Costume Idea for Olaiya

I'm lobbying for Olaiya to be Bessie Coleman for this year's Halloween festivities. Who's Bessie Coleman you ask. Well, it's long past February, but here's your black history lesson for the month!

"Bessie was the first Black woman to earn a pilots license in America. No flight school would accept her in the US because she was Black, so she learned to fly in France. Bessie performed spectacular air shows across the US and her fearless spirit and flare for drama made her queen of the air. Tearing up the skies with her daredevil dives, barnstorming Bessie Coleman flew low and zoomed high. Audiences gasped when Bessie performed barrel rolls and the wings of her plane touched the tips of the clouds like a bird on high." (From Dolls Like Me.)

For a much more thorough and touching story of her triumphs and tragic death, check out her Wikipedia entry. I'm a sucker for barnstormers to begin with, but "Queen" Bessie's combination of intelligence, fortitude, courage, audacity and beauty seems storybook perfect. It's a wonder Hollywood hasn't exploited this yet. I guess there was a 2008 musical about her (titled Barnstormer) so maybe a feature film isn't far behind.

If anyone has any 1920's aviation gear to donate to Olaiya's costume, let me know. (And yes, I know everyone will ask if she's supposed to be Amelia Earhart... I think she'll have to have a patch on her jacket that says "Bessie".)



I know Olaiya would love to rock a pair of those boots.





A couple of close ups in full aviator dress.


Bessie's soft-focus glamour shot!

And maybe Olaiya can reuse some of the clothes to dress up as Zoe from Firefly the following year?