Halloween Costume Feelings
Plus the holy grail of cute/comfy sneakers and a bazillion other good links.
Are You Dressing Up For Halloween?
Longtime Burnt Toast fans know that I am an extremely agnostic Halloween person living in a deeply Halloween-loving town. Over the years, I’ve come to embrace our weird small town parade, which literally everyone walks in so there is nobody left to watch. (We just…take a town walk down Main Street? In costumes?) I also love taking my kids to the street that everyone trick-or-treats on because the houses do the best decorations, especially now I can spend the night camped out on my friends’ porch, helping them hand out candy while our children run wild in the streets.
And obviously I love the candy part. Here’s why I don’t stress about candy. Here’s me getting even more laid back about candy. Basically at this point, I expend approximately zero energy considering how much candy my children will or won’t eat and every year this works out just fine!
But I do not love the costume part. I don’t love the the weird gendering of Halloween costumes; or the way people decide it’s cute and not problematic for a white kid to dress up as a rapper or a hula dancer, or for little kids to do a “couples” costume. Ick. And as Corinne and I discussed way back in this early podcast episode, plus size costumes are a whole (bad) situation. Last year I ordered a plus size Weird Barbie costume and I can only assume they translated the measurements of an actual Barbie doll to human dimensions because that dress could fit no one.
So this year, I’ve decided: I am officially retiring from the costume pressure. I ordered a black maxi dress from Target, and am now on the hunt for a nice, sturdy witch’s hat. Drop a link in the comments if you’ve got one! I’ll buy a nice one, because this is going to be my official costume from now until the rest of time. No more overthinking and last-minute shopping. A witch may not be an original choice, but it’s classic, and also pretty on brand. (Just ask my Internet trolls.)
Your turn! Even though I’m grumpy about it (see…witch!) I’d love to hear what you’re being for Halloween.
Are you team costume or are you also over the lack of size inclusivity at Spirit Halloween? (Also what do people do with these elaborate costumes when Halloween is over? Have never understood!) Will your kids or pets tolerate a family costume? Or are you over here with me, wearing our regular clothes to eat mini Snickers?