Over the years, ever since I was a kid, people have always not understood my Halloween costumes. They would always think I would be dressed as something else.
One year I was dressed as Glinda the Good Witch of the North from The Wizard of Oz. But since I had to wear a jacket while trick or treating, which happened to be a pink one that said “Barbie”, everyone thought I was Barbie.
Another year I was dressed as a zombie, and everyone thought I was hippie.
When I was a flapper, everyone thought I was a go-go dancer.
When I was a vampire, everyone thought I was a ghoul.
When I was a fortune teller, everyone thought I was a Romani person. (Which I would just like to address here, I would never dress up as another person’s culture.)
Year after year of costume misidentification had made me jaded. I bought a costume that surely everyone would get. I was a blue Crayola crayon. Everyone did get what was, but I didn’t really like my costume that much. People knew what I was, but I didn’t have fun dressing up in the costume. It wasn’t something I really clicked with or even wanted to be.
So the next year after crayon-gate, I decided to pick something that I loved first, whether people would know it or not. And to the people’s credit, most did get it. I was dressed as my favourite superhero, Supergirl, a pretty well-known character. But even then, the odd person would see the big “S” on the costume and go, “Wonder Woman!” At that point I think I realized that it wasn’t my fault that they didn’t get it, and that it’s okay.
I definitely got my money’s worth out of that costume, though. I bought it back in 2016 and wore it almost every Halloween including last year. However, a phenomenon known as PVC “off-gassing” or “outgassing” forced me to retire the costume. The chemicals in the plastic PVC bag that held the costume reacted with the material of the skirt and caused weird patches of discolouration that unfortunately could not be fixed. I would usually keep the costume on a hanger, but put it in the bag last year to transport it back home and just left it in there.
This year I bought a brand new costume, and I really like it! However, I might not be able to wear it this Halloween as it does need some alternations, and the place that I usually get my alterations done has a broken sewing machine so it might not be done in time.
But this is your reminder, you’ve got one week. Get your Halloween costume and hope that people know what you’re dressed up as!
Comments