Dedicated to the parents - who never said no to a costume!
Dan Zen has been dressing up every day of his life even if it is just his mismatch socks ;-). Let's take a look at some costuming!▲ Sketches for three Halloween costumes in the eighties and nineties. The Henry Moore was paper mache and so big, Zen did not fit through the door of the party. He stayed in the front yard the whole night. The Hookah Smoking Caterpillar on the Mushroom featured a working straw leading to his Grasshopper drink beneath the mushroom top. The caterpillar was cloth over chicken wire and had arms guided by pull-strings. He and a friend were also worms and wiggled their way up the stairs past skin heads into a dance club - where they did the...▲ Halloween in the eighties as a hand painted storm cloud costume supported by chicken wire - an electrifying time was had by all!▲ Costumes from the 2000's - a wooden sun head dress with small dangling carrot medallion and a sci-fi wall that won a prize at the Staircase Theatre costume party!
▲ Parties are always fun for dress up. Dan Zen held Medieval feasts, Beatnik feasts, Space feasts, and many mystery parties. Above is from his 42 birthday which was space themed. He is dressed as Professor Y his future alter ego and character in the Meta Mystery stories - note the sundial bracelet.▲ A couple remote control phasers - they shoot controlling waves - laid out on Zen's Gnostic space cape.▲ Dan Zen and wife, RoseAnne at the Hungarian Hunting Lodge mystery party - hunting for treasure as Tu-Itchi Tu-Sing. A few eye pieces at right - the large device reads brains in 3D!▲ A couple of outdoor outfits - hanging out at the Meadowlark art party in the 2000's - the picture on the right is the inspiration for International Groovy Day - may the forces of groovity be with you. The video below has a story about the psychedelic guru robe.
▲ Part way through the Dan Zen Half Century Celebration we see Zen try on some outfits to the amusement of the audience including the Guru robe shown in the picture above. Zen wears a hand-fixed pair of glasses adorned with springs and wires.
▲ Dan Zen loves hats (of which he has 69), headdresses and helmets. Here he wears the Trippy Mediated Reality Helmet.▲ A steampunk outfit that really steamed up and a headdress he wore to a Zacht Automaat show in Toronto - where the crowd asked if he was from Hamilton - due to the Hamilton vibe.▲ There was lots of dress-up in Thee Gnostics. Capes, space guns, helmets, wigs, goggles and even extra arms. This was a live performance at Cosmic Ray's (RIP) ▼
▲ In amongst this collage we see Dan Zen dressed for various award shows and day to day events.▲ And of course, there is always the Moustache! Traditionally, Zen sports a Brass Moustache - here he is going with a light-weight blue bi-feather. Note the very mod wicker beret - signed by the bass player of the Specials. Have a great day - and hopefully you will have an opportunity to dress up too!
Dress-up
