Every year, the day after Halloweekend feels glumâafter weeks and even months of planning and anticipation, thereâs a sinking feeling when itâs all over. Although bittersweet, it feels like a requirement to open social media and take a look at that yearâs costumes. This Halloween, there was the occasional standout trend, like Nikki from Obsession, but for the most part, the costumes seemed more unique than in previous years.
As it becomes less and less common to wear a generic costume that isnât a reference to something, such as an alien or a vampire, the questions of âWhat are you?â multiply. So, where did this cultural shift come from, and what does it say about the pressure to perform?
A few years ago, social media posts with the caption âI hate gay Halloween, what do you mean youâre [insert obscure pop culture reference]â began going viral, and they have become a cornerstone of Gen Z Halloween. What began as a nod to niche costumes associated with queerness and nonconformity has reshaped mainstream expectations of this holiday.
Now, instead of going to Spirit Halloween and picking up a costume that will be outdated or considered âbasicâ in a yearâs time, we scour Depop for the perfect accessory or practice our DIY skills. This is a step in the right direction against consumer culture, but it also reinforces the demand for originality, potentially at the expense of unadulterated fun.Â
When something is curated for social media, such as a side-by-side of a costume and its original media, it presents an easy target for hypercritical eyes to pick up on any discrepancies in the recreation. This creates an unhealthy paradoxâour costumes should be one-of-a-kind, but if we need the exact pieces for a screen-accurate execution, we are essentially reduced to carbon copies of the source material.
Simply offering an interpretation or taking inspiration no longer seems like enough, even when we are dressed as a character who is animated or a product of a whole team of makeup artists and costume designers. These standards are impossible to meet, and they are only magnified by the publicâs growing obsession with visual spectacle.
Whether they are hyperrealistic or grotesque, these costumes seem to leave people talking long past Halloween, and maybe thatâs the goalâfor the time, energy, and money spent on a costume to be worth remembering.
Take Heidi Klum, for example. Every Halloween, Klumâs party is one of the most talked-about events in pop culture, and part of that is due to her annual costume. As a model, she is used to spending hours and hours in a makeup chair to look her best, and Halloween may be the one night a year when she can choose how she wants to be perceived.Â
Klumâs costumes never fail to stun, and that is because they are so unpredictableâwill she lean into gore, shock value, nostalgia, camp, etc.? I find it inspiring that she refuses to limit herself to a single archetype, choosing instead to constantly push the boundaries of what is expected of her.
As women, we face so much pressure to look and act a certain way, and that extends to Halloween. We’re left with the decision of whether our costume should be funny, scary, or sexy, because society tells us we can’t be all three at once.
The good thing is that we have seemingly endless opportunities and possibilities for Halloween costumes in our future, but itâs important to not lose sight of what dressing up is all about.