It's ridiculous, really. The amount of money we spend on our children's Halloween costumes is criminal when you stop to consider that they'll wear them only a handful of times. It's one thing when the child is whining & carrying on to the point where shop clerks are ready to call mall security. It's quite another when the so-called responsible parents are fighting over the last Cinderella costume at the Disney Store.
My question is this: whatever happened to making Halloween costumes? We used to get creative & come up with truly one-of-a-kind get ups that matched no other. Why are we suddenly so keen to spend $50 and up on an outfit that's usually used for a few hours &, more often than not, covered up by a parka (good ol' Ontarian weather at the end of October!)?
It's almost taboo to say mom or dad made your costume, isn't it? But I recall a time when purchasing a costume meant wearing one of those horrid masks that made you sound like Darth Vader & had tiny little cutouts for eyes. And THAT was meant to be upscale Halloween gear!!!
I recall one year...I was seven or eight years old...and I had just recovered from either chicken pox or mumps. Hmmm, or perhaps it was flu. Regardless - I had forgotten all about Halloween. That evening, Tony Cacciola & Nicky Battista showed up at my house, ready to go trick-or-treating. To my utter dismay, I didn't have a costume. Quick as a whip, however, my mother assembled a makeshift costume out of a burlap sac, a length of rope, someone's cane, a fake bird (taken from some God-awful flower arrangement), and tin foil. Right before Tony & Nicky's eyes, I transformed into St. Francis of Assisi. Oh yes, bird perched on my shoulder & staff (well, cane!) in hand. Original? Oh yeah!
Could you imagine some poor kid showing up as St. Francis of Assisi nowadays? Hardly likely. Things are too easy - too convenient. And yet, I can't help but surf the Indigo website & pick up my children's costumes online, only to have them shipped straight to my door. Bad on me.
Happy Halloween everyone.
2 comments:
I dunno, my son has always trick-or-treated in a homemade costume. Must just be you.
Throw some ideas at me, Paul. Quick & easy does it, though. Don't quite agree with "must be you" comment - otherwise, stores wouldn't be stocked to the ceiling with Halloween gear. Convenience seems to be key here. Happy Halloween.
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