Story by Kamillah Morales
Staff Writer
Photo by Theo Thompson
Staff Photographer
Senior best friends Julian Barnes and Kory How have collaborated all four years during their time at SPHS to create elaborate costumes for Color Day. Every year since their freshman year, they have placed in the costume competition with their craftsmanship. Barnes and How have been friends since kindergarten.
Barnes and How’s costumes take on an adventurous theme every year. Their freshman year was handgliding, where they each carried a bundle of metallic orange and black helium-filled one-shaped balloons taped together to form paragliders. As sophomores, the two were rafters, and as juniors, How was a diver in a shark cage made of orange pool noodles while Barnes dressed as a tiger shark.
This year, as seniors, the two were a hot air balloon with a floating net attached to a base filled with helium balloons; the hot air balloon’s basket was decorated with photos from the duo’s past Color Day costumes. In ASB’s annual costume competition, the two won first place as freshmen, sophomores, and juniors and won second place as seniors.
The artistry process is just as ambitious as their ideas. It requires a lot of planning, material gathering, and time to put together everything. Both seniors expressed how the most difficult part is ensuring how both costumes look symmetrical, and pair together. After planning, the costume building itself usually takes an entire week.
“We get together and we buy all the supplies and we meet up. It’s a week-long process of just hot gluing things together, and just putting it all together,” Barnes said.
During the process, their outfits usually require minor adjustments.
Their mothers are just as eager about going all out and give an abundance of support and encouragement to the boys. In fact, Barnes and Hows’ mothers play a big part in deciding their Color Day outfit.
“Right after Color Day’s over, they’re already thinking about the next year … There’s a lot of reels. Our moms will [say], ‘You should do that. You should do this,’” How said. “But it’s really like you kind of know it when you see it, and you can kind of envision [it] like ‘oh yeah, I can see that in orange and black’ … [and] that can easily be made with our school colors, and it wouldn’t be that difficult to make.”
Throughout all of the difficulties and commitment it took to win the Color Day competition for all four years, Barnes and How have left their mark at South Pasadena with their astonishing craftsmanship and daring outfits.