Twenty Something Yak

Halloween- the very word conjures up visions of witches and ghosts and goblins. Peer more closely into the steam arising from the witch’s cauldron and you will see bats and cats and princesses. Wait a minute. Princesses?!? How did we go from witches and all things scary to darling princesses resplendent in pink with sparkly stuff strewn all over their costume? Well, come a little closer “my pretties” and let me take you on a journey of Halloween costumes.

Some 2000 years ago in the British Isles the people known as Celts held a festival around what we call November 1st. This festival is called Samhain and is still celebrated by some people today. It is a celebration of the end of the harvest and the summer months in preparation for the ensuing long, dark months of winter; a celebration of the cycle of life and death. November 1st was considered the beginning of the Celtic New Year. The eve of Samhain was considered the time when the veil or the edge between the world of the living and the next or spirit world was the thinnest. This was the time when the ghosts and all scary things were out and about. So the Celts would disguise themselves by wearing animal skins and animal heads (such as sheep heads) so that the spirits would not recognize them and take them away to the nether regions.

Several centuries later, specifically the 7th century, Pope Boniface IV designated that the same day known as Samhain shall be recognized as All Soul’s Day or All Hallows Day .It is easy to see where the name Hallow’een came from, a contraction of Hallows Day Eve. Because All Hallows Day is a celebration of the Saints who had passed on, the specter of death was still part of the occurrences that took place at that time of year. The tradition of wearing disguises or costumes continued and most often reflected those things that spoke of the afterlife.

Many of the people who lived in the British Isles, especially the Irish, often clung to the old traditions. So when America had a huge influx of Irish immigrants in the mid-1800’s, due to the Great Potato Famine of Ireland, they brought their customs and traditions with them, including dressing in costume, going from house to house to beg for goodies and carving out turnips for a lantern during the celebration of Samhain. Halloween had crossed the wide expanse of the ocean.

Halloween costumes and masks continued to be tied in with the scary, spooky and macabre until the 1920’s and 1930’s when neighborhoods tried to make Halloween more family and children- friendly. All costumes were homemade until the 1930’s when the first store-bought costumes became available. By the 1950’s Halloween, and the wearing of costumes, was fully entrenched into the American culture. The custom of costumes continues to grow.
Halloween is big business for the retail community. The National Retail Federation (NRF) estimated in September of 2008 that the total Halloween spending would reach $5.77 billion. That includes candy, decorations, greeting cards as well as costumes. The average person was estimated to spend about $24.00 on a costume, although those in the 18-24 year old bracket would spend over $86 on the average.

But we still haven’t addressed how we went from witches to princesses. Perhaps it can be explained that the American people have distanced themselves from the belief of the thin veil between the spirit world and the real world. Therefore we do not feel the need to hide from scary spirits. Or perhaps it is because of the engulfing movie and TV media which floods our senses with pirates and Spiderman and Hannah Montana and Batman and, of course, princesses. But fear not, witches still have a place in the Halloween lineup.

The NRF listed the top Halloween costumes for children and adults for 2008. For children the top 5 were: Princess, Witch, Hannah Montana, Spider-Man, and Pirate. For adults the list was topped by: Witch, Pirate, Vampire , Cat and Fairy, tied with Nurse.
What will this year bring? In a conversation with Denise Keegan, owner of Creative Costumes in Olympia, WA, she said that because of the recent deaths of both Michael Jackson and Patrick Swayze that there is a renewed interest in the music of the eighties. Costumes that reflect that era- MJ’s outfits from the video for “Beat It” or the outfit he wore when he did his famous ‘Moon Walk’ and the costumes worn by both Swayze and Jennifer Grey in the movie Dirty Dancing – will definitely show up at Halloween parties this year. Other musicians from the eighties are also influencing the choice of costume for this year- Madonna, MC Hammer and Abba.
Another influence comes from movies. Alice in Wonderland, a new movie by Tim Burton to be released in 2010, is already making waves and Keegan says there is a resurgence in the interest of costumes for the Queen of Hearts and the MadHatter. Keegan also expects that people will be looking for costumes taken from the movie The Wizard of Oz since it is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.

Keegan’s store is open year round and stocks over 10000 costumes so often when people come in they simply look around and choose what strikes their fancy. Pirates are still big winners along with witches and, surprisingly, costumes that reflect the 1920’s- flapper dresses and Zoot Suits. And although there are still the occasional really scary and gory costumes chosen, by and large we are selecting our costumes by influences far removed from the Celts of 2000 years ago as they danced around the bonfire to keep the evil spirits at bay.

You can find tips on Halloween costumes- how to find, make, and enjoy- on the podcast “Halloween Costumes: It’s Not Too Early” found on www.twentysomethingyak.com.