Costuming on Hallow's Eve

Ahhh Halloween. You gotta love it. The candy, costumes, silliness, spookiness. Plus, it's the perfect means for embracing the shadow, the dark side and all its creepiness. Americans are so serious these days. Halloween is a nice break from all that and a chance to awaken those subconscious parts inside us, letting our hair down, so to speak, and doing it with a collective encouragement from those around us. Death, birth, the grotesque, the sublime, the sexy and novel all come to life during Halloween. Through costume, we're afforded the freedom to explore different archetypes within ourselves and connect with others in a way that defies most social norms and barriers. Our exterior world and our inner selves become the muse of our own theatre. Through costume, we're able to design a new persona and give life that that which is largely unconscious.

It's also interesting what the happenings of Halloween seem to say about our culture as a whole. Americans generally value a sense of individuality and autonomy. We are slightly narcissistic creatures, in case you haven't noticed. Our costumes always seem to reflect this, with an emphasis on being different or innovative in our design approach. This certainly is not the case everywhere. I had a friend, who after spending Halloween in Japan, was stunned (and a little creeped out) to see the streets flooded with hundreds of generic ghost costumes. In a culture that places less value on individuality, the emphasis followed the norm and was clearly reflected in the mass costuming.

This Halloween, the costumes (and personas) appeared to be more outlandish than ever. Of course there will always be the classics, but people are getting more and more creative these days. Having been witness to a plethora of amazing costumes this year, the best, I realized, all had the following in common:

1. A visual display of a greater concept or idea that was obvious from first glance. As cool as a costume may look, if I have to ask "What are you?" The appeal is slightly lessened.
2. Innovation and Attention to detail. Nuff said.
3. Themes. Why have only one cow when you could have a whole herd?
4. Acting the part. The best costuming is done, not simply for visual stimulation, but to actually embody a character and come to life as something other than yourself. It makes room for a new way of connecting with others in ways that break common social barriers. We learn more about each other through costuming and we often have more fun!

I've attached some photos from the next door neighbor's annual Halloween bash. Careful though, as they're not for the faint of heart! And yep, that's me with Bert and Ernie!