Costume Ideas

Santarchy and the World’s Most Prolific Theme

Is the Christmas holiday more than just a theme? To some it is all that’s sacred but to a growing number of revelers it is something of a conceptual jungle gym to riff on, subvert, and have fun playing with. A side classic pin-up view of a very sexy woman with long dark hair bending over slightly at the waist. She is wearing a white fur trimmed red bodice over black fishnet tights all topped with a red santa hat that reads "Angel"

This latter group includes the Santarchists, or “Santa Crawlistas” as they are known around these parts. SantaCon events occur in multiple locations around the world during the month of December as individuals subvert the aesthetic of the world’s most popular themed occasion with copious amounts of egg-nog and a Claus sized helping of St. Nick naughtiness.

We were on the scene for this year’s exceptionally snowy and well attended crawl (Reno apparently has one of the largest) where we witnessed the full spectrum of holiday themed costumes. While the “sexy Mrs. Claus” costume handily maintained its perennial dynasty, as evidenced by the 2nd annual Sexy Santa Competition, a 1st annual Most Creative Christmas Costume Contest also paid homage to the many reindeer, toy soldiers, snowflakes, wrapped presents, ice fairies, pajama’d children, hybrids/mutants, candy canes, Noelian steampunks, Christmas pirates, and of course, the ninjas (among numerous other original holiday costume ideas).

A heavily costumed woman wearing white feather eyelash extensions, a headdress constructed from white gossamer faerie wings, several white lights, and red poinsettas, white faux fur wrapped around her shoulders, and a scandalously gorgeous white lacey bra. She smiles at you; her face painted with white snoflakes

Whatever the costume might be, the feeling behind it is the same: Let’s take a break from the holiday related stress of shopping, family, traffic, etc., and have some good-ol-timey burnerly fun with this Xmas beast! That the costumes express such a level of creativity, innovation, and liberated viewpoints regarding the “reason for the season” are a testament to our community’s brilliant willingness to shift the sometimes oppressive holiday paradigm towards something more … scandalous.

An epic snow/ice-ball fight marked this year’s Reno crawl as one for the history books (see great videos here and here). There is no denying the holiday counter-magic created by legions of wassailers dressed in red fuzzy outfits having their run of the town. It’s an effect that is remarkably similar to the inspiring feelings of rampant freedom present in our home away from home. When thousands of people dress in costume, the mind becomes overwhelmed and disbelief gets suspended. Suddenly a host of ridonkulous new possibilities enter the field of play and the next thing you know, you’re right where you need to be with exactly the freaks you were meant to be with doing the things that dreams of sugar plums dancing with freaky ice fairies are made of …

Aerial view of close to 1000 drunken revelers dressed in red santa suits congregating under and around a well lit neon arch which reads "RENO The Biggest Little City In The World" on a beautiful winter night.

10,000+ BRC Costume Ideas? Thanks PhotoBOOF!

That’s right, over 4,000 four-shot photo-booth type strips of one to six BRCitizens at a time taken during the ’05, ’06, ’07, ’08, and 2009 Burns. It’s a profound gift, an art-generator, and an archive of our dusty brilliance. Boof A

It’s the PhotoBOOF!, a quadruple-shot of well-dressed burner mayhem straight from the source. Prepare yourself for thousands of smiles topping off a TON of radical styles.

Each year of its existence, the BOOF! has taken thousands of portraits, capturing Burners out on the town truly BEing “themselves” and wearing their best. Shortly after each burn the photos are uploaded to PhotoBOOF.org to be appreciated in a variety of ways.

Our favorite way is the slideshow display within the “Map Animation” browser. Just press the play button and watch the beauty flash by to a soundtrack. (Hint: The Cure’s “Pictures of You” is an epic track to hear during this presentation and you can make it play by clicking any one of the day names under the photo. Note: You might have to click more than once, clicking the names cycles through about eight or so tracks …)

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The BOOF! archives are a potent resource that will yield more inspiration and knowledge each time you visit. In addition to getting a solid feel for the outfits of each person photographed, the archives contain pics of friends that you didn’t get a chance to see during the week, and, perhaps most importantly, it’s the next best thing to being on the streets of BRC, lost in a sea of exquisitely accoutered humans BEing in that special way you can love immediately without needing any introduction.

What’s great about Photoboof.Org, is it’s ability to accurately remind us of how people actually look at burning man. Often we only see the pro-photogs’ pics of the one in five hundred costumes and forget that the true essence of burner style isn’t based so much on what you’re wearing but in how well you’re wearing it, how it becomes an extension of you, and whether or not it’s helping you and those who are interacting with you stay “dusty”.

Finally, all fashion aside, if you’re having Playa withdrawls, visiting these images can offer just the kind of energetic immersion you’re craving STAT. And, if you’re one of the fortunate few who knows people that want to get some idea what this Burning Man thing you’re all excited about is really like? Show them these pictures of your friends and ask them to tell you.

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Costume Ideas

Santarchy and the World’s Most Prolific Theme

10,000+ BRC Costume Ideas? Thanks PhotoBOOF!

@DustyCouture on Twitter

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