Do Halloween Costumes Have To Be Slutty?
It’s just like Cady said in Mean Girls, “Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.”
As cliche’ as it may be, this statement perfectly describes Halloween at college. Not only is October 31st an opportunity for girls to dress like total sluts for a night, it’s pretty much a night when slutty costumes are required dress code. After all, nobody wants to be that girl who dresses ugly on Halloween when all her friends are sexy nursesand naughty school girls.
Furthermore, Halloween is no longer about costume originality for college girls. Not only are most costumes you see on campus slutty, but they’re usually the exact same costumes re-used year after year.
At any typical Halloween party, you can expect to see at least one of the following costumes: sexy referee, cowgirl,
sexy fairy,
cheerleader,
and of course sexy fireman, police officer, construction worker, army soldier, etc.
Last year’s favorite, sexy pirate, could be located at least 3 times at any given party! This year, I’m betting on Marie Antoinette - expect to spot this costume over and over again for Halloween ‘07.
Why so much of the same? Because originality isn’t easy! It seems like truly original costumes require lots of time and money, while the cheapest and easiest costumes to get are often the most played-out and slutty. Most girls don’t have the time or money to put together an amazing costume on their own. After all, Halloween does usually fall right after midterm exams!
So how can the average college chick find the middle ground at Halloween - somewhere in between slutty/cliche’ and original/ugly? The answer isn’t clear cut, but here are a few ideas:
- Make a costume. I know this is time-consuming and sometimes expensive but it beats having the same Leg Avenue costume as every other girl you know. Check vintage stores and borrow stuff from your girlfriends.
- Go as a celebrity. Some of my favorite ideas for this year: Victoria Beckham, old Britney Spears, today’s Britney Spears, Shakira, Nicole Richie, etc. Incorporate some humor and you’ll have at least a somewhat original costume.
- Pair the slutty with ugly - Zombie School Girl anyone?
- Make fun of the slutty costumes - what about dressing up as a “slutty Halloween cliche”, incorporating all the “sexy” outfits into one.
- Be true to yourself. If you really truly want to dress slutty, do it up. If it’s not really your thing, don’t feel pressured to do it. You really don’t have to dress like a slut on Halloween! For original costume ideas check out sites like Costumezee or just try your nearest vintage shop for tons of ideas.
What are you gonna be for Halloween this year? Do you think it’s fun to dress sexy or are you against it? Let me know in the comments - I’d love to hear your opinions on this.
* Top photo by natatwo on Flickr.
Filed Under: Trends / Tags: College Life, Holidays
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THANK YOU! I could’ve have said it better. After having been a Pussycat Doll, Victoria’s Secret Angel (yes, my friends and I literally wore a bra, panties, and wings but at least it was original and didn’t come in a Leg Avenue bag! LOL), and a White House Intern, I’m tired of dressing like a slut. I think it’s about time people got creative with costumes. The whole slutty this and slutty that is really getting old!
Speaking of which, I might dress up as the Morton Salt girl (yellow raincoat, yellow umbrella, and yellow rainboots). :)
I admit, I like dressing a bit less modestly on Halloween. I wouldn’t say I overdo it, though, and I don’t recommend that anyone wear something so revealing that it’s unflattering (which is so often the case). And I agree — definitely mix it up a bit. You can better get away with some extra sexy if you show that it’s part of a creative costume instead of the entire goal of the costume.
LT - Seriously, there is no originality in costumes anymore because all the slutty ones are all the same. Glad you agree with me that we need to branch out! And btw I love love love your Morton Salt girl idea. Sounds adorable! Send me pics if possible!
Meg - You raise a good point about girls who go so revealing that it’s unflattering. Most of those costumes don’t leave much to the imagination, and I honestly feel for the girls who either don’t know what their costume is doing to them or who don’t think they have any other options!
I agree completely. Thank you for writing this! I hate that girls take Halloween as an opportunity to walk around in their underwear!
I did a post on this too!:)
I think its fun to dress “sexy” sometimes, but for example, i’m spending my first halloween away from my boyfriend of 2 years, and i definitely don’t want to draw any unwanted attention from guys. So, i’m definitely going the classier/creative route to avoid this awkward scenario. :)
xoxo
Cristin - Glad you agree!
Lauren - Just another case of us thinking alike, haha :) I’m with you - it’s fun sometimes to dress sexier than your normally would, but yeah, sometimes all the extra attention from guys makes it way less fun. Oh and also, I love your post about Cher from Clueless as a costume! That was on my list of potential costume ideas this year - shes so fabulous!
It’s good to see some people who realize slutty doesn’t necessarily equal sexy. You can be sexy by dressing with syle, uniquness, and creativity. Great topic collegefashion!
Omg! I went to this one Halloween party and me and my friend totally had super cute costumes. I was an angel and she was a geisha. We were so hott but, when we got to the party every girl was wearing skimpy costumes, I mean it cute to look hott. but they totally shown their palms and might as well went in the nude…
Honestly, when did slutty become the definition of sexy?
I think the only “Sexy” costume I had for a halloween thing would be my kimono Neko costume…though the tail kinda bugged me since the dress part of the kimono dress had that long tail cloth thing in the back… lol this year of 2008 I decided I was going to go on a random splurge and I will be dressing as a Jedi Padawan from Starwars, I’m not going to be any character in particular seeing as I just made my own costume from scratch (excluding undershirt, pants and boots…and the belt) lol just to be even more Random I actually went to Wal-Mart and purchased one of those fake lightsaber things, but other than that I think it will be fun… did I go off topic?…
[...] costumes to pop culture references, celebrities and more. Even though I don’t think Halloween costumes have to be slutty, I’ve included some of the best “sexy” costumes out there too, in case [...]
I’ve been saying this stuff for years dammit!
i agree with everyone on this, however it is so hard to try and think of a costume now where you dont have to bare your boobs or too much of your legs.
even the thought of going as the childrens character the paper bag princess could be too risque/
does anyone have any ideas as to a modest, cute costume?!