Stick with the Butt Bestowed Upon You by the Universe

October 18, 2016 8:18 AM

How To Choose a Halloween Costume That Isn't Racist By Caity Weaver
posted by palegirl (80 comments total)

Live as if Frederick Douglass is always watching.

Even when I dance?
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:29 AM on October 18, 2016 [9 favorites]

My daughter is going with "Fuzzy Bumblebee Suit with Pink Monster Slippers" which I will grant you does look like it OUGHT to be a racist meme, but I think we're probably OK.
posted by selfnoise at 8:34 AM on October 18, 2016 [4 favorites]

Even when I dance?

"I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence."

So yes.
posted by notquitemaryann at 8:38 AM on October 18, 2016 [24 favorites]

My Donald Rumpsfeld outfit (circa 2003) would not have worked without those balloons in my pants. Also I got hit on like crazy, which was just weird.
posted by grumpybear69 at 8:42 AM on October 18, 2016 [10 favorites]

How To Choose a Halloween Costume That Isn't Racist

#nevertrump
posted by mcstayinskool at 8:43 AM on October 18, 2016 [4 favorites]

It's funny how it works here in the UK. We gradually adopt US Hallowe'en things - the pumpkin arrived when people here began to grow them specifically for making lanterns. I don't remember seeing an actual pumpkin until at least the 1980s - people sometimes used swedes, I think. And people still don't really eat pumpkins here - I reckon 95% of them are just hollowed out and the contents thrown away.

The other thing we don't really do yet is dress up as random characters/celebrities. There's still a strong tendency to dress as a ghost, vampire, mummy or Frankenstein's monster... I've seen the odd Spider Man outfit around on Hallowe'en, but so far the horror theme continues to dominate.
posted by pipeski at 8:43 AM on October 18, 2016 [5 favorites]

For Halloween I'm going to dress as Kumail Nanjiani's character from Silicon Valley: I'm going to put on a horizontally striped shirt and not go to any parties.
posted by ejs at 8:44 AM on October 18, 2016 [18 favorites]

It's not funny that Jennifer Lopez has boobs and a large butt any more than it's funny that you have no boobs or butt. That's just how you and J.Lo happen to look.

:(
posted by beerperson at 8:45 AM on October 18, 2016 [7 favorites]

And people still don't really eat pumpkins here - I reckon 95% of them are just hollowed out and the contents thrown away.

FWIW, you can't really eat the inside of the large, carvable pumpkins. They are bred for size, not taste. The smaller "pie pumpkins" are the eating kind.
posted by saucysault at 8:45 AM on October 18, 2016 [18 favorites]

people sometimes used swedes, I think.

For US readers, a "swede" is a rutabaga.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:47 AM on October 18, 2016 [31 favorites]

FWIW, you can't really eat the inside of the large, carvable pumpkins. They are bred for size, not taste. The smaller "pie pumpkins" are the eating kind.

You can however toast the seeds, which are delicious.

Here in the US most pumpkin pies contain approx. 0% pumpkin, so don't feel too bad about your pumpkin waste. I did just have a delicious pumpkin pudding, though.
posted by selfnoise at 8:48 AM on October 18, 2016 [7 favorites]

I really need a Halloween party this year. I keep planning to be X-Men First Class Professor X, and then my going out plans fall through or I get sick, and popular culture is moving - or has already - moved on.

A couple of years ago, I did an "inspired by Janelle Monae" costume and wore highly accessorized dressy black and white, which seemed like a good way to deal with the challenge of dressing up as Janelle Monae when I am a white person with short hair.

Actually, I'm thinking this year might be "space accountant" year.
posted by Frowner at 8:49 AM on October 18, 2016 [8 favorites]

people sometimes used swedes, I think.

That is some hardcore decorating my friend
posted by beerperson at 8:51 AM on October 18, 2016 [32 favorites]

The carved swedes were much scarier - e.g. traditional Jack-o-lantern, from a turnip.
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:55 AM on October 18, 2016 [15 favorites]

My dad always used to say " put a condom over your head and go as a well dressed prick."

Sound advice.
posted by jonmc at 8:55 AM on October 18, 2016 [5 favorites]

Choose a Halloween costume that isn't racist by simply engaging your fucking brain.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 8:57 AM on October 18, 2016 [2 favorites]

I managed to find an appropriate tapestry vest, puffy shirt and mom jeans in one thrift store trip this year, so I'll be going as Jennifer Connelly in Labyrinth.

