What does you Halloween costume really say about you?

Posted by Rob on October 28, 2007 10:56 AM PDT

Recommend this? YES NO

Last night I had invitations to four Halloween parties. Costumes were required. One invitation said "Wear a costume or wear nothing at all." Hmmm. That seemed ominous, so I opted for the costume. The big decision: what to wear?

My agenda consisted of a cocktail party, a dinner party, a festival in a real graveyard and a late night frolic at a beach house, so I decided to go with something that wasn't too cumbersome. My choice: I painted my face like a skull and wore a black turtleneck and a blazer. The final touch: skeleton gloves with extremely long fingers.

It worked out great: an elegant look for evening in black and white. I wouldn't recommend the extra-long fingers for driving, but otherwise it was all good. I definitely shocked a few other drivers when they saw my grinning skull peering back at them through the windshield.

At the end of the night I ran into a friend who remarked, "That's funny, i never thought about you as a corpse before. You certainly have a lot of energy." This quip caused me to consider for a moment: what are we telling people about ourselves when we choose a costume? After all, we make a choice whether we purchase an outfit or design one from scratch.

Does a skeleton reveal that I like to expose what's beneath the surface? Or just bare bones? Or all about structure?

What does your Halloween costume say about you?

Every choice we make telegraphs something to other people... either consciously or unconsciously. What does your choice say about you?

Each year, at Halloween, we are confronted with a fun choice. For one day out of 365, we get to be ANYTHING WE CHOOSE. People ask: "Should I wear a costume or not? " That's like saying "Should I be fun or not?" or "Should I be a kid again or should I stay a stuffy rules-bound grownup?"

So c'mon, people. Tell me what your Halloween costume is, and why you chose it, and what it says about you! And maybe we can have some fun with this and tell each other about what our costumes really are saying!

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6 Comments

Halloween is a great time to venture into the aspects of self that we normally hide with our daily persona. Nothing gives me freedom like a costume to explore all of my nasty, crazy and not so pretty parts.

What parts do you want to play in this week?

Posted by Kelly Carlin-McCall on October 28, 2007 7:51 PM PDT

Upon seeing me in my costume, one girl yelled out, "Britney Spears...in that video..." "Umm, no," I thought. "That's not exactly what I was going for, but I'll take it."

Another person thought I was a "shiny, red, apple." Thank heavens he didn't try to bite me...(some people use Halloween as a license to go nuts!)

Those few bright crayons in the box who guessed correctly that I was in fact, a "Domina," were rewarded with a few lashes from my whip! Still, I was amazed at how many people had to ask, "so what are you?"

"Your favorite fantasy," with a devilish grin was a popular response. At the end of the night, I was glad that I couldn't find my cute and safe nurse's outfit after all. I realized that it's quite fun, for one night only, to be the receptacle of others' projections.

My favorite costumes were the subtle ones. One guy had on a fake mustache that looked very real and a Hawaiian shirt. I couldn't figure out what he was supposed to be and I don't think he had any idea either. By the end of the night, we both concluded that he was a "pretentious f#@$" and that was that.

Posted by Amanda on October 29, 2007 12:44 PM PDT

I haven't gone to a costume party in a while, but I have a favorite. October 2000 I had some help painting my face like Paul Stanley, threw on a black wig, a beret and a fake mustache to transform into a... French Kiss. And yes, I'm still impressed with myself.

Posted by MattB on October 29, 2007 1:19 PM PDT

My favorite costume of all time was Donatello's David, which basically consists of a hat, boots and a sword. My girlfriend loved it. We didn't go to any parties that particular Halloween but we sure had a memorable time.

I like Amanda's idea for a costume. Why not let a little excess libidinal energy escape during this fun holiday? That's the whole point. We spend our lives in costumes of a different sort. Boring, buttoned down, predictable.

halloween is a chance for free expression, man!

Posted by Splendid on November 2, 2007 8:58 PM PDT

Yes, I agree that costumes say alot about who you are as a person, but I think sometimes "people" in general are misunderstood.

So you dressed up as a skeleton for halloween? well, maybe you are saying you have an eating dissorder or you're saying "I want to bone"? Many look at you and see something completely different.

This year, I went as Anna Nicole Smith. In retrospect, I suppose that I also should have gone as a bag of bones with two beach balls attached to my sternum. Does it say im completely dead inside or that like Anna, I have a drug problem that no doctor or clinic can fix?

Actually, it had the same meaning as you and I too wanted to bone.

Posted by mtnaiman on November 3, 2007 7:31 PM PDT

Shakespeare wrote, "All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts...".

Halloween night is an opportunity for short cameo roles.