We've always loved reading about your Halloween Costumes. IML'ers are so creative! We're sitting here, imagining a runway fashion show of all your dress-up creations, predicting what will be hot in trick-or-treat wear this year. For instance, Lady Gaga. There's been much debate on the You Said It boards about her and whether or not her songs and videos are appropriate for tweens, but we predict that won't stop young people from dressing up like the pop superstar. We're sure the real Lady Gaga is thrilled; after all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. (And for the record, we think she's a good role model in the way she has taken a stand against bullying and encourages people to be themselves!)
"Decade" costumes will be as popular as ever, and a lot of you are dressing as 60's hippies, 70's disco dudes and dudettes, and 80's new-wavers. Even 50's greasers and 20's flappers will be out there in force again this Halloween. These are fun costumes to put together because you can raid a relative's closet or thrift store for all the makings.
Vampires are still huge, but Zombies seem to be taking their place as the top scary/creepy costume (and lend themselves to more variety too). We're betting that fairies, especially ones with an edgy or weird twist, will also be big in the not-quite-human department.
Another trend we expect and really love this Halloween is homemade or improvised costumes! Costumes have become a huge money business over the last decade, and it seems like, year after year, more kids and adults are buying outfits from stores instead of getting creative with what they have at hand. We don't know if it's the tough economic times, or if people are just tired of seeing the same pre-made costumes in every store, but we think a lot more of you will be rocking "do-it-yourself" looks this year. Whatever the reason, we at IML really like this trend because, while buying a cool costume can certainly be fun, making your own lets you show just how imaginative you can be at a time of year when imagination rules!
If you're still stuck for a costume idea, here are a few of our faves:
- Combo
costumes. Like "half devil, half angel." Or "zombie cheerleaders" and
"dead prom queens." It's fun and easy to take something familiar and
kind of boring, then give it a Halloween twist. Make something unique
with an existing costume (a great use for hand-me-downs or borrowed
ones) accented with lots of scary, gory stuff like fake blood, fangs,
pale makeup, etc. For instance, you could buy a simple fairy costume
and be an "Evil Fairy" with just a few extra touches!.
- Pun costumes. Play
with words and have fun watching people guess what you are! We love the
"Cereal Killer" idea one IML'er posted (a cereal box with knives
sticking out of it). What can you do with things like "Pig Latin,"
"Anchorwoman," "Black-Eyed Pea," and "Butterfingers"?
- Black
to basics costumes. Dress all in black and you'll be surprised by how
you can turn yourself into a background for something simple yet
hilarious. One IML'er posted about how she's using an all-black outfit
and glow sticks to become a Human Stick Figure. Cover yourself in dryer
lint and you're Static Cling. Wrap a fake cobweb around yourself, along
with some plastic bugs, and you're a Spider Web. Cover yourself with popcorn, empty soda cups, and candy wrappers, and you're the Movie Theatre Floor. You get the gist!
For many people, coming up with a costume is too much pressure. Can you
still have fun on Halloween if you don't dress up or feel like your
costume is kinda lame? Well, that all depends on what this "holiday"
means to you. It's something you can decide for yourself. If you see it
as a chance to get dressed up, "be" someone (or something) else, and
exercise your creative muscles, then that's great. If it's just about
having fun with your friends and scoring loads of candy, that's great
too. Maybe it's more appealing to you to stay home and hand out candy
to younger kids. And in the end...it IS just a holiday that will be
over before you know it.
Halloween can also be about helping
children in other countries who don't have stuff like clean water,
nutrition, health care, and education. Chances are, in the past you've
done some collecting at Halloween for UNICEF, the United Nations
Children's Fund. Now, UNICEF (and spokesperson Selena Gomez) has more
options for young people to give as well as get, like creating your own
"Trick-Or-Treat Online" page to collect donations from friends and
family over the Internet, or ideas for hosting a Halloween party
fundraiser. For more information, check out Trick-Or-Treat for UNICEF.
