Manchester residents discuss Halloween costumes and vintage fashion

A planned Odysseus costume and a decades-old Borsalino hat featured in conversations about fashion and Halloween plans with five people in Manchester. The interviews took place a few days before Halloween as part of the “Steal Their Style” street-style feature.

Talyaan Pambou, 25, was approached at Piccadilly bus station while carrying a bow and arrow prop. He said he was preparing to attend a party dressed as Odysseus. He planned to cut up a dress to give it what he described as an ancient Greek aesthetic, and said the costume would also include a grey beard and a hoodie inspired by the character’s look towards the end of the story.

Pambou described his everyday style as influenced by punk, rock and roll, streetwear and hip hop. His outfit included a red striped jumper from Asos, a Boohoo trench coat, Bershka boots, a durag and fingerless gloves. He joked that the jumper could suggest either Dennis the Menace or Freddy Krueger.

Another interviewee, a 22-year-old mechanical engineer identified as Junior, said he planned to dress as Simon the Ice King from Adventure Time. His current outfit included a Uniqlo windbreaker and a graphic T-shirt bought in Germany, with an image of a KitKat bar turning into a cat. He said his fleece, bag and shoes came from Vinted, and described his snakeskin boots as the day’s biggest bargain, bought for half their usual price.

Junior said he favoured brown clothing and sometimes mixed it with punk or emo influences. He also wore rings collected over several years and carried a frog-shaped AirPod case. He named his brother as a fashion influence and said his looks can include heavy boots, make-up or striking hairstyles. He had recently dyed his hair with skunk stripes, he said.

Keir Bennie, 25, said he planned to dress as Hannah Montana. He described his leather jacket as his girlfriend’s, adding that he often borrowed her clothes. His striped rugby top was a gift, while his trousers were from Urban Outfitters and his Doc Martens cost about £150, he said. Bennie cited the band Blossoms as an influence on both his music and clothing choices.

Esme, a 27-year-old graphic designer, spoke about an outfit built around texture and layers. She had crocheted her scarf herself and bought a Topshop jacket second-hand through Vinted for about £25. Her COS trousers were bought in Italy, she said. Esme named Hollie Mercedes, Lizzy Hadfield and Brittany Bathgate as people whose fashion she admired, particularly Mercedes’s creative knitwear.

Paul Crompton, 69, described a long-standing interest in menswear from the 1930s to the 1950s. He said his Mackinaw jacket came from a vintage shop in Rye about 15 years ago, while his Borsalino hat dated from the 1960s. His shirt was from the early 1950s; his jeans were modern, but styled after designs from the 1930s and 1940s.

Crompton praised the tailored clothing of the 1930s and said he sometimes runs a stall called 20th Century Stores at Stockport markets. Asked about Halloween, he said it was not part of his childhood and joked that American clothes were the only good thing to come from America.

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