Halloween is a unique time of year, while not quite being Christmas yet, it’s a chance for people to let loose and express themselves in ways they usually wouldn’t during other annual festivities.
“I feel like a lot of people like dressing up and getting in crazy makeup and stuff. I do it a lot at home when I’m not in public because I feel like the judgement of other people is really strong … You can do what you want and no one can judge you — it’s Halloween,” said Shyann Tanner, who plans on dressing up as Howl from the Studio Ghibli animated film “Howl’s Moving Castle”.
It can also be a way to display your interests to people and perhaps find common ground.
“It is a good way to express yourself and it’s probably a good way to let others know what you’re into,” said Rudy Lozano, a student planning to dress up as Dexter from the popular TV show of the same name.
Dressing up also comes with an opportunity to get creative and make your costumes work with the materials you have at hand.
“I used to buy costumes a lot, but recently I’ve been more making it on my own … I think this is also just cool, just being creative and having a unique way to have it be yours,” Lozano said.
However, there are different approaches to making your own costumes, while staying low-cost.
“Normally, if I’m making a costume, I go to the thrift store instead of sewing because it’s a whole lot easier,” student Bee Werner said.
This can be different circumstantially from person to person, with some opting to buy their costumes due to budgetary or time constraints, stopping them from taking a DIY approach.
“This year, I just bought mine because I didn’t have a lot of time or money,” Tanner said.
For some people, Halloween is just another event for them to adorn themselves in fun and elaborate costumes, and even dressing up during other parts of the year.
“I love dressing up. I dress up when it’s not for Halloween. I go to FanX and stuff. I think it’s a lot of fun,” Werner said.
If a person does find the time, money and effort into putting together a costume for Halloween, the final step is wearing it and putting yourself out there.
“It’s a fun holiday. Everyone’s doing it. You can do whatever you want. No one’s going to judge you for it, it’s Halloween,” Tanner said.
This opinion was shared by other Weber State students who have also made the decision to dress up for Halloween.
“I guess my advice is if everyone’s going to dress up, you shouldn’t feel ashamed about expressing yourself because everyone else is expressing themselves. So it’s a good time to fit in when the whole point is to not fit in,” Lozano said.