Usually I just reuse one of my cosplay outfits from that year's Dragoncon, though. So, the Eleventh Doctor, or a lady hobbit, or (I was proud of this one) a 1940s vintage dress that happened to look like a Starfleet uniform, that I styled as Star Trek: The Greatest Generation.
posted by nonasuch at 8:58 AM on October 18, 2016 [14 favorites]

It seems like maybe we're transitioning to discussing Halloween costumes in general? If we're not please feel free to delete this, I don't want to distract too much from the FPP if that's not the direction in which this thread is going!

I'm not dressing up this year (last year I was Cruella deVil and I looked amazing and satisfyingly voluptuous) but we will be dressing up our little kraken for the first time (she will be almost four months old).

My father knows two jokes. One is:

Q: Why did the mushroom go to the party?
A: Because he was a fun guy.

The other is:

Q: Have you heard about the famous baby doctor Benjamin Spock?
A: He's not a baby at all, he's a full grown man.

We bought a tiny lab coat and stethoscope and our beautiful little monster will be going as the famous baby doctor Benjamin Spock.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 9:06 AM on October 18, 2016 [51 favorites]

There goes my Sexy Al Jolson costume.
posted by dr_dank at 9:21 AM on October 18, 2016 [11 favorites]

It's not funny that Jennifer Lopez has boobs and a large butt any more than it's funny that you have no boobs or butt.

As a heavier individual let me assure you I do have boobs and my butt is fabulous. In fact, those may be the only two things I do have in common with Miss Lo. By the logic of this article, it wouldn't be funny for me to to just go as JLo, but if I went as JLo dressing as an obese man, it would be hilarious.
posted by doctor_negative at 9:26 AM on October 18, 2016 [2 favorites]

I'm borrowing a stethoscope from a colleague, and bought ThinkGeek's Jedi bathrobe, and a lightsaber and a baby doll so I can go to the office Halloween party as OB/GYN Kenobi.

I mostly wanted the excuse to get a Jedi bathrobe and lightsaber, to match my husband's Sith robe and lightsaber.
posted by telophase at 9:34 AM on October 18, 2016 [53 favorites]

someday I will get my act together in time and be a zombie angel for Halloween
posted by Lucinda at 9:41 AM on October 18, 2016

I was assuming US mefites would all be bloated orange monsters with fright wigs this year.
posted by biffa at 9:43 AM on October 18, 2016 [2 favorites]

I'm borrowing a stethoscope from a colleague, and bought ThinkGeek's Jedi bathrobe, and a lightsaber and a baby doll so I can go to the office Halloween party as OB/GYN Kenobi.

For nerdy costumes, in college my boyfriend (now husband)'s roommate looked a LOT like Guybrush Threepwood and I looked passably like Elaine Marley (this picture especially; I was young and svelte at the time) and my then-gentleman friend has very dark hair so with a fake beard he looked passably like Ghost Pirate LeChuck and so we went as those characters with nametags and whenever someone said "Oh, like from Monkey Island?" we gave them a t-shirt that said "I fought the Swordmaster".

Of course most people didn't get it so for a few years after I wore cheap undershirts with "I fought the Swordmaster" written in Sharpie on them as jammies or, like, to the CVS or wherever.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 9:45 AM on October 18, 2016 [20 favorites]

Lots of things are stressful and I am really enjoy the chance to talk about some lighter, happy things, so thank you all for your patience in this thread!
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 9:46 AM on October 18, 2016 [4 favorites]

Here in the US most pumpkin pies contain approx. 0% pumpkin

If you're a fan of the 2nd-order well-actually as made famous by QI, a good Halloween one to know is that pumpkin pies DO contain quite a lot of pumpkin, but it's a special one bred for pies, the Dickinson pumpkin. Which, to be fair, looks and basically tastes like a squash.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 9:50 AM on October 18, 2016 [7 favorites]

I was assuming US mefites would all be bloated orange monsters with fright wigs this year.

See above.
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:53 AM on October 18, 2016

You Can Change Your Skin Color to a Shade Found in Gumballs

Oh, good. I'm going as Shulkie yet again this year (party theme is superheroes & villains, and I was too lazy to look for a yellow jacket so I could go as Jubilee, or order a red spandex suit to go as Magneto.)

