Dear College Girls,
Firstly, let me begin by prefacing: Halloween is my single most favorite holiday. Halloween is my favorite because the month leading up to it is about getting creative, watching Poltergeist (and ok, maybe Hocus Pocus and Double Double Toil In Trouble, too) and drinking spiced latte/cider/frappuccino/muffins. The season is finally getting chilly (or, if you’re a PSU girl, down right arctic by late October) and you’re rocking cozy sweaters and boots. Not to mention how fun it is to decorate your apartment or dorm with spooky garb, make Pillsbury sugar cookies with the ghosts and bats on them, and get sucked into haunted site marathons on channels like discovery. It’s just the best, pretty much.
Now, we all know that the costume aspect is at the center, the heart if you will, of Halloween. For the creative-impaired, this is a dreaded ordeal and many of you will wind up coping out and waiting for an hour and forty five minutes on line at an overcrowded pop-up costume store, and settle on a sl*tty nurse/firefighter/policeman/athlete/pirate/animal outfit that costs way too much and looks way too cheap (considering what you paid would have covered three weekends worth of cover and drinks out at the Gaff).
In fact, for a lot of us college-aged women, scandalous store bought costumes are the road most-traveled. I am here to mindfully ask you to reconsider! Please ladies, get innovative, you’re in college for Pete’s sake. You are smart enough to think of something that doesn’t broadcast your cup size to the world while leaving passers-by still guessing wtf your actual costume is anyway…
Sexy pizza, Barney, and squid, really?
Now, coming from someone who was legitimately the Cady of Mean Girls…
Yes – I am the one on the left and yes – people did scream, you may doubt my credibility. But I’ll let you in on a little secret: my freshman year, wide-eyed and eager to “do the college thing,” I bought a police officer costume (yes a sl*tty one). When I got home and tried it on, I felt embarrassed, and that was just in the privacy of my own two-foot dorm in Stone Hall. I headed downtown in pursuit of a replacement, and wound up making a pumpkin costume, curling green “vine” ribbon in my hair and decorating an oversized-orange shirt turned dress. I still felt festive and attractive, but on my own terms, and this time I didn’t feel ashamed.
I’m not here to shame anyone else, be a Nurse Naughty or Pocahottie (no I didn’t make up these ratchet names); it’s your prerogative! I’m just saying, it’s worth it to broaden your Halloween horizons. For many, this holiday has become a hall pass to wear lingerie in public without getting scoffed at, but what’s the fun in that? In retrospect, looking like a slopfest in stilettos and a push-up bra with a solo cup in hand really isn’t that sexy.
When you take time to laugh at yourself more often, you’d be amazed at how much more fun you can have in a number of situations, themed parties aside. Be a quirky trio of rock, paper and scissors with your two best friends. Rock a favorite character from your Breaking Bad or Dexter obsession. Be bold, be different! It’s satisfying to receive a compliment on your idea and execution rather than to get whistled at by a sloppy drunk dude stuffing his face with Canyon pizza as you shuffle to your party. It’s amazing the responses you can get, when you let go of concerns about what others, especially guys, think, and just be yourself.
Sincerely,
The Girl That’s Not Freezing Her Butt Off