A Nordic Halloween

I’m late late late on this, but I wanted to walk you through our Halloween 2014 inspiration and creation since we pour absurd amounts of time into our costumes each year. We thought 2014 was going to be a year to slack on Halloween, but as soon as we agreed to swim in the Fastest Man/Woman in Texas shoot-out on November 1, slacking became a pipe dream. Josh Davis, 1996 & 2000 Olympic gold medalist, hometown hero who preceded me at Winston Churchill High School and one of the most joyful people you will ever shake hands with, created the 50 free shootout event. Davis’ mother, Joan Davis, succumbed to cancer in 2012, and the event is now held in her memory (proceeds go toward cancer research). Josh decided to add a costume contest into this year’s schedule and talked up the Grevers’ past costumes in the press release. So we were not off the hook and to the drawing table we went for 2014’s costumes…

MG and I have been big fans of History channel’s creative nonfiction show called Vikings. The main characters are Ragnar and Lagertha Lothbrok. It took me a while to decide if I liked the show because not much happens in each episode. But, if you’re into aesthetics and cinematography, this show is stunning. MG and I are all about the breathtaking scenery and artistry of this show, so the costumes quickly became the frontrunner in our Halloween brainstorming process.

Travis Fimmel- the Calvin Klein model turned surprisingly good actor

Lagertha, the shield maiden, and Ragnar the power-hungry warrior

I began my hunt through Tucson thrift stores and came up short in my search for legit-looking tunics. So when they don’t make it, I must try to make it. I bought some cheap, pleather upholstery material at Hobby Lobby and did rough measurements of the sleaveless ponchos. I then cut strips on each shoulder to roughly cross-stitch back with suede rope. Matt got the more malleable, higher-end (ha) pleather, so my gold sheen pleather was tougher to work with. I sewed pleats down the front of mine to make it look less like a box and added a gathering tie to the back to look less like a linebacker. MG grew out his beard and his hair and the day before we flew I shaved the sides of his head. I had never shaved a dude’s head before, much less tried to make it symmetrical, so this particular task was stressful for the wifey. I found undershirts and pants at Buffalo Exchange and Marshall’s, and belts at Goodwill. Our cuffs were made from scraps of pleather and leather strips left over from our Avatar costumes.

Matt spent hours crafting our weapons out of some of the hardest, not-whittle-friendly wood. My sword turned out beautifully and his ax, just lovely. We again put Avatar scrap leather to work on the handles and some paint for the metallic glimmer.

My favorite accessory was the shield, my mom’s contribution to our costume. She constructed this masterpiece out of cardboard, duct tape, and and upside down paper bowl in the center. She’s a gifted, resourceful, creative woman!