I've got green tights so I don't have to paint my legs, but my face and hands will get the green food coloring + regular lotion treatment. It's not as easy to apply evenly as real paint, but it's water-soluble and washes out easily, making it a superior choice for my purposes. Same goes for hair: regular hair gel + green food coloring. Can confirm it doesn't stain white clothes.
posted by asperity at 9:58 AM on October 18, 2016 [5 favorites]

I will add one caveat that slathering yourself in certain skin colors that are not human still make you look weirdly darkface-y in flourescent light. I did a lavender color one year and it just looked kinda wrong on my face. Plus you get the paler circles around the eyes, and also it sweats off and rubs off and sticks to your wig or accessories. Facepaint looks great in pics right after you put it on, not so great several hours (and drinks) later.

Mystique aside, I would aim for "approximating" different skin colors, like dusting powdered versions lightly on cheeks, using colors on lips/eyelids, using colored sparkles, and focusing on the wig/costume/accessories to get your character point across. If the character has freckles or moles that helps too.
posted by emjaybee at 10:00 AM on October 18, 2016 [2 favorites]

for the past few years i've just gone as either lindsay weir from freaks and geeks or the log lady from twin peaks but since both of those aren't far off from how i normally dress people never seem to figure out my costume. it's just me, carrying a log around
posted by burgerrr at 10:01 AM on October 18, 2016 [10 favorites]

My kid is going as Nyan Cat. He's got a custom 8-bit-looking mask we made and a puffy pink-glazed pop tart body with a trail of rainbow streamers hanging from the butt.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:07 AM on October 18, 2016 [11 favorites]

I was assuming US mefites would all be bloated orange monsters with fright wigs this year.

idk man it's not really great to dress up as a gross hateful racist rapist? i wouldn't find a brock turner costume entertaining, for example. or like, david duke.
posted by poffin boffin at 10:12 AM on October 18, 2016 [16 favorites]

My son will be Darth Vader. Because he got a Vader hoodie, and we realized that adding the $3 plastic mask from the discount bin made it into a costume. He already had the light-up red lightsaber. Done deal!

I will be ambling along behind him, in normal clothes. I dub my costume "The Walking Dad™".
posted by caution live frogs at 10:17 AM on October 18, 2016 [15 favorites]

Last year I was Hipster Princess Leia!

This year, I will be A Graduate Student Who Is Sleepy And Just Wants To Finish Her Dissertation And Get All Those Job Applications Out And Hopes That Once Again No Children Stop By Her House So She Can Eat All The Candy!
posted by ChuraChura at 10:25 AM on October 18, 2016 [8 favorites]

i'm gonna be sombra cause her whole deal is hiding out and wearing leggings and some kind of blankie/cloak while digging up the receipts on everyone
posted by poffin boffin at 10:27 AM on October 18, 2016 [1 favorite]

Tip: if you're going to use your Swede for decorating purposes, please give it adequate time for fika and rest. Your Swede will typically be in lagom mode, lasting your several hours between battery changes.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 10:30 AM on October 18, 2016 [16 favorites]

I haven't had trick-or-treaters in years. Not sure if that's because the kids don't come out at all or if they have been told, "Don't go to THAT house". Anyway, I'm not even buying candy this year. Up yours, children!
posted by thelonius at 10:31 AM on October 18, 2016 [1 favorite]

(my two best Halloween years were 6th grade - a Princess Being Eaten By A Dragon - and 7th grade - a poodle in a girl skirt.)
posted by ChuraChura at 10:35 AM on October 18, 2016 [27 favorites]

The family is going as 1980s Beastie Boys this year. I don't know if that's insensitive or what but I'm a Jewish guy from NYC and that's what we're doing.
posted by 1adam12 at 10:36 AM on October 18, 2016 [5 favorites]

Our neighborhood is becoming known as the place to be for Halloween. Last year we bought a huge amount of candy, ran out, and the sidewalks were so thick with Trick or Treaters after that point that as we left to go out to dinner, my husband stood outside and directed traffic until I could get the car out of the garage and onto the street.

We gave out some stickers in addition to the candy and the kids who got stickers were so hyped about it that this year I just ordered a bunch of random cheap toys from Oriental Trading Company this year to give out.

