intellectual properties

costuming, today and every day

i wear a lot of costumes.  i dress up for fun, often for parties late at night, sometimes at 9am on a tuesday, or when i’m running errands on sunday afternoon.  what i wear affects how i feel, what i feel like doing or what i can do, where i go, whether i bike or walk or drive, and what kind of energy i put out into the world. taking some time to dress myself up is almost a sure-fire way to put me in a better mood. and on the flip-side, looking plain or disheveled definitely makes me feel dull. uninspired. and before anyone decides to call this “vanity” or “shallow”, i maintain that we are all actors in our own lives, and you dress the part you want to play. dress codes and uniforms play a huge part in enforcing our roles:  you are a student.  you are an employee. you are a soldier.  you must dress and act your part.

i refuse dress codes and don’t have one at work, so now and then i get down on myself for getting lazy and dressing default.  jeans, t-shirt.  black pants, button up.  BORING.  i will only live so many days!  why do i even have things in my wardrobe that are plain?  what a waste!

but then i remember, it’s because sometimes, the “costume” i put on, it’s not weird, or funky, or sexy, or anything outstanding.  it’s totally “normal”.  it’s “i’m being normal today.  i am going to go to work, do my job, go to the gym, eat dinner, watch tv/read a book, and go to bed.” and i need those days.  i need that costume. i can’t spend every day weird, inspired, creative.  it’s too exhausting and unstable for me.

for adults, halloween is an annual chance for those who may not have the time, energy, or desire to “dress up” other days of the year to be someone else for a while.  try on a different persona.  i think this is a really important ritual, and while i do it many days a year, i love halloween because for 1 (or 4) day a year everyone feels comfortable doing it, and all week i’ve been smiling seeing people in SF wandering around dressed up on the streets.

so happy halloween y’all – may yours be fun and inspired. i have a long night of costuming ahead of me, as i’m part of the Bad Unkl Sista performance crew doing on and off performances all night long at the Spider Ball in SF.

and to all those people who “hate costuming” and aren’t dressing up, i say: even if you’re not dressed up, you are. whatever you wear, that is your costume.  your character. your role. your persona. your choice.

I don’t wake up in the morning. It’s more like an irritable emergence into the costume of my humanity. I leer in the mirror, suspiciously. What will I be today? A husband? A dad? Someone who goes through the motions at work? I get dressed up. I act like a man. – BHJ

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