For Simon Doonan, the creative ambassador-at-large for Barneys New York, style extends beyond the fashion racks. We tapped him for some Halloween decorating ideas at a dinner party hosted by Ravenswood Wines — which, given its logo features a spooky ring of ravens, should be your go-to pour this Oct. 31. Doonan’s advice (for all the grown-ups out there) is to forgo the traditional black and orange in favor of what he calls “gothic glamour” — “sort of like when Cher went through that gothic period, where everything was somber: lots of purples and velvets,” he says. You want it to be “creepy but glamorous.”
Cater to your crowd
For children: “Black and orange is great. With kids you have to be careful not to scare the crap out of them, so it has to stay quite playful.”
For cool cats: “If you’re a young couple living in Brooklyn, then you need to go full-on heavy metal and really get the Metallica going and go more pop-gothic. Really go a bit crazy and subversive.”
Pull off gothic glam with …
Tarot cards
Flowers,
Urns. To Doonan, they represent “glamorous death” and “look like things you keep your granny’s ashes in.”
It’s all about the costume
1 Pick a direction.
“Am I gonna do fashion-y, am I gonna be hideous, am I gonna flaunt myself a bit? Maybe you’re single and you’re looking for a new boyfriend — it’s a good time to throw on the fishnets.”
2. Present a different side of yourself.
“If you’ve got amazing legs but never show them off, then wear something short. Show off a feature that you don’t normally rub in other people’s faces that you’re secretly quite proud of.”
3. When in doubt, you can’t go wrong with a current celeb.
“There’s always the celebrity of the moment. Last year it was all ‘Jersey Shore,’ — spray tan, Ed Hardy and off you go.”
