Tucked away on the second floor of The Manner in SoHo, Sloane’s served as a fitting setting for one of Halloween’s most exquisite Masquerades.
Halloween has become many things to many people over the years. Fear, frights, and scares once dominated the festive atmosphere, but today, that’s not exactly the case.
Halloween, above all else, is about rebellion. A day when people dress as freely as they’d like and, for a night, become something they’re not. Or, they can hide it all under a mask. Either way, the norms of civil society nearly suspend themselves in the spirit of good fun, not raucous mischief, and nowhere straddled that line better this Halloweekend than Sloane’s.
Tucked away on the second floor of The Manner in SoHo, Sloane’s may be better known for its polished cocktails than its penchant for the macabre. But that was precisely what made it a fitting setting for Saturday’s Haunted Masquerade. The idea wasn’t to abandon elegance for Halloween, but in fact the opposite. A mask can be ominous, certainly, but it can also be playful, alluring, or simply an excuse to be someone else for the night.
Photo by the Knockturnal
Presented by Legendary Damon, the evening brought together a musical lineup featuring DJs Astro Raw and Tokyo Rose, with Lion Babe announced as a special guest. In a city where Halloween can easily become a competition for the most outrageous costume, the masquerade offered a different proposition, one where mystery took priority over spectacle, and a little sophistication was able to find itself alongside the mischief. That isn’t to say there weren’t some spectacularly flashy costumes, because there were. However even those seemed as though they fit perfectly in a creepy end scene in a Kubrick film.
Photo by the Knockturnal
The drinks, too, were in on the act. We enjoyed Sloane’s classic lychee martini, while the evening’s signature cocktail offerings featured three names that might as well have been characters at the party: Alter Ego, Eyes Wide Shut, and Velvet Vice. Each seemed to borrow from the language of disguise and indulgence, fitting accompaniments to a night spent behind masks.
Photo by the Knockturnal
Perhaps that’s the enduring charm of Halloween. For all its costumes and theatrics, it isn’t necessarily about pretending to be someone else. Sometimes, it’s simply about allowing a part of yourself that the rest of the year keeps hidden to make an appearance. At Sloane’s, that spirit of rebellion came dressed for the occasion.