We had lots of tiny Darth Vaders last year. I am hoping to see a lot of tiny Reys this year.
posted by telophase at 10:40 AM on October 18, 2016 [2 favorites]

I figure that the only human I can dress as, with zero chance of offending anyone, is my own biological grandfather. But honestly, that's how I'm starting to dress anyway.
posted by ethical_caligula at 11:27 AM on October 18, 2016 [6 favorites]

You're your own grandad?! Just bring along a Bluetooth speaker and play the song from your phone for anyone who doesn't get it.
posted by wenestvedt at 11:31 AM on October 18, 2016 [3 favorites]

If you're thinking of going as your own grandad, you could also go as Robert Heinlein's famous and influential short story, -All You Zombies-!
posted by Frowner at 11:41 AM on October 18, 2016 [3 favorites]

Or Fry, Philip J.
posted by crush-onastick at 11:46 AM on October 18, 2016 [5 favorites]

i started with the idea of going as a genderswapped Gossip Gertie from the Schumacher Batmsn films but realized it's not a costume if it's just a slightly more colorful version of how you dress anyway.
posted by The Whelk at 11:59 AM on October 18, 2016 [2 favorites]

Mod note: Couple of comments deleted. Posting about your deliberately offensive/creepy costume in here is pretty much trolling, please just keep those hilarious ideas to yourself.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 12:04 PM on October 18, 2016 [2 favorites]

Also take it from me you can push the authencity of your outfit so far that it no longer reads as a costume and people just tank you're on leave despite the fact that this CLEARLY A 1943 field officer uniform and not a modern one and no I am not still mad.
posted by The Whelk at 12:04 PM on October 18, 2016 [11 favorites]

Would you believe a pickle for a mustache?
posted by 4ster at 12:10 PM on October 18, 2016 [1 favorite]

I'm going to be "a lady carrying a baby dressed as a Charmander and holding hands with a preschooler dressed as a Squirtle" this year. Um, if I get it together maybe I'll find me a baseball cap to wear and upgrade that costume to "Pokemon trainer".

This article was delightful but then it got me thinking that the probability that one of Trump's children will be something abhorrent for Halloween was quite high and now I'm back to "mad about everything". This election ruins everything it touches.
posted by the marble index at 12:14 PM on October 18, 2016 [5 favorites]

We bought a tiny lab coat and stethoscope and our beautiful little monster will be going as the famous baby doctor Benjamin Spock.

Spock, Spock the baby doc
leads a peace march down the block
all around, everywhere you look
are all the kids, he screwed up with his book
- Mad Magazine (sometime in the 70s)
posted by 445supermag at 12:37 PM on October 18, 2016 [4 favorites]

Frowner: "If you're thinking of going as your own grandad, you could also go as Robert Heinlein's famous and influential short story, -All You Zombies-!"

The best way to do that though is by cross dressing and I'm pretty sure that is verboten by the rules of the article.
posted by Mitheral at 12:45 PM on October 18, 2016 [1 favorite]

I've been seeing the We're a Culture, Not a Costume PSA posts around for the last few years and also some of my friends' posts about how painful it is to have their identities first marginalized and then exploited for white people's entertainment, so I really appreciate the linked article and also that it's just really not that hard to make a good costume if you put as much time into thinking about it as you do to getting dressed.

Two years ago I was an octopus, because a goodwill hoody was about all I could afford; last year I was Dave Strider, because I had the shirt and shades on hand; and this year I will be the queen bee - I have black and yellow striped tights and a shirt, and then decided to get a tiara instead of antennae.
posted by bile and syntax at 12:48 PM on October 18, 2016 [3 favorites]

Last year I went as first season Pam Poovey. Hardly anyone got it, but those who did were *delighted*. This year I was planning to go as Skinny Cokehead Pam, but since I still look like not-skinny Pam, I think I'mma go out as Fight Club Pam. At least I won't have to wear hose and heels.
posted by ApathyGirl at 2:06 PM on October 18, 2016 [20 favorites]

Here in the US most pumpkin pies contain approx. 0% pumpkin, so don't feel too bad about your pumpkin waste.

News to me. So, what is in pumpkin pie these days?

