Halloween: Then and Now

This week's Spin Cycle brought to you by Sprite's Keeper is on Halloween...a then and now perspective.  I didn't participate in last week's ghost story one, mostly because I couldn't come up with a good enough ghost story to share, and honestly, I don't have a "now" perspective to share, but I'll try.  But Halloween has always been a fun holiday in my family.  I know it's one of my mom's favorite holidays, and we always had fun picking out costumes and running the neighborhood trying to get as much candy as humanly possible. 

 

 

I guess if I had a then and now comparison, it would seem to me that costumes now aren't really as creative as they were when I was little.  Having a homemade costume was so common where I grew up in Alabama.  You came up with a costume "idea," not necessarily a character you wanted to be.  So many kids I see out trick or treating where costumes where they are their favorite super hero, princess, movie character, etc.  And there is totally nothing wrong with that at all!  But when I was a little kid, we never bought costumes in the store.  Part of it had to do with money, but another part had to do with the fact that we never really wanted to be a specific thing or character.

 

 

Case in point...when I was a kiddo, I remember one Halloween where I wanted to be a princess.   Not the Disney kind, but just a generic member of royalty.  So my mom made me this yellow silk-type dress and pointy hat with a flowing ribbon out of the top.  I had a wand, and I think that was that.  We went to our school's Halloween party, and I remember winning first prize for costume.  I was so proud.  Another Halloween towards the end of the 1980s, I wanted to dress up as an 80s pop star.  So I donned a jeans skirt, pink button down top with it tied to the side, of course, hot pink fish net stockings and high-top tennis shoes.  Add crimped hair sprayed with that pink spray to make it look like I was a Jem wannabe (she IS truly outrageous, you know...), and I was seriously rocking it.  And my mom let me wear some makeup to finish that true pop star look.  I tried to think of other costumes, and sadly, I don't have pictures to share with you.  Those are all at my parent's house.  But trust me when I say I truly rocked that costume.  Bitchin. 

 

 

My brother doesn't read this blog, which is good because I totally have to call him out on a few costumes he had as a kid.  I'm not sure where he came up with some of these ideas, but my parents helped him with the costumes.  One year he was a computer.   You know, one of those first computers out in the 1980s?  I can't think of the type/name of them, but I'm sure he remembers.  All I remember is his head and body was just this giant computer with screen, keyboard and everything that my Dad helped make.  Dork, right?  But hey, it was creative.  One year he was Pac-man, and my Mom sewed a huge Pac-man costume to go over his head and body.  (Sense a trend here?  I often wonder how easily he saw or walked in those costumes...)  The funniest was when he went as a  yellow crayon.  Honestly, I don't know what brought that costume on.  But he was a yellow crayon.  My Mom made him a yellow crayon crayola body and he wore a yellow hate with eye  holes over his head.  Face didn't show.  And looking at pictures, he kind of looks like he's some messed up version of a yellow crayon KKK member.  But we were so innocent back there, and that totally wasn't the intent.  It's still funny though.

 

 

You just don't see little kids dressed up as computers or yellow crayons.  You see kids dressed up as the most recent Disney princess or Spiderman or insert (popular pop culture character here).   And honestly, I think if I were to make my daughter's costume like my parents used to do, that might actually embarrass her some day.  It's just the way the times have changed, I guess.  All I know is I do look forward to next year when I get to dress our little girl up in her very first Halloween outfit.  I do love me some baby Halloween costumes.  So cute! 

 

 

So that's my "then and now" perspective.  See what other people have to share at Sprite's Keeper!  Have a great Thursday everyone!