Prince from Purple Rain
photo by Jason Thrasher
Note: I wore this costume in 2011, five years before Prince died.
THE IDEA
I wore this costume in 2011, five years before Prince died and out of admiration for him. In the 1980s, Prince had a huge influence on me. Plus, he's pretty feminine, so I thought this might work. Today, I wouldn't dress as a Black person. I may take this one down, but for now, I'm leaving it here and hoping you understand.
The night of the Rumpus, I looked more like Prince in my mind than in real life. This costume pretty much scared my kids, when they were little, so in that sense, it was a Halloween success.
Before I go on to the costume part, let me tell you about the costume of the guy who took this photo, because his idea was both conceptual and interactive. Jason Thrasher is a photographer in our town, and that night he was dressed as Ron Galella, the paparazzo who famously stalked Jackie Kennedy and her children. So you had to pretend you didn't want Jason taking your picture. Now, that's a good costume.
THE COSTUME
The second photo below is what you are going for. The outfit worn by Prince in Purple Rain lives at the Minnesota Historical Society. It is fairly easy to make. I bought a purple raincoat off of ebay. Then I folded over the opening of the coat to hide the buttons and button holes. I secured the fold with duct tape. I had a puffy shirt, but it wasn't elaborate enough so I added some white material with lace. I also sewed ruffly material to the sleeve openings of the jacket so that the puffy cuffs would always show. It's easy to buy white buttons and sew them on a pair of black pants as in the photo of Prince's costume. Also, you can buy press-on metallic squares in a craft store, and put them in a pattern on the right shoulder. I had to buy a wig for this one. And that's it. If you are a woman, enjoy horrifying your friends with your sincere tribute to Prince.
THE IDEA
I wore this costume in 2011, five years before Prince died and out of admiration for him. In the 1980s, Prince had a huge influence on me. Plus, he's pretty feminine, so I thought this might work. Today, I wouldn't dress as a Black person. I may take this one down, but for now, I'm leaving it here and hoping you understand.
The night of the Rumpus, I looked more like Prince in my mind than in real life. This costume pretty much scared my kids, when they were little, so in that sense, it was a Halloween success.
Before I go on to the costume part, let me tell you about the costume of the guy who took this photo, because his idea was both conceptual and interactive. Jason Thrasher is a photographer in our town, and that night he was dressed as Ron Galella, the paparazzo who famously stalked Jackie Kennedy and her children. So you had to pretend you didn't want Jason taking your picture. Now, that's a good costume.
THE COSTUME
The second photo below is what you are going for. The outfit worn by Prince in Purple Rain lives at the Minnesota Historical Society. It is fairly easy to make. I bought a purple raincoat off of ebay. Then I folded over the opening of the coat to hide the buttons and button holes. I secured the fold with duct tape. I had a puffy shirt, but it wasn't elaborate enough so I added some white material with lace. I also sewed ruffly material to the sleeve openings of the jacket so that the puffy cuffs would always show. It's easy to buy white buttons and sew them on a pair of black pants as in the photo of Prince's costume. Also, you can buy press-on metallic squares in a craft store, and put them in a pattern on the right shoulder. I had to buy a wig for this one. And that's it. If you are a woman, enjoy horrifying your friends with your sincere tribute to Prince.
