We hope you had as much fun as we did at HighBall Halloween!! The turn out from the community was amazing, the costumes were dazzling, and YOU made the night so much fun!
The costume contest was also a success! Hundreds of people entered but only few made it past the judges selections, and only ONE was lucky enough to take home the prize as overall best costume. Sean Sproul, “The Devil,” was the overall costume winner at HighBall. Sproul received gifts from our sponsors but also a $1,000 check from The CW.
We had a couple questions for Sean Sproul about his devil creation and the making of his costume.
1. What was your inspiration behind the your costume?
This costume actually has a little bit of a history going back to Halloween of 1999. My partner and I had seen “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and decided to go as satyrs or pans (half goat, half man). We had purchased some ceramic horns with an elastic band to hold them to your head at the Renaissance Festival earlier that Summer, so those got us started. We then picked up a Simplicity pattern for a Halloween costume which made the furry goat’s legs, but the feet weren’t quite dramatic enough. We painted our upper bodies with glitter paint and exaggerated our facial features with makeup. We entered the Halloween costume contest at the Eagle but left disappointed. So, the costumes were put into storage, sigh. Then in 2001 a friend of mine who is a hairdresser decided we should enter as a different team. We decided to go as dark angel (Satan) and white angel (Michael). We started with the face of Satan which wasn’t a full mask but exaggerated features made of latex to be adhered to the face with spirit gum. This included horns, cheeks, nose, ears, and chin. We were just going to fill in the remaining exposed skin with some sort of face paint. Then I had my first revelation. What about using liquid latex to pain over the skin instead? I didn’t want to shave my head, so we got a skull cap to cover my hair. I knew I would have to shave any remaining exposed body hair, but that was okay. We hadn’t considered the lower body yet, and then it came to us. Why not use the legs we had used two years prior as part of the satyr outfits? They needed to look more sinister though, so I spray painted them with some black paint, but didn’t expect or want them to be solid black, just charred looking. So, I shaved my upper body, used spirit gum to adhere the facial features and skull cap, then Glenn started painting away with the red liquid latex. He put on several layers letting each dry before adding the next. He used black liquid latex for accents. Then I just slipped into the legs and put the hooves on when we got to the bar. I added the chain harness, spiked collar, spiked wrist bands, and bicep bands as finishing touches. My hands are covered with rubber devil hands and held on by the spiked wrist bands.
2. How did you come up with the idea?
The evolution of this costume is in answer #1. Back in 2001 it took second place at the Eagle, and first place at Tradewinds. It didn’t garner any attention at Union Station, sigh.
3. What materials did you use to make your pants and shoes?
The pants are made out of faux fur, dark brown for the most part, light brown for the inner portions. I then painted them with black to give them a burnt, more sinister look. In my opinion it’s the shoes that really make the costume. It’s a pair of tennis shoes screwed into a plank of wood about 3 inches in diameter with a notch taken out of the front to make it appear to be a cloven hoof. The plank is about 6 1/2 inches on the back and 5 1/2″ on the front so the shoe sits on the top at a one inch decline. The shoes are attached with screws and washers through the balls of the soul. The result causes you to walk on your tippy toes, sort of a reverse high heel. It’s as if you’re wearing high heels, but there is not heel support. The support is under the balls of your feet, so it’s like you’re walking on your tippy toes. The shoes were then covered in the dark brown fur with velcro strips to hold the fur in place over the top of the shoe as any visual sign of tennis shoes would definitely take away from the visual effect. I credit my background in roller and ice skating for my balance. I credit training for and running two marathons per year for my endurance.
4. Which shops were you able to find your costume accessories?
The liquid latex came from The Garden. Everything else was either from JoAnn Fabrics or Halloween costume shop close by. The harness, wrist bands, collar, and bicep bands came from The Garden as well.
5. Were you surprised you won the entire contest?
Most definitely. I honestly didn’t even know what the prize was and didn’t expect to win. I just asked my partner and friend if it was time for the Devil to come out of the closet yet again. I had unveiled him a few times at private parties, and he always seemed to impress, so I figured why not? It’ll be fun. When we got to the Highball Halloween crowd it started to sink in to my partner just how effective the costume was based on how folks were reacting to it. There literally were some who backed away and were sincerely creeped out by it, and others who seemed impressed and wanted pictures of or with the Devil. To me that’s the real fun of it since I’m usually a shy and withdrawn person especially in crowds, but a costume allows you to shed that and just enjoy the attention.
6. How did you find out about HighBall Halloween?
My co-worker and friend Lori told me about it. I’m ashamed to say I didn’t even know it was a scheduled event.
7. What did you enjoy most about HighBall?
The interactions with the crowd and other contestants. In my opinion the group I was in, Cirque Fantasy, was the best of all. There were so many great costumes that I wouldn’t have wanted to be the one choosing. I tried to interact with other contestants on stage and was cheering on the #18 group of black/white zombies. I thought they looked great as did many others.
8. Will you dress up for HighBall again next year?
My partner was initially saying not for a few years, but I think I might be able to convince him to give it another go. He was so shocked that we won. It was a great evening for us, one we won’t forget.
9. What costume tips would you recommended to other HighBall attendees?
I think the homemade inventions are the best, so try to be as creative as you can. Some of the masks were awesome, but it was apparent that they were store bought. Also, have fun with it, enjoy the moment. If you’re approaching it as a task/job it will show. Don’t take yourself so seriously. As for my costume it was challenging to walk in, but I think that added to the effect. Perhaps I could come up with an improvement in that regard.
