HALLOWEEN: THE VALUE OF COSTUMES
A special holiday in the United States, a lot of value is attached to Halloween. Every 31st of October, which is the special day mapped out to celebrate the event, people come out dressed in various attires. The choice of attire is solely based on individual and can vary from Spiderman to Iron man or outfits from the previous decades. In the early history of Halloween, only scary outfits were worn on this day as an entirely different meaning was attached to Halloween.
Halloween draws its origin from the ancient Celtic over 2000 years ago. For them, Halloween is a day when the veil between the spirit world and the world of the living is at its thinnest, leaving room for monsters and ghosts to sneak in and torment living beings. They are expected to return at midnight till the following year on the same date. They wore the scary outfits believing that it will ward off the ghosts and their torture.
Nowadays, Halloween has an entirely different meaning especially since it made entrance into the United States. It is now associated with “trick or treat”, a term which is mostly used during the period by children. Children go from house to house saying “trick or treat” in expectation of some candy from their neighbours. Just like Christmas, New Year and Easter, Halloween has become a commercial celebration in the United States, one where people spend a lot of money. The amount of money spent by America on Halloween every year has been estimated at about six billion dollars.
Candy and sweets make the cut for the trends, but not quite as the costumes. A lot of value is attached to costumes as it is the pride of the celebration. During this period, everyone wants to look unique and glamorous. It is not just the children. Halloween used to be a children affair. But that is no longer the case in recent years as adults now take part in the fun. Participation of adults has led to the tremendous increase in the amount spent during the season, especially on costumes. Without the costumes, the fun is completely taken out of the season. Regardless of your preference, there is an outfit for you. It doesn’t matter if you are a lover of the 20s, 70s, or 90s fashion.
In as much as people still put on scary outfits on Halloween, it is no longer a prerequisite like in the early days of the celebration. People can draw inspiration from their favorite characters, musicians, actors and so on.
Competitions are organized all over, with reward for the best dressed individuals, which makes them put in great effort on their costumes for the event. Halloween costumes can be done on a DIY basis or purchased at retail shops or even online stores that specialize in them.