When her local costume store sold out of Sexy Giggles the Clown and Sexy Nun costumes in her size, blogger and author Suzanne Fleet says she realized she was going to have to get creative with this year’s Halloween costume.
On her blog, "Toulouse and Tonic," Fleet pokes fun at the many challenges of parenting and motherhood. And since "sexy" Halloween costumes are so ripe for mockery (remember sexy Olaf?), the witty mother of two teamed up with fellow writers to tackle “Sexy Halloween Costumes for Moms.”
From the Blazing Hot Bake Sale Mom to the Luscious Lactator, Fleet’s group of blogger girlfriends came together with a hilarious collection of costume photos, inspired from a wish list created by Fleet, who says she felt overwhelmed by the absurdity of sexy costume options for grown-up women.
“It used to be there were sexy nurses and sexy cops and sexy Dorothy from the 'Wizard of Oz,' but now there is sexy anything-you-can-imagine and a bunch of stuff you shouldn’t see and can never unsee once you have seen it,” says Fleet. “I was thinking about the ridiculousness of a woman pouting for the camera in a ‘Sexy Furry Bear’ costume, and it just came to me. If you can make anything into a sexy Halloween costume, how about ‘sexy’ Halloween costumes for real moms?”
According to Leslie Marinelli, CEO and editor In chief of In the Powder Room, the brutal truth of the mothering situations depicted in each costume is what makes the project so special. The mother of three says that she, for example, identifies with her costume, the Dirty Delouser, more than she cares to admit, as everything shown in her photo came from supplies left over from her kids' bout with head lice last year.
The caption of the Dirty Delouser costume:
Set your washing machine to sanitize with our Dirty Delouser costume! If none of the other moms want their kids to play with yours, you’ll know the real reason. You’re just too damn hot in our fishnet stocking-inspired hairnet, specially patterned “lice-hider” apron and red hot rubber gloves that’ll protect your hands from all their dirty deeds. Itchy kid and reading glasses sold separately. Nit comb and half empty bottle of RID your own from the last time.
“Parenting is a tough gig, and moms need as many laughs as we can get in order to keep going every day. This is our way of saying, ‘Forget the Naughty Nurse and the Slutty Snowman – we’re real and we’re fabulous!’ I mean, what’s sexier than a mom nurturing her family with baked goods or breast milk or a Licemeister comb?” said Marinelli.
Blogger Breanna Jennings, pictured as the Tired Temptress, says behind the humor there's a real message about solidarity. “We all feel like the only mom who’s not put together sometimes, and I think this shows both mom solidarity and the insanity of being made to feel like we have to be hard-working, nurturing AND sexy,” said Jennings. “I don’t relate to my character, I am her.”
The Dirty Dishwashing Damsel, blogger Amy Flory, says she participated in the project because she enjoys mocking sexy Halloween costumes, and because of her newfound disgust with the "Frozen"-inspired "sexy snowman" costume out this year.
The caption on her "Dishwashing Damsel" costume:
What’s sexier than a clean kitchen? Watching you load and unload in your Dirty Dishwashing Damsel Halloween costume! And best of all, you don’t even need to Trick or Treat because your pants are already full of all the candy anyone could want. We provide the candy pants and the dingy apron – single rubber glove your own.
Flory said she found an interesting take-away about mommies and sexiness.
“It’s ridiculous to imagine someone being sexy while knee deep in potty training, or while wearing baby vomit and breast milk, but in reality, our husbands see us as sexy (when mothering), even when we’re in our fluffiest pajamas,” said Flory.
Fleet agrees that her post is about just that – encouraging and building up moms who may be feeling unsexy, stressed or in need of a good laugh.
“To me, a good sense of humor is the sexiest thing in existence. Although we’re all in the same generally unsexy costume every single day, we can all laugh about it,” she says. "It’s OK to make mistakes and be imperfect and it’s OK to feel sexy or not feel sexy no matter what you’re wearing or what job you’re doing – even a messy, difficult one like being a constantly frazzled, multitasking mom.”
Are you bringing sexy back... to the carpool line? Check out all 11 creative "mom" costumes at Toulouse & Tonic.