweater, dress
La Chilindrina

Originally published in Puro Pedo Magazine’s February issue along with several other Chicano haiku.

I forgot to include the glasses, bloomers and sneakers, but you get the gist. Dressing up as La Chilindrina for Halloween or any costume party seems to work best as a group or couples costume. After all, la Childindrina without el Chavo del 8, Kiko and crew is just kinda sad.

Next up in the low-budget costume series: Frida Kahlo.

Photo by Nney, used under a Creative Commons license.