Oct. 30, 2009 - Halloween Costumes - BONUS PET PEEVE

I usually only post PET PEEVES on Mondays. But what is up with the PRE-PACKAGED HALLOWEEN COSTUMES?

On a recent trip to the store to purchase a costume for my pre-teen daughter, I was faced with the choices of a sexed-up cheerleader, a naughty Alice in Wonderland or a very “wicked’ witch. It’s like the only house in the costume designer’s neighborhood must be the Playboy Mansion.

"Halloween Booty" no longer refers to the your Trick or Treat candy accumulation.

This is where one of those “Well, when I was a kid we …” kind of stories is accurate and appropriate.

When I was a kid we made our own costumes. We searched the house, the shed, and yes, the roadside to find the materials to make our unique outfits. We were ghosts with old bed sheets. We became mummies wrapped in toilet paper. If you had enough aluminum foil, you were the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz.

There was a neighbor boy that liked to dress as a girl. It turns out it was an eerie indicator of things to come, but that is another story.

Nowadays, everyone has store bought outfits. There are pre-packaged super heroes, witches, and princesses. The only thing that scares you is the price, $29.99 each.

You are lucky if the costume lasts one night due to the poor quality. It would be nice if China could let the same kids that make my shoes produce the Halloween costumes.

As a youth attending Catholic School, we dressed up as our favorite Saint on November 1st. It’s known as “All Saint’s Day.” Try finding a John the Baptist costume at one of these stores. The only Biblical figures represented today would be Sodom and Gomorrah or Mary Magdalene, the early years.

This year, I’m dressing up as a disgruntled middle-aged man. Happy Halloween. ;-)