Just curious. I don't particularly like pumpkin-anything, but the last time I made pumpkin pie (20+ years ago), I started with canned pumpkin. I had previously made pie from an actual "pie" pumpkin, which was more trouble than it's worth, given the outcome wasn't appreciably different from those made with the canned squash.
posted by she's not there at 2:08 PM on October 18, 2016

There was one year in high school when I was not feeling well, so I wore a trenchcoat and my father's ushanka hat and told my classmates I was a Russian spy. Yay for costumes made of whatever was in the closet. I suppose that fails the "don't dress like an ethnicity test," but not as egregiously as most of the costumes folks are being warned off of. I went out that evening because I had a big lantern and several of the younger neighborhood kids would not have been allowed outside after dark if I did not take them (a job I inherited from my brothers.) At that point I told people I was Diogenes, looking for an honest man. I don't know how many people got that joke but I seem to have gotten credit for being "a teenager with a cold nonetheless gamely escorting a bunch of kids around."

I suggest wearing a green visor, carrying a clipboard and an adding machine and wearing a clip-on id reading IRS in nice big letters. Now that's scary.
posted by Karmakaze at 2:20 PM on October 18, 2016 [2 favorites]

This year I was planning to go as Skinny Cokehead Pam, but since I still look like not-skinny Pam, I think I'mma go out as Fight Club Pam. At least I won't have to wear hose and heels.

oh wow, back tattoo and all? maybe in henna ink?
posted by indubitable at 2:26 PM on October 18, 2016 [4 favorites]

I went into one of those pop-up Halloween stores this year intending to dress as Oscar the Grouch and came out sans green or orange fur having decided to donate the cost of one "Native American" costume ($40 for child-size, $50-60 for adult) to an organization working on Indigenous issues/decolonization. Likely the Native Women's Association of Canada or RAVEN . I wanted to do something a bit more concrete than knowing better. I love Halloween but enough with the racist costumes, already.
posted by bibliotropic at 2:32 PM on October 18, 2016 [4 favorites]

I thought everyone was dressing up as Ken Bone?
posted by FJT at 2:33 PM on October 18, 2016

Stick with the Butt Bestowed Upon You by the Universe

So much for my centaur costume.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 3:24 PM on October 18, 2016 [8 favorites]

Last year I went as first season Pam Poovey. Hardly anyone got it, but those who did were *delighted*.

Oooh, neat! Two years ago, my partner and I were Bob & Linda* Belcher and I was crushed--crushed--to arrive at our party full of thirty/fortysomething gays who were all "What is this, a cartoon? Never heard of it" and a part of me died. (Cut to us stepping outside and being embraced rapturously by a stream of drunk millennials. The kids are all right.)

*This felt a lot less like drag than the time I dressed as Quentin Crisp, which is probably the most makeup I've ever worn and was a delightful, horrifying mess.
posted by psoas at 3:35 PM on October 18, 2016 [2 favorites]

Also, Kumail as J-Lo is so wrong it's life-giving.
posted by psoas at 3:37 PM on October 18, 2016 [1 favorite]

Stick with the Butt Bestowed Upon You by the Universe

This does sound a bit like a Chuck Tingle title...
posted by bile and syntax at 4:05 PM on October 18, 2016 [5 favorites]

oh wow, back tattoo and all? maybe in henna ink?

nah, too much work. They make printable temporary tattoo paper, I'd just use that.
posted by ApathyGirl at 4:06 PM on October 18, 2016 [1 favorite]

OMG Pam is the best. And fight club Pam is best Pam IMO. You're going to have to stock up on tear-away wife-beaters, though :-)

There's some good potential costumes from Archer as so many characters are defined by their clothing and, of course, catchphrases. But as much as I love it, the show is so unabashedly offensive I don't know that I'd feel comfortable portraying a character in public. Maybe an Archer dinner party where everyone is in on the joke, though?
posted by ianhattwick at 5:04 PM on October 18, 2016 [1 favorite]

I was assuming US mefites would all be bloated orange monsters with fright wigs this year.

idk man it's not really great to dress up as a gross hateful racist rapist?

I was kinda considering doing a little meme mixing - buying a Donald rump mask and painting it up all Pogo the Clown...
posted by Trinity-Gehenna at 5:14 PM on October 18, 2016

Indeed. Available now for presale, Pounded in the Butt by the Stick with the Butt Bestowed Upon You by the Universe.

I'd actually love to dress up as a Chuck Tingle book (Slammed in the Butthole by My Concept of Linear Time, perhaps) but I'm not invited to any sufficiently fabulous parties this year.
posted by notquitemaryann at 5:16 PM on October 18, 2016 [3 favorites]

... I mean Halloween's supposed to be scary, right?
posted by Trinity-Gehenna at 5:22 PM on October 18, 2016

We bought a tiny lab coat and stethoscope and our beautiful little monster will be going as the famous baby doctor Benjamin Spock.

