Halloween Costumes

[SHADOW]
Boys and girls of every age
Wouldn't you like to see something strange?

[SIAMESE SHADOW]
Come with us and you will see
This, our town of Halloween

[PUMPKIN PATCH CHORUS]
This is Halloween, this is Halloween
Pumpkins scream in the dead of night

[GHOSTS]
This is Halloween, everybody make a scene
Trick or treat till the neighbors gonna die of fright
It's our town, everybody screm
In this town of Halloween

- Lyrics from "Nightmare Before Christmas

Last Saturday night, hubbie and I went to a party. As I am getting older, I go to fewer and fewer parties on Halloween. I mean, this is the first year in three or four years we went out. Not on Halloween night, but the nearest weekend.

During the evening, I was looking at the different costumes. And costumes have changed over the years – though the intent has stayed the same. So I thought I would go over some common costumes and what they mean about the person. Just for fun.

Cat Costumes
I have dressed up as a cat before, but it has been a while. Black cat costumes are fairly common – a black leotard, a tail, a pair of ears in your hair and some eye liner for whiskers, and you are there. Okay, now-a-days, most use costume makeup instead of eye liner, but you get the idea.

I saw a couple of cats at the party, and I remember why I will never be a cat again. You have a tail on your ass, and everybody looks at your ass. When I was 22, I liked men looking at my ass. At thirty-something, my ass has some miles on it and it is not nearly as firm. In short, gravity is a bitch.

Cat costumes are for young women – as a way of saying, look at me, I have a hot body and I may or may not focus any attention on you, like a cat. Very finicky.

Witch Costumes
Witch costumes come in three varieties: (1) Sexy Witch, (2) Funny/Good-natured Witch, and (3) Scary Witch. Sexy witch wants to be seen as a sexy bitch – someone who is both sexy and evil. And, yes, I have been sexy witch more than I would like to admit. It is an easy costume to put together. We all have (LBDs) little black dresses. That, a witch's hat and a cackle, and you have sexy witch.

Funny/Good-natured witch is a witch I am less familiar with. Think Witches of Eastwick. No, that is not the movie. Another movie with three witches. Oh, well, it is my amateur opinion that funny/good-natured witches want to be sexy witches but they hold back. They don't want to live the fantasy because they are a bit scared.

Scary witch, is normally a really nice person who wants to be nasty for a night. It is like all of her hostility from helping others needs a release. Boil some children in the kettle, turn handsome men into frogs, and change weather. Create havoc because you normally create an atmosphere of cooperation.

Prostitutes/Sluts
I have not actually seen many women dress as prostitutes lately. Perhaps sluts have taken over the type of costume. Again, nice women wanting to express their sexuality. I have never wanted to dress this way – though I lived it (not prostitute but slut) for a while. I never want to go back to slut, and even when I was one, I did not want to communicate that to others. Closet slut, I guess.

Sexual Innuendo Costumes
You have seen bricklayer and brick – sexual partners who are communicating who is getting laid that night. Come to think about it, with carpenter, the sexual innuendos are so much more – a good carpenter "nails", "screws", and can even "measure." Either the pair is making bold statements about what will happen later, or professing their sexual relationship publicly, though they can explain it away if confronted. "It is just a costume."

Cute Animals/Characters
I was Belle the other night – gold dress, wig, etc., the Belle in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. I got my costume from a shop, so it was not original. But it was fun playing dress-up.

Part of me loves playing dress-up, perhaps helping me remember when I was a little girl. A time in my life when I had almost no responsibilities, lots of love and played a lot. I almost forgot big dreams. I sometimes wonder if people who dress up this way for the same reasons. It is comfortable, reassuring.

Well, tonight is Halloween. Just remember what costume you wear may tell something about you. What will it say about you?

Oh, and some helpful hints – for those who will not be at home, leave a bucket of candy. Yeah, it will get ransacked, but it shows effort. Now, we will not be giving out big candy bars – love to give out the minis. But the houses that give out the full candy bars – I would like to say thanks in advance. I won't be "trick-or-treating," but I know there will be lots of kids that will be happy. Poor parents with kids bouncing off the walls. A small price to pay for the gift of kids, though.

Happy Halloween!