One of my all-time favorite films is The Royal Tenenbaums. Honestly, I’ll never turn down a viewing of any Wes Anderson film, but The Royal Tenenbaums is my number one. Wes Anderson films are worth watching for the set design and the sartorial choices alone, but they are also ironic and witty and just plain fun. I’ve mentioned my love for Wes Anderson a few times on this blog, including in this post from 2014. Not only do I love his films, The Royal Tenenbaums was the inspiration for one of my favorite Halloween costumes.
You already saw in this post that David and I were Slash and Axl last Halloween but we have a long history of couple’s costumes together ranging in everything from bunny sibling duo Max and Ruby to Jane Fonda and Richard Simmons – this was for an 80s themed party and we thought nothing would be better than going as two of the hottest exercise gurus of the 80s.
One of my favorites, though, was Margot and Richie Tenenbaum. One of the major story lines in the Royal Tenenbaums is – Shoot! I guess this is the part where I’m supposed to say ***SPOILER ALERT *** before I tell you anything about the movie so you don’t get mad at me for ruining your experience, but honestly, the movie came out in 2001 so if you really wanted to be surprised, you’ve had seventeen years to do so. I digress – sorry. Anyway, one of the major storylines is that Margot and Richie Tenenbaum are in love with each other – perfect for a couple’s costume. In the film, their relationship is a bit of a conundrum because they are brother and sister, though it isn’t technically an incestuous relationship because Margot was adopted, so while weird, it’s not exactly gross. It’s quirky, just like the film. Their relationship is also the source of my favorite line in the movie:
Back to the costume… I loved these costumes for several reasons, but I was especially fond of them because it was an exceptionally cold Halloween that year and our outfits were nice and toasty. This was another costume that we threw together at the last minute with items in our closet. My faux mink coat was one of those things that David thought I was crazy for buying. Why would I possibly need a coat like that in Southern California? He had a point. Practical it was not, but I bought it anyway because one: I loved it; and two: you just never know when you might need a faux mink coat – like on the off chance you might someday wish to dress up like Margot Tenenbaum.
This was David and me doing our best to look somber.
This is what we were like most of the night
And here we were with the boys – look how little they were! Awww!
For trick or treating I took my hair down but kept the coat, glove and handbag (which I used to store extra candy and water).
And in case you’re in the market for a faux mink coat of your own, here are some coats inspired by Margot Tenenbaum: