The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Mayor

You may be aware that I have Jack Skellington’s head tattooed on my right shoulder. I’d just like it to be on record that I got that ink impulsively on a trip to the tattoo parlor with a girl I was in love with as a last-minute tattoo based on a combination of my coin purse and the hat I was wearing at the time. Of all my tattoos, it is the most spontaneous one I have and the one that gets commented on most of all, probably because it is the one that’s content is most familiar to other people.

A collage of four photos of the process of getting a Jack Skellington tattoo from idea to reality. — Nick had a really heavy hand. I spared you the bloody pics.

Knowing that, it might have seemed evident that The Nightmare Before Christmas would end up on the list. I didn’t really consider doing Jack or Sally because I didn’t want a character that requires tons of makeup on your face and body to achieve the look, and I also didn’t want to rely on buying a mask. That really narrowed down my character choices when a bunch of them (Lock, Shock, and Barrel especially!) are wearing masks in the movie. I suppose I could have made my own mask, but once I started realizing how many things I had already that would help me create The Mayor’s look, I didn’t second-guess it.

A button-up white shirt with a gray blazer and pinstriped pants on a dress form. There are a pair of black docs in front on the ground.

Outfit: A[X]IST Modern Fit White Button-up Collared Long Sleeve Shirt

Previously seen on Heather Chandler and Heather Duke from Heathers

Gray East 5th Essentials 4 Button Lined Classic Career Wear Blazer

Black with White Pinstriped Divided H&M Pants (These are my most comfortable dress pants, and back when I worked in offices, I wore them a lot!)

Shoes: 1460 Smooth Leather 8 Eye Lace Up Dr. Martens Boots that were a present from my partner.

Previously seen as Estella Miller from Cruella, Jesse Reeves from Queen of the Damned, Stokely Mitchell from The Faculty, and Little Rock from Zombieland: Double Tap

A person dressed as The Mayor from The Nightmare Before Christmas facing away from the camera. The emphasis is on the fact that no hair is visible as their braid is tucked into their shirt.

Hair: I was going to wear a wig, but last minute decided to put my hair into one thick braid to tuck it into the back of my shirt.

A close-up of a person dressed as The Mayor with a split face makeup design. On the left is the happy smile side with a spiral eye. On the right is the white face with a frown and blue eye.

Makeup: One of these days, I’ll remember to take photos of the makeup up close at the beginning of the photoshoot instead of at the end when I’m all sweaty and rubbing it off. 😬 I’m still figuring out makeup. I’ve dabbled in it off and on throughout my life, but because I am so sensitive to things and often have reactions to makeup, I tread lightly in my experimentation. I decided to do the split face makeup look with the happy face on one side and the sad face on the other instead of making a mask or sticking to just one face/mood. It was still more makeup than I usually like to apply, but for what I was working with, I think it turned out ok.

A selfie of just the left side of the face of a person dressed as The Mayor with a split face makeup design. On the side that is shown (the happy side) has a red lipped smile with white straight teeth and a spiral eye.

Right Side:

Tone Adjusting e.l.f. Face Primer

Porcelain e.l.f. Flawless Finish Foundation

Carbon Black NYX Super Fat Eye Marker (eye)

Kitten Heels Bright Red NYX Liquid Suede Cream Lipstick (lips)

Alien Black NYX Liquid Suede Cream Lipstick (lips & nose)

Dreamtone Manic Panic Flawless Foundation and Color Corrector (teeth)

A selfie of a person dressed as The Mayor with a split face makeup design. Only the right side is showing with the white face that has a blue-lipped frown, yellow jagged teeth, and a blue eye socket.

Left Side:

Dreamtone Manic Panic Flawless Foundation and Color Corrector

Royal Blue Eyeshadow from the AVON For the Love of Makeup Artist Palette (eye and lips)

Alien Black NYX Liquid Suede Cream Lipstick (lips & nose)

#1 Gold MaydearPearl Liquid Lip Gloss (teeth)

*Pro Tip: Make sure you do enough of your neck and ear in white or you’ll be doing it in the middle of your photo shoot after you hate how much of your skin is still showing in the pics.

A closeup of a Dr. Suess-looking hat with Jack Skellington's Face on the front and a spider on the top, a spider bowtie, and an orange ribbon that says Mayor.

Accessories: The Spider Bowtie is a spider that might be a sticker that one of my old bosses gave out around Halloween with other smaller decorations. I loved it so much, I hung onto it. I cut a piece of red construction paper to make a mark on it. It is all held together with tape and taped to my shirt.

The hat is something I got from my grandmother who apparently picked it up at a garage sale when she and her bf at the time decided to spontaneously buy silly hats for like $1 or maybe even less than that. I considered making my own tall top hat, but when you have a Dr. Suess-looking hat with Jack’s face on it and a spider on top of it all, it seems only logical to use it for this character. Plus, one less thing I gotta do! lol

The supplies used to create the orange Mayor ribbon with the completed ribbon next to them. The supplies include white paper, orange paper, tape, a pen, a black marker, a ruler, and some scissors. — Everything I used to make the ribbon (not picture the cup I used to trace a circle and a stapler).

Accessories: For the Mayor ribbon, I used this YouTube tutorial, but I used paper, tape, and one staple instead of felt and a glue gun.

A person dressed as The Mayor from The Nightmare Before Christmas with a split face makeup design. On the left is the happy smile side with a spiral eye which is the only side showing as they talk into a black megaphone.

Prop 1: Black Bullhorn I purchased when it was hella on sale because during my activist days I always wished for one, but the good ones were always out of my budget. I have yet to test it at full capacity, so I have no comment on its functionality. It works great as a prop for photo shoots though!

A person dressed as The Mayor from The Nightmare Before Christmas with a split face makeup design. They are wearing black pinstriped pants, a gray suit coat, a white button-up shirt, a spider bowtie, an orange mayor ribbon, and a funky hat. They are holding three rolled up papers.

Prop 2: Three random rolled-up posters I had lying around the house (two my brother just recently left here because he no longer wants them) that I used as my “plans for next Halloween.”