Celebrating the very first day of the scariest (and most fun) month of the year, Oct. 1 saw the 3rd annual Chicago Costume Fashion Show shine the spotlight on costumes once again. Coming in on the heels of Fashion Week around the world, Chicago had its own unique glamor gala event to tantalize the fashionista community, Halloween style.
Hosted by owner/operator Courtland Hickey and his wife, Erin Anderson, at Chicago Costume (located on 157 W. North Ave.), the event was open to the public with a modest door fee, hors d’oeuvres, drinks, and a look at this season’s hottest costumes.
Before the show the audience was abuzz with excitement, craning their necks to catch a glimpse of backstage. The show opened with a sudden darkness as the houselights switched off, followed by dramatic spotlight lighting against a backdrop of colorful feather boas behind the runway. The music pulsed as one by one, models strutted their stuff out on the catwalk.
A tall, beaming brunette salsa danced out in a magnificent red Brazilian showgirl outfit, complete with six-foot feather headdress; Lady Gaga struck a pose in a striped jailbird outfit from Telephone; a velvet-robed Catholic Cardinal blessed the crowd; and a mysteriously sultry gypsy cursed them right after.
There were also gasps of surprise and delight when the model wearing the dark ballerina costume from the Natalie Portman movie Black Swan glided out. Since there were professional models as well as actual employees of Chicago Costume who were exuberant and outgoing enough to do their little turn on the catwalk, the show had a nice mix of sweet and sexy, funny and flirty.
The major designers featured in the show were Trashy Lingerie, Leg Avenue, Dream Girls, and some of Chicago Costume’s very own original costumes.
“Fashion is a big part of peoples’ lives, and they want to relate to the choices they have in a glamorous way,” said Mary Hickey-Panayoutou, the talent behind many of the fashion show’s outfits and Chicago Costume’s stock of rental costumes.
Some people in the crowd favored the Little Red Riding Hood costume, while others preferred the stately and sexy Red Queen costume and raved about the cuteness of the Oktoberfest German lederhosen costume. But the evening’s big winner was the starkly beautiful Black Swan ballerina costume.
Chicago Costume has been a family-owned and operated Chicago business since 1976, and has two stores open year-round along with nine satellite stores open around the city during Halloween. Chicago Costume supplies merry-makers, trick-or-treaters, theaters, filmmakers, corporate parties, promotional events, custom orders, and more. Along with the fashion show they also host and participate in numerous other Chicago events, promoting the arts and fantasy dress.