Halloween Costumes : Origin to Modern Day

With Halloween right around the corner, costumes are in full swing. Whether you’re opting for store bought or enjoy making your own, dressing up has been a staple with children and adults alike for ages. 

So where did Halloween costumes come from? According to CNN, the very beginning of costuming may have been over 2000 years ago, when the Celtic festival, “Samhain”, marked the end of summer and the beginning of the darker months. At the time, it was believed that the world of the gods became visible to humans, which resulted in some people covering themselves in animal skins or heads, hoping that the gods would mistake those disguised for one of their own. 

In the 11th century, christians adopted October 31st as an official holiday. Halloween was originally labeled as “All Hallows Eve”, the day before All Saints Day, which is November 1st. 

In medieval England and Ireland people would dress up in outfits symbolizing ghosts or spirits, and pass by houses to retrieve “soul cakes” to commemorate the dead, a christian practice known as “souling”.

As Scottish and Irish immigrants started to arrive in the United States in the 18th century, Americans really started to catch on to the Halloween traditions. Americans really enjoyed the idea of an occasion centered around death, and took the opportunity to dress up in new costumes, which were made by hand from whatever they had in the home, such as sheets, makeup, and handmade masks. 

Starting in the early 1920s and 1930s, Halloween masquerades began for both children and adults. This time also allowed for marketers to boom, playing off of the idea that Halloween was the last time for people to have a get-together before the turning of the season. 

Costumes influenced by popular characters in pop culture such as Popeye and Mickey Mouse were introduced and costume manufacturing companies began within this same period.

People also began to enjoy impersonating characters within society, such as pirates and gypsies. 

Around the 1940s, Halloween pranks became popular in America. Referred to as “The Halloween Problem” by the press, vandalism, riots, and other destructive acts spiked within the decade. The problem led to a point where local and national officials attempted to rebrand the holiday for children, to discourage further criminal damage. 

After World War II, TV and pop culture increased population within family homes, leading many to begin dressing in the likeness of popular television characters. Superheroes, comic characters, and other various figures were added within this era. 

The 1960s continued the transition into lighter costumes, with costumes revolving around being more fun than scary, with many kids and adults alike ditching masks and disguises and rather showing up as their authentic selves in a costumed format. However, spooky costumes didn’t completely leave the scene, as the mid century era of the 60s, 70s, and 80s brought in top-ranked horror films such as A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Halloween.

The 70s and 80s also started a revolution in which members of the LGBT community saw the holiday as a means to dress up in showstopping outfits and create parades, starting the everlasting trend of risque costumes. 

In modern days, Halloween costumes come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and scares.

Bailey Oliver, a junior majoring in theatre, has been working on creating outfits since the age of 8. Now an intern costume designer for the theatre department, Oliver works on many costumes for various occasions, Halloween included, year-round.

Each costume starts with a draft, a physical, rough representation of what the costume will look like in the future. After a draft is made, it’s a long process of cutting, sewing, and fitting to make the pieces look just right. 

“For shows, costumes can take 1 to 2 weeks to create,” said Oliver. “If I’m just designing costumes for myself, if I have a good pattern it can still take around a day in total.”

Whether you opt for going to the costume store every time fall comes back around, or you prefer to make your outfits by hand, costuming in the 21st century allows for people of all ages and types to find something that best suits them. Whether it be a realistic bloodied clown or a box of crayons, Halloween costumes today have continued to increase in diversity as well as popularity. With this in mind, it’s only a matter of time before we can see how the next generation of costumes will change to fit future generations.