Between Hurricane Sandy and work, I didn’t get around to making Halloween plans. I had a great costume in mind too. My favorite part about dressing up is the hair and makeup, so I’m definitely not going to stick a pair of cat ears on my head, draw on some eyeliner whiskers and call it a night. I go hard or stay home.
When dressing as post-mortem Anne Boleyn in 2008, I was “dead” set on perfecting my neck gash.
Luckily, I’m going to see Lady Gaga in concert again in February, and she’s a good excuse to get wild.
My disco-ball Marie Antoinette look for a Gaga concert in 2010. Click for original post.
I’m comforted by the fact that two years ago, I got to live out one of my Halloween costume dreams by dressing as ’80s pop star Adam Ant.
Halloween 2010. “Don’t you ever, don’t you ever, stop being dandy, showing me you’re handsome.” Click for original post.
I held onto the various elements of my Ant outfit. I was excited to have the opportunity to wear them again when I got tickets for a concert Adam was scheduled to do in New York this February. However, I wasn’t at all surprised when the show was canceled and rescheduled for October 6. Adam has had some serious mental-health problems that have led to hospitalizations. In fact, I was so positive the October concert would be canceled that I decided I wouldn’t invest effort in hair and makeup. But Adam made it to the Best Buy theater in Times Square, and so did I, with an Ant-worthy outfit, minus the grooming.
What Wendy Wore
Jacket: Modcloth (2010)
Shirt: Costume website (2010)
Jeggings: J Brand (2010? 2011? I don’t know.)
Boots: Michael Kors (pre-2005)
Purse: Prada (purchased on eBay in 2008)
Necklace: My own Memento Mori design
I felt a little peculiar — like I was dressed for Halloween way too early, to be precise — when fellow Ant-person Stacy Lomman and I stumbled out of our cab into the throngs of tourists in Times Square. But once we oriented ourselves, found the theater and got inside, I was the belle of the ball. Well, my jacket was the belle of the ball. I swear, I could have sold that jacket a dozen times for twice what I paid for it. Ant fans were simply in awe of its Ant-ness. Stacy got bodyguard-ish and started protecting me and the jacket: “No more photos, please. The jacket has places to go. Please, no touching!” We were happy when Adam came on and the attention turned to him. We were even happier that he played a two-hour show — with two drummers — in fine voice.
My photo of Adam Ant. Oct. 6, 2012, in New York City.
Adam will be 58 this Saturday. Watching him in action, I felt inspired, the way I did at the Madonna concert in September. I kept thinking, “When I’m in my late 50s, if there are people who will pay me cash money to throw on a wig-hat, squeeze myself into a pirate outfit and dance around in front of a screaming crowd, I will do it. I don’t care if I need a Duggar-family-size tube of lube and a shoehorn to get me in that slim-fit pirate outfit. I am so there.” It pisses me off when people say singers should hang up their wig-hats and retire to their rocking chairs just because they’re no longer 20-somethings with concave stomachs. If the artists want to do their thing and I want to see it — and younger people like the 20-ish girl who shrieked directly into my left ear all night want to see it — fuck everyone with a closed mind and nonexistent sense of humor.
Stacy and I definitely had “fuck that” attitudes a few days after the show when we encountered a woman who repeatedly asked us if we were “stalkers” or “groupies” because I knew about Adam’s bipolar disorder and we dressed up. I would have screamed, “WTF, MOM!!!!!! YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING!” except she wasn’t my mom. (BarbaraB is too cool to ask such a question.) Okay, lady, I’ll belatedly answer you the way I would have if I hadn’t kept pretending I didn’t hear you. First, allow me to introduce you to Poodle, which is what I call a very well-known Internet search engine that will tell you all about Adam Ant’s health in a matter of seconds. It’s the kind of thing a blogger might use to write a long-ass post about the post-Sex Pistols music scene in London. (Don’t make me explain what bloggers are!) Secondly, so what if I occasionally like to dress up for a laugh? It’s for my health. Laughter is the best medicine. Anyone familiar with Reader’s Digest knows that shit. Finally, do you think any professional stalker is going to come right out and answer, “Yeah, I’m a stalker?” No! We say more subtle, ominous things like, “No one knows him like I know him” and “He’s my almost-husband.” Jebus, lady. GROW UP!
