Are there differences in dressing up for Halloween as adults?
As the spooky season descends upon Maryville College’s campus this year, many students prepare for Halloween in their own way. Though Oct. 31 falls on Thursday, Halloween themed events and entertainment have already been planned to celebrate the holiday.
Preparing a costume for Halloween as an adult is very different from dressing up as a kid. There is a difference in costume selection, sizes available, and levels of creativity between the two that change how young adults perceive dressing up for Halloween.
“Dressing up as an adult changes from when you’re a kid because we’re no longer viewing it through a kids’ perspective,” sophomore Abby Robertsen said. “We have world experiences now. Instead of dressing up as like a Power Ranger because you watched that show, we dress up in more grown and creative ways.”
Many students have changed the way they feel about dressing up for Halloween from how they felt as a child. Most costumes seem to lean towards general selections for adults unlike the specific characters in the children’s sections.
For example, kids can find a way to make a costume of their favorite character from the show they love, like the Yellow Ranger from Power Rangers, and manage to either find a costume or make one with help, whereas adults who dress up for Halloween with this same sense in mind can seem more as is they are role-playing instead of celebrating the holiday.
“I think that it’s more fun to dress up as an adult, because we have a wider range of characters to pick from,” sophomore Britton Anne Bolton said.
Kids dress up for the sake of dressing up while adults do so with creative intentions in mind. Specific costumes, makeup, and accessories are necessary to make the experience worth the effort.
This mindset isn’t always the case, though. Some adults celebrate Halloween just like they did as kids. The act of dressing up is the same, but the experience is different. As adults, students are not as limited through costume selection as one might think, but the opportunities to dress up are few.
“It’s still fun to dress up as an adult, but there are fewer opportunities to do so,” sophomore Chloe Hamlett said.
As young adults in college, there is a different dynamic to celebrating Halloween than as a kid. Since it falls on a Thursday this year, students may prioritize classes and work over celebrating. Instead of being able to trick-or-treat in costumes, costume parties are common as well as Halloween themed get-togethers with scary movies and fall aesthetics.
Sometime, costumes don’t come into play at all compared to children solely celebrating Halloween to dress up. It should be important to celebrate in the way you think is best. Costumes can be anything from a fully fleshed out character to a comfortable Batman onesie.