Things just aren't what they used to be

I was at the store today and I caught a glimpse of the Halloween costumes. Can I just say, there were some really pathetic costumes? Just such sad, sad costumes. Not in terms of the costume idea, but in the actual manufacture of the costume. They were just embarrassing.

Now, I am not the biggest fan of Halloween. I always hated trying to figure out a costume. Because, in my family, you didn't say, "I want to be a princess" and go to the store and by the cheap-o manufactured-by-the-hundreds princess costume. I don't think I ever had a store bought costume growing up. We just had a costume box, of things my mom had sewn, or costumes my grandma sewed that we borrowed. There was a red cape, the two-man clown costume, a bunny costume, and a few others. One year my sisters and I were princesses - or maybe fairies, because I recall a wand in the picture - and the crowns were homemade (card board and aluminum foil, oh yeah!).

My favorite costume was they year I went as a hula girl. I got the idea from reading the American Doll Molly books. She and her friends dressed up as hula girls, and I liked the idea. I think it might have been the only time I was excited for Halloween, because I actually knew what I wanted to be! I made the costume myself using crepe paper, a shell necklace my grandpa had given me before I could even remember him giving it to me, and a shirt I had that was kind of Hawaiian-ish. It had a hibiscus flower design. Of course, it was October in Idaho, so I did have to wear pants and a coat, which doesn't look very island, but it worked.

Another of my all time favorite costumes that I've ever seen was a guy from Church who went as a man falling from a building, which, yes, it's a bit morbid, but it was clever which was why I liked it. He'd put wire in his shoelaces and tie so they looked like they were fluttering in the air, and he'd gelled his hair to stand up for the same effect. Cheap, hand crafted, and very clever. (I also love the stick figure costumes people do for their toddlers using glo-sticks).

Now, the costumes I saw today were these weird one-piece outfits with all the details printed on. So tacky! It seems so commercial, and that's saying something because really, there's not much else to Halloween in the US besides selling candy. I am sure that stores sold ready made costumes when I was a kid, too, and they were either really unmemorable or they were just better made. The costumes I saw today look like someone was trying to remove as much effort as possible from the whole trick-or-treating thing and the result was something that might conceivably pass as a costume but it might also have been an explosion in the fabric printing factory.

And I'm sure the kids don't see it that way, and they probably don't care as long as they get to dress up as their favorite character. Also, there are still plenty of kids who do make their own costumes and get really creative, and those are the best costumes to see. So, it's boo on the costume manufacturer.

Unless there really was an explosion at the factory. In which case, cool costume!