I Wore Traditional Clothes as a Halloween Costume and I Regret it

One of the first high school parties I went to was my friend’s Halloween party when I was 16. It was an invite-only party, and I was beyond excited to go. I had beg to my parents to let me go since they weren’t super excited about the idea, but the fact that I would be home by 10:30 p.m. and her house was only a couple miles away from my house made them feel more comfortable. I let my mom pick me up so she can have ease of mind since some of my friends had started driving, and I would not feel eager to ask for a ride home.

I had spent weeks trying to figure out what I wanted to go as since the costumes that I wore in previous years were a little too childish for my 16-year-old self, who thought she was a little too grown for them. I spent hours on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube, trying to find costumes that piqued my interest. I was not working yet, so I had a very small amount of money that I could spend on a costume I was probably going to wear once or twice. Alas, I found nothing that caught my eye. The weekend before, I was just standing in front of my closet, just trying to find clothes that I can possibly throw together as a costume and just rely on makeup to finish off the costume. My eyes made its way to the top shelf, where I had all of my traditional Desi clothes, and it hit me! I could wear my most extravagant outfit with my most over-the-top makeup that I would wear for a wedding and go as a Desi queen.

On the day of the party, I got ready by doing my makeup and wearing a Tikka headpiece and a matching pair of earrings that I borrowed from my mom’s jewelry collection. I put my lehenga set and sandals made by way over to the party. When I got there, my friends loved my costume, especially the skirt because when I twirled, it spun out like a ballgown dress. We hung out outside, and even though I struggled with the length of the skirt, I was too determined to change out of it to the matching pants I brought. My Tikka wouldn’t stay in place on top of my hair, so I took it out and kept it in my purse because god forbid one of the gems that my mom had custom-made made for it fell out and got lost. Wearing the lehenga made me feel so pretty and extravagant because I did not get to dress up like this too often.

Looking back on it, I should have gone with another costume. Cultural appropriate is a very serious and, sadly, common issue with Halloween costume. Although I was wearing something from my own culture, I was not wearing it for the right reasons. I was appropriating my own culture, and no one stopped me. I was encouraged by it when my mom let me borrow her jewelry. I never realized what I was doing was wrong. Some people may think that it is not wrong since I was not appropriating another culture, I get a sour taste in my mouth whenever I think about it, and I cannot help it. As a person who is vocal about culture appropriate since Desi culture is often the victim, I feel ashamed of my own actions from when I was 16. As Halloween quickly approaches, it is very important to assess your costume from all possible angles. While no one may think twice about it, it is still very important to make sure we all dress up in a positive way.  

• cultural appropriation
• desi
• halloween
• halloween costumes
• tradition