Gretel’s Halloween

I’ve always LOVED Halloween. It’s the time of year that marks the beginning of the holiday season when the air becomes crisp and permeated with the smell wood-burning fireplaces. Growing up on the East coast, it was the time of year to walk through leaves as they crunched under foot- a reminder to start thinking about what I was to be for Halloween this year?

Mom was not the arts and crafts type, so each year I would make my own costumes. While I have always been creative, my execution has not always been the greatest. A seamstress I am not! However, I suppose when your a little kid, the crappy thrown together costumes have a certain charm? Over the years I have been everything from a Siamese backward mad scientist attached to my best friend to Cyndi Lauper (although I learned that no matter how much orange hair dye you spray on black hair it’s not going to show up!) I was Pocohontas and G.I Jane and even the Corpse Bride. Yes, that was only a few years ago.

At this point in my life, I have not yet had children and Halloween is the time of year I always think it would be most fun to have them. I love seeing their little outfits in Halloween parades and how excited they get when you put candy into their trick or treat bags. I too am a little kid at Halloween. Even in my thirties, I get excited about fishing through a plastic pumpkin anticipating what I might pull out: a mini Snickers? Sweet Tarts? Perhaps my favorite… a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup?!

By October of 2006, my first Halloween with Gretel, we had both made lots of new friends at Alta Plaza, our dogpark in Pacific Heights. There I met a group of dog lovers equally fanatical about their pooches, which of course led to meeting my business partner, Tina and the inspiration to start BLUEBLOOD.

When I was told there would be a Halloween contest at our park, I jumped at the chance to enter Gretel. Here was my chance to dress up MY child. Better yet, she would not protest or have an opinion about her oufit. Being the good sport that she is, Gretel would surely let me dress her in anything. But how could I do that to her, I thought? I grew up with big dogs and was never a doggie clothing kind of girl. But I figured it’s only one day and after all, it was Halloween!

There was only one problem. I found it impossible to find an outfit that would fit Gretel’s unique and curvy figure. She has no legs, but is as long as a lab, she has a huge chest and a belly the touches the ground. Once again I found myself kludgening together a home made outfit. If I was going to do this I was going to go big I thought! So, I decided to dress Gretel as someone equally regal and elegant: the most stylish First Lady, Jackie Onassis.

I made her a tweed Chanel-esque suit and matching pill-box hat, which to everyone’s suprise stayed put all evening as it was affixed to her little head with an elastic band. More impressive were her Jackie O glasses which not only stayed in place but seemed to transform Gretel into charater. There she stood with her nose in the air, looking down at the other dogs as if they were mere peons. To top it off her ensemble, Gretel sported a string of pearls which matched the buttons on her tweed suit. The outfit was of course terribly sewn. As she walked around, her chest stuck out further and further and her suit became ratty and frayed. But, I guess that charm rule applies to dogs as well as children- Gretel was a hit! To this day people refer to her as “Jackie O”.

Someone at the park told me I just HAD to take her to Golden Gate Park for their costume contest the following day and of course, I did. As Gretel was called on stage, in typical Gretel fashion she did not want to budge. I had to practically drag the poor girl across the stage and felt like a mean stage mom as I did so. Despite her lack of runway skills, Gretel took third place in the contest and ended up in the Chronicle and Children’s National Geographic.

The following year people started asking me, “What is Gretel going to be this year?” Oh no, I thought. What have I started?! People now EXPECTED costume greatness from us. How would I ever top Jackie O and frankly did I have the time? Well, not really. But I felt somewhat obliged not to let people down and I always liked a good challange. So I decided to stick with the “important women in history” theme and transformed Gretel into Queen Elizabeth the Ist. My sewing skills had slightly improved and this time with Tina and Jenny’s help, I dusted off and used my sewing machine. Her Fleur de Lys satin coat was adorned with lace and velvet and topped with my Nana’s antique rhinestone pin.

Oh and in case you are wondering… her Elizabethan collar is made of coffee filters : ).