From dressing for the annual Athens Block Party on Court Street to house parties on Mill Street, Ohio University students often go all-out with their costumes on Halloween. Many continue to see the same costumes every year, but new ideas are also popping up all around campus.
Part of Halloween is looking good and feeling confident in a spooky or fun costume, but also provides an opportunity for self-expression.
Lily Adams, a senior studying media art production, said she often looks for a costume that is both simple and comfortable.
“I’ve only got one (costume) planned at the moment … but I am Smokey Bear,” Adams said. “I was just scrolling through Amazon, just trying to find ideas. I was just looking at stupid shirts, and then I was like, ‘Oh, Smokey,' It just came up, and I was like, ‘Why not? Seems easy.’”
Along with preferring an easy costume, Adams also wanted her costume to keep warm.
“I get to wear a long sleeve and jeans, and honestly, I have grown out of getting in the cold,” Adams added.
Another aspect of many people’s costume choices has to do with their interests. For example, many prefer to dress as one of their favorite characters from a TV show or movie. Olivia Davis, a first-year graduate student studying clinical mental health counseling, dressed up as some of her favorite anime characters.
“I'm doing Blair from Soul Eater, which is one of my favorite animes, and then I'm doing Sheele from Akame Ga Kill, which is another anime that I really like,” Davis said. “I chose those because I always do my Halloween costumes based off of whatever hair color I have at the time, and right now I have lavender hair.”
Along with dressing as fictional characters, historical figures are also a popular choice. Bridget Faulhaber, a freshman studying theater, decided to be England royalty for Halloween.
“I was Princess Diana because I'm really fascinated by her,” Faulhaber said. “She's one of my favorite celebrities ever. She is super famous for her clothes, so I thought it'd be fun to try and recreate her revenge dress.”
In regard to predictions for what costumes will be trending this season, Davis guessed that popular ones from previous years will make a comeback.
“I think Barbie is going to come back for sure,” Davis said. “I think that's going to be a big one, especially the different types (of Barbies). Disney Princesses will possibly be another one. I feel like that's usually common, but I've been seeing a lot of people posting about like, ‘Oh, I'm doing this.’”
It seems as if it’s more popular in recent years to dress in cute costumes than creepy. However, Faulhaber has seen both.
“I saw a lot of Jokers, definitely, and a lot of fairies,” Faulhaber said. “A lot of DoodleBobs ... from Spongebob; I saw maybe six of them (and) that was a lot more than I expected.”
Although much of Halloween is meant for self-expression, Adams said it is also important to make sure costumes are respectful and not insensitive to others.
“It's all about having fun and dressing up and being stupid, as long as it's culturally appropriate, and that's what I go for,” Adams said.
