Halloween has just passed. That means an abundance of new costumes to gossip about, but what’s the criteria to have a good costume? Karrah Toatley may have the answer.
AS 2022 HEADS TO A CLOSE THE TIME OF YEAR, IN WORDS OF CADY HERON “WHEN GIRLS CAN DRESS LIKE A TOTAL SLUT AND NO OTHER GIRLS CAN SAY ANYTHING ELSE ABOUT IT” CAME TO PASS LAST MONDAY. OR DEPENDING ON YOUR HALLOWEEKEND, THE FESTIVITIES STARTED LAST THURSDAY. THE BEAUTY OF HALLOWEEN IS THE ABILITY TO DRESS UP HOWEVER YOU WANT AND JUDGE OTHER COSTUMES. ME AND ANOUSHKA DASGUPTA SAT DOWN AND DID EXACTLY THAT. ANOUSHKA RECENTLY BECAME A MULTIMEDIA MEMBER OF STITCH. STITCH IS A STUDENT-RUN FASHION-FOCUSED PUBLICATION THAT HAS BEEN RUING FOR OVER 15 YEARS AT NORTHWESTERN. EVEN THOUGH ANOUSHKA IS A PART OF STITCH HER OPINIONS ARE HER OWN AND DOESN’T REFLECT EVERYONE WITHIN THAT PUBLICATION.
WITH THAT SAID, DO YOU HAVE ANY CRITERIA FOR WHAT MAKES A GOOD COSTUME?
[Anoushka Dasgupta] I think what for me is a good costume is something with effort behind it or thought behind it. So like a funny costume like that takes creativity to think about it. Or if it’s like an intricate costume, obviously you put time and effort into that costume. That’s what I consider a good costume. It’s something that you put effort into.
EFFORT DEFINITELY SETS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHAT CAN BE CONSIDERED A FAVORITE FOR ME TOO. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE OUTFIT THAT YOU SAW?
[AD] There’s this one girl I walked past on Sheridan road who’s dressed up as Lord Farquaad. chef’s fricking kiss. It was so cool, they had like this black and red rose dress. And, I think a red fur coat. And they had the Baray they had the short the perfect Lord Farquaad hair, but they looked amazing. So, I definitely think the Lord Farquaad one was my favorite.
THE LORD FARQUAAD COSTUME IS A GREAT EXAMPLE OF HOW MUCH EFFORT MIXED WITH HUMOR CAN CREATE A COSTUME THAT HAS A LASTING EFFECT BUT SOMETIMES THE HUMOR GOES TO FAR. DURING HALLOWEEN THERE IS ALWAYS THOSE COSTUMES WHERE THE INTENTION OF BEING FUNNY WAS THERE BUT THE EXECUTION WAS DONE POORLY. THIS YEARS CASE WAS BILLIE EILSH 20 AND HER BOYFRIEND JESSE RUTHERFORD 31 POKED FUN AT THEIR AGE GAP BY BILLIE DRESSING UP AS A BABY AND JESSE AS AN OLD MAN. WHERE IS THE LINE DRAWN FROM WHEN A COSTUME CAN GO FROM A SMALL JOKE TO SOMETHING MORE CONTROVERSIAL?
[AD] That specific situation is hard. No one knows their relationship, like the two people in it, right? I think it the fact that they’re playing on the public perception, and they’re just like, we’re gonna make a joke out of it. There is a conversation to be had about, like controversial costumes an obvious example would be like cultural appropriation, Halloween costumes. Or dressing up as certain characters could be bordering on offensive maybe if you’re like sexualizing something like that is very obviously not in the realm of being sexual.
THATS THE OTHER SIDE OF HALLOWEEN OUTFITS, WHERE INSTEAD OF DOING A FUNNY COSTUME, PEOPLE GO SEXY.
WHERE ALMOST ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING CAN BE MADE TO BECOME MORE RISQUE.
[AD] One of my groups of friends, we were just sitting at dinner and she was like, hehe what if I dressed up as like, sexy Boo from Monsters, Inc. and I’m like, she’s a six year old, bro. Like, what the heck? She didn’t think about it like that, she had no bad intention. But like, it’s weird. Like it’s so normalized. I feel like in general beauty standards are pretty paedophilic.
WHICH TO A POINT IS TRUE. WOMEN ARE EXPECTED TO SHAVE RIGHT AFTER PUBERTY TO HAVE BABY-SMOOTH SKIN AND REPRESS ANY SIGNS OF AGING INCLUDING WRINKLES OR GREYING HAIR. SO WHY WHEN HALLOWEEN COMES AROUND NOTHING IS OFF LIMITS TO BECOMING A REVEALING COSTUME? ESPECIALLY UPON ENTERING INTO COLLEGE. IS THERE AN EMPOWERING AND FREEING ASPECT OF IT?
[AD] If it’s empowering to you, then great. But I think it’s also worth thinking about why is it empowering to me. How much of it is like actually coming from me versus like societal pressures I’ve internalized? I feel like there definitely is a pressure to dress more revealingly in college. I talked about this with my friends. And a lot of them were saying like, ya know, I feel like if I didn’t dress revealing in my costume, I didn’t even dress up for Halloween. It’s a very complex issue. No judgement to anyone who does anything. You know, whatever makes people feel confident.
EVEN THOUGH THE LINES ARE BLURRY FOR WHEN A COSTUME CHANGES FROM SOMETHING FUN OR CONFIDENCE-INDUCING INTO SOMETHING MORE CONTROVERSIAL WHETHER THAT BE INTERNALIZED SOCIAL STANDARDS OR JOKES TURNED PROBLEMATIC THE MOST IMPORTANT PART IS JUST TO HAVE FUN, BE CREATIVE AND PUT SOME EFFORT INTO IT.
IF YOU WANNA HEAR MORE ABOUT WHAT ANOUSHKA HAS TO SAY ABOUT HALLOWEEN 2022 CHECK OUT HER NEW PODCAST SEGMENT UNDER STITCHES PODCAST UNDRESSED CALLED SO FETCH. FOR WNUR NEWS I’M KARRAH TOATLEY.
