Eat Drink Run Woman

Ever since I was little, I’ve loved to dress up in costumes. My girlfriends and I would put on the 50s-style dresses in our attic and prance around on our patio. I adored the flapper dress in my mom’s closet with its luxurious ivory-colored fringe and couldn’t wait until I was big enough to fit into it properly (alas she gave it to Goodwill before that happened). I’d plan my Halloween costumes months in advance, and could barely contain my excitement at showing them off.

Back then there were few options for buying costumes off the rack; besides, I preferred making them myself. As a teenager I spooked the bejesus out of the kids my friend baby-sat when I showed up with a long black velvet coat and my face painted black & white. In the early 80s I found a deal on a red satin GunnySax dress for my Cyndi Lauper costume (I bought several lengths of chain to wrap around my waist and sprayed my hair brilliant orange). The dress was later repurposed in college for a slutty devil (I called her the Whore from Hell). I’ve gone the traditional witch route — green scaly skin, warts, knobby nose and all — and even tried dressing like Marilyn Monroe (I ended up looking more like a man in drag). One of my favorites was an evening dress with rats running up the back (I kept telling people I just found the dress in my attic and dusted it off).

So when I read about the Marathon du Medoc, I knew this would be the race for me (okay, so the wine part was the first thing that drew me in). I started thinking of my costume from the get-go — more than a full year before the race. I perused an online costume shop for ideas and found one that was promising: a Vineyard Vixen. However, I knew it wouldn’t hold up to the rigors of a marathon; I’d have to somehow recreate it using actual running gear.

Another idea was to dress as a Greek goddess; I figured I could fashion a simple toga over white running shorts and jog bra and find some laurel at a costume shop. During the Fremont 5K — another race featuring wild costumes — one of the runners was dressed as a Hooters girl. That too held promise, but I discovered there are no Hooters restaurants in France and figured the costume would get lost in translation (besides, I was concerned the shorty-shorts would result in chafed upper thighs!).

Then I found the zebra-print running skirt at SkirtSports. We’re on to something now!

I wanted to make sure it would perform well on a long run, so I took it on two test runs — a 17- and 23-miler. It worked like a charm. Now to figure out the rest of the costume. I started searching the Internet for zebra-print clothes; I found if I wanted to dress like a stripper or pimp, I’d be set. But fortunately there were a few other, less risqué, options. I had hoped to find a zebra jog bra, and while I did find one that could possibly work, I kept looking. I scored big-time at TJ Maxx, a local discount store, when I spied an $8 zebra-print camisole. I’d simply wear that over my pink jog bra.

Next up was the head gear. I can’t wear a head band for more than 5 minutes without getting a headache, so I knew that was out. But perhaps I could sew some ears and a mane onto a hat. I once again turned to the Internet and eventually found an awesome zebra-print hat from Calico Caps on eBay. I also found some footless leggings and retro sunglasses from Cool Hot Fashions (also on eBay). My next score was a pair of zebra-print hand warmers from a local costume shop. I had thought about fashioning a couple of sweat bands from faux zebra fur, but these will work even better.

Finally, I had to come up with the ears, mane and tail. I had hoped to find ready-made ones at the costume shops, but struck out. However, I found some faux black & white fur and figured I could fashion a mane out of that. I also picked up a pair of white cat ears and a tail, hoping to somehow make them look like a zebra’s. Thanks to a black Sharpie and a black curtain tassel (which was sewn onto the bottom of the tail), I think I accomplished the look:

I’m keeping my fingers crossed this will serve me well in Medoc. I originally was going to wear the leggings over the skirt’s compression shorts, thinking it would be easier to take them off if needed, but they feel more comfortable underneath (I can always rip them off). The sunglasses are uncomfortable, so those will be discarded right away (actually I’ll probably keep them but will store them in my water belt). The tail may give me grief, but I think the hat is light enough. We’ll be sure to take pictures at the end!

Oh, and if you’re wondering what my darling’s costume is, here it is:

Get it?