I’m cracking up so hard over the last few sentences, I’m peeing my pants! What a great concert! Love him still. I mean, not in a stalkerish way, ya know? Dumb ass girl. And you could have sold that jacket off your back for a cool grand that night, I think.
Fabulous costumes! Hope all is well on your side of the world.
Wendy, you always dress so perfectly for concerts – well done! And screw that woman – what a dumb thing to ask.
Rock on, girl! I hope you are still gettin’ down with your bad self for another several decades.
I love and agree with your last 2 paragraphs 1 million/10
Love all the outfits
x
Possibly my fave outfit of yours EVER, Wendy. Adam was sooooo gorgeous though, wasn’t he? I would kill for that jacket, so I’m surprised you and Stacy got out alive.
One of the most beautiful men EVAH.
I’m glad you dress up. Your concert attire is very gorgeous, and your make-up is seriously cool. You nailed Adam with your jacket – so glad you got home safely with it.
Dressing up to go to a concert and knowing publicly available facts about the artist is now stalking. Er, uh-oh. I’m canceling my People prescription…
Lynne, it’s not your People magazine subscription that’s a problem. It’s the way you turn up at EVERY Justin Bieber appearance and hang around outside his hotel room. Please remember to abide by the terms of the restraining order! 😀
Wendy, every time you bring up Adam I remember this KER-AZY story from when I lived in London. I will have to tell it to you when I see you because it can’t be written anywhere, its too KER-AZY, and I respect his right to anonymity. (Well and I suppose it would be considered a bit flattering in a wack-a-doo way! Love that you dress for shows! I think I’ll just start dressing like Gwar and scare people away from the stage so I can see! Hahaha! XXX
Can’t wait to hear this one!
So glad Sandy didn’t get you!!! I had some friends that I was really worried about!
It’ll be so much fun to meet up again. I’ll let you know well in advance when I’ll get to NYC.
At the tender age of 15, I was unfamiliar Adam Ant and when I saw a girl in a pirate costume with a thick white streak across her face, I asked her who she was supposed to be. She brought me to the nearest TV, turned on MTV (it was that long ago) and we have been BFFs ever since. Still love her, still love him, covet your jacket.
Aw, that’s a great story!
I was there 30 years ago in Festival Hall Melbourne with a stripe across my nose but no where near the outfit you own. Love!
Wasn’t he the best? Still so awesome. Very impressed by his voice!
How I wish I’d kept my 80s clothes; I had an Ant-ish jacket that i bought at a vintage place and an almost-Stephen Sprouse jumpsuit. Waah. So glad you saw Mr. Ant in concert. His AntMusic was a beloved record of mine back in the day and I loved Adam’s dangerously sex-ay vibe.
As for dressing up, I love it. My students and I dressed up in our best baggy ripped jeans and boxers to discuss the evolving hip-hop style from Run DMC onward. Am dreaming up my punk look as I type this . . .
For a while the ’80s clothes looked so bad (post-’80s) and now they look so right!
Well aren’t you a pretty little monster!! lol
I guess the benefit of being in our 40’s is that we can afford to dress like classy concert goers.
Love that dress.
I didn’t know Adam Ant had so many issues poor guy it pisses me off when people dismiss mental illness. It’s not something you choose just as people with bad thyroid or blood pressure didn’t choose either.
Maybe people that think we’re too old to be enjoying concerts are in denial that they don’t know how to have fun anymore. Too bad for them.
Marti
I just think when they’re my age, if they’re not having as much fun as me, I feel sorry for them!
Well, I should maybe see a professional but I don’t even need money to squeeze myself into something and dance around, and I only need a few more years to hit that demographic. Now I just need people screaming at me. Love that costume! Especially with the shirt-tail hanging out, the slippage of time… Perfect.
I’ll scream at you!
Haha! I loved this post – I love Adam Ant too and am in awe of your Adam Ant costume! I\’d have been pawing your jacket too. Never seen him live though – pretty pathetic since he\’s played London several times. And you wouldn\’t have to be a stalker to know about his health problems – there have been very publicly aired documentaries on it on TV – as far as I\’m aware he speaks out about it to raise awareness of mental health issues.
Be still my ’80s girl heart! Keep goin’ hard, WendyB!