I’ve always been a HUGE fan of Halloween. As a child I loved it even more than Christmas. At 6 years old I fought hard to get my parents to let me wear the ‘boys’ monster costume I coveted. So, what is it about lesbians (and all queers!) and Halloween? We love to dress up. We just do, and we really don’t care what anybody thinks of us.
- Drag: It’s amazing to pass as a man for a night. I dressed as a Renaissance Faire type scribe in 1982 and gay boys tried to pick me up… so FUN! Monica Palacios thought I looked like Sean Cassidy from the Partridge Family. The Castro Halloween night party was our very own street party back then! A lot less crazy and way more fun.
- Black Widow Spiders: Twin costumes: black fishnets, long-haired black wigs, leotards with a red hourglass sewn on the front, and 8 long legs attached on our backs that were built with wire and balled up newspaper stuffed into black stockings. We won 1st place at a Marga Gomez comedy show costume contest at Clementina’s Baybrick Inn. We were skinny and looked hot. I don’t know, the contest might have been fixed 😉
- A Suicidal Brownie: I found a Girl Scout Brownie beanie on the sidewalk on Valencia St. and went to Goodwill for an ugly short sleeved brown dress. Then I cut the bottom off an old green dress and used it for the sash. I pinned a bunch of weird things on it such as tiny skeletons, wind-up talking skulls and “Lesbian Feminist†pins. I added the noose at the last minute and scary make-up. Looking back, the costume was in very poor taste, but no regrets are allowed on Halloween.
Drag Reversed: My best friend Lynnly Labovitz dressed in drag with a twist. A woman – dressed as a man – dressed as a woman. Basically a big old drag queen costume. Lynnly passed away from breast cancer several years ago, but I have her on video in this outfit, showing off her enormous fake boobs. I will treasure that clip forever.
- Drag: I did it again for the second time 30 years later, totally passed and blew my friend’s minds. Women seem to get very excited by the whole thing, lesbians included! And the best part? While swaggering to my car parked in a sketchy part of town late at night, I’m ignored by the creepy guys that would usually scare me, cause I’m a dude. That’s crazy!
Robin Lowey founded Epochalips in 2010. It was the one thing she couldn’t NOT do. She is Creative Director at Robin Lowey Branding + Design. Surfer, snowboarder, hiker and Mother of two beautiful grown boys.
