Halloween Costume
Halloween is slowly becoming a cornerstone holiday where people are able to express themselves while not actually “being” themselves. It’s interesting to note how or why people choose their costumes and how it becomes a representation of their identity and sense of self. No matter what you choose, your costume is usually something that you value or think is interesting. With the Halloween costume market being something upwards of $8.4 billion dollars, it really can’t be ignored how much the holiday and its celebrations are ingrained in our culture.
There are many different avenues that someone can choose when going through their costume options. For the most part these can be examined as way of identifying someone’s personality and the type of things that they admire. These are by no means 100% correct. But they do carry some weight when looking at what makes a person tick. Here’s a look at what your Halloween outfit can convey and what it can say about you.
Scary
Scary costumes can be seen as the “meat and potatoes” of outfits. For the most part, this is a costume that displays the wearer as being someone who respects tradition and “classic” things. It’s fun and edgy while being tasteful. The whole point of the holiday is to be spooky and to explore things that can be frightening. There are of course many different ways to be scary. It can be as simple as the old bedsheet ghost, or involve hours of makeup to get that over the top scary look that requires a lot of effort but looks larger than life. Many of these types of people enjoy the thrill and relief from the everyday that Halloween provides.
Funny
A goofy or funny costume shows someone who goes against the grain. As stated earlier the whole “point” or purpose of Halloween is mostly revolved around scary or frightening things. When someone dresses as someone from their favorite TV show or in a goofy way they are acknowledging that they are taking the opportunity to be ironic. For some “traditionalists” this can be seen as corny. At the same time, people who wear costumes that are funny might see those who wear scary costumes as being corny. To each their own.
Sexy
The sexy costume craze has really picked up in recent years. For the most part this reflects a confident or especially outgoing person. Often a sexy costume is usually similar to the above sexy or funny costumes but is a more scantily clad version. So maybe an outgoing person enjoys the tradition of being spooky on Halloween. But also wants to give their outfit some extra flair that brings a little more attention. Or they really enjoy being different and want a costume that is both funny and sexy. It’s becoming more and more popular to have costumes that fall into this “sexy” category while outfits that are more traditional are falling out of favor.
Creative
People who wear creative costumes fall into a specific category. Although we can see the above costume types as being creative. This category is referring more towards people who like to “build” costumes. I’m thinking of a photo I saw once of a boy in a wheelchair who had a costume built that made him look like a Transformer. I’ve seen other ones where the person wearing the outfit wears a pair of pants. That make it look like they are being carried by a horse or something along those lines.
Regardless, the type of person who likes to make a costume that goes above and beyond what we think of as a costume can be seen as truly independent. They like doing their own thing and the opinions of others don’t bother them. In a way this type of person likes to design an “experience” rather than a costume. The use the holiday as a way to express their creativity and even perform a little engineering. These are the type of people who are likely to host a haunted house or have the house in the neighborhood that blows the others out of the water.
Although these ideas are not necessarily set in stone. I think that they allow for an examination of the what and why that people go through when choosing an outfit. Some of them can even be seen as trends that are emerging due to things. Such as social media or the internet. Regardless we can see the evolution of outfits and costumes being something that resembles culture. Because of the variability of outfits and the many ways. That people can celebrate, Halloween has remained a prominent and fun holiday.
Bottom Line
It’s important to note that sometimes people wear an outfit. That extends outside of their comfort zone as a way to explore themselves. For instance, someone who might like to wear scary costumes might decide to go with something ghoulish another year in an effort to broaden their horizons. Regardless, the holiday shouldn’t be taken so seriously and should be a reason for you to celebrate and have fun.