Halloween, The Great Excuse

Posted on 10.31.09 to Inspiration, Opinion by Lindsay

Halloween is an excuse for a lot of things.

It’s an excuse to…

Drink, copiously.
Eat ridiculous amounts of corn-based, modified corn enhanced corn candy.
Listen to “Monster Mash”.
Dress like a cheap hooker, for some.

But for me, it’s always been about being whatever you feel like you can’t be, on a daily basis. For years at a time, I would be the same thing. I think it was the same for a lot of kids – Batman, Power Rangers, Clowns, what-have-you… But over time, some of the kids who used to be so devoted to their Halloween-excused alter-egos lost the best excuse of them all:

Truly embody an idea that infatuates you.

On Halloween, as a child, you’d rack your brain to find a costume idea. A role. And it wasn’t “what would be the most popular”, it wasn’t “what would make me gain respect”… It was “who deserved to be my costume the most” – that is the costume you’d wear.

And you spent weeks, maybe going so far as to plan a month in advance, figuring out who would make the cut. Was it a romantic, mysterious gypsy? Dripping with gold chains and scarves? Was it a character from your favorite book? Dorothy with her gingham dress, and sparkling red shoes? Or would it be the inherently evil witch, whose frightening complexion and immoral abandon would give you the perfect persona to emulate all night?

I was She-Ra, Princess of Power for years on end. She was gorgeous, 5’900″, blonde, and had all of this amazing power. She didn’t swear, she helped people she didn’t know, and she was always fighting for the greater good. Plus, a woman who got to kick ass and carry a sword?

She was the epitome of “excellence” to me. Now, if a 24 year old woman dressed up as She-Ra, she’d be in panties, a gold bra, and have a plastic sword that she’d set by her purse while she did Jell-O shots. One of the best “loss of innocence” stories, yet!

So, while other fashion blogs are posting beautiful photo spreads of fashionable women in creepy, macabre editorials, I’m taking a different route.

Here are the images that inspire me to explore an idea that truly infatuates me on amore daily basis.