Mrs. Pterodactyl, this is the greatest thing I have read on Metafilter, ever.
posted by Ashwagandha at 5:26 PM on October 18, 2016 [3 favorites]

I keep talking about making a Horta costume, so far nothing has actually happened.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 7:34 PM on October 18, 2016

One year in high school my brother and I were at the same school and for some reason he went to school earlier that day than I did (probably a club meeting or something before school), so I went in his room, got his other shoes and his jeans and his favorite T-shirt and his grody baseball cap, and went to school for Halloween dressed as him, walking around with a slouch and a surly grunt and everybody could immediately tell I was him and they were all laughing hysterically and OMG he was so gloriously pissed off. Probably my crowning achievement in sibling trolling.

My favorite kiddie costume was when we dressed our 5-year-old as a zookeeper and our 3-year-old as a lion, and the zookeeper's candy bucket said "Lion Treats" and the lion's bucket said "ZOOkePR BAiT." (Lions can't spell.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:54 PM on October 18, 2016 [14 favorites]

I was going to put on a tie and go as a Person Wearing a Tie, but after this thread I'm inspired- I'm going to go as a gravestone with THE TOAST written on it.
posted by happyroach at 8:37 PM on October 18, 2016 [4 favorites]

I found a skeleton onesie in the bargain bin that was the perfect size for my 4 year old. His look of delight when he tried it on and the resulting "happy skeleton dance" (lots of gyrating and leg shaking, it turns out) was so worth the $4.

So, in conclusion, the best Halloween costume is to stick with the bones your mama gave you.
posted by brambory at 12:16 AM on October 19, 2016 [10 favorites]

I was thinking of slathering on zombie makeup and putting a stick in my hair like I've done for the past few years, but at the rate my face is wrinkling I think I'll just not wear any makeup at all and leap out at people from behind a bush. Terrifying!
posted by h00py at 5:03 AM on October 19, 2016

Live as if Frederick Douglass is always watching.

Even when I dance?

An aside: At the Susan B. Anthony house in Rochester, NY, docents explained that Douglass was a frequent and welcome visitor, and that Anthony would often entreat him to bring his fiddle, as he was a most competent player and could "put the floor beneath your feet." Not only is it wonderful to think that Anthony scandalized all as a single woman entertaining a single man of color, but that after the serious talk was over, folks danced.

So maybe having Douglass around when you're dancing isn't a bad thing!
posted by kinnakeet at 5:15 AM on October 19, 2016 [18 favorites]

Last year I went as first season Pam Poovey.

I SO want to do that (she may be the go-to for fat white women for the foreseeable future). I would even have made my spouse write up her entire back tattoo. But, unfortunately, the only place I really have to wear a Halloween costume is to the costume contest at work, and I don't think enough people would get it. I'm going as the Mad Hatter instead.
posted by dlugoczaj at 7:37 AM on October 19, 2016

it's just really not that hard to make a good costume if you put as much time into thinking about it as you do to getting dressed

Speaking from experience, it's also easy to make a good (or at least non-offensive) costume if you put zero effort in whatsoever. I'm a fan of the fleece-onesie-as-costume trend...last year I bought a ladybug onesie and this year I'll probably just wear it again.

I'm not a fan of halloween costume pressure.
posted by R a c h e l at 9:30 AM on October 19, 2016

You know how there was a Christian ventriloquism record trend back in the day? My girlfriend just adopted this guy from eBay so that we can dress up as one of those couples. We're not going to go to a party or anything, the three of us are just going to enjoy a quiet night in, sing some hymns, and if things get really crazy, maybe have a little apple cider.
posted by Timmoy Daen at 10:35 AM on October 19, 2016

Does anyone do a lot of house/front porch decorating for Halloween? This is my first year being home the day of at this house, and I know we get a lot of trick-or-treaters, so I want to do up the front porch with lots of spooky plants-- eyeball flowers and giant carnivorous pumpkins and hanging skull planters and things.
posted by nonasuch at 2:53 PM on October 19, 2016

Related: Regina Activists Regina Place Warning Labels on Indigenous Halloween Costumes [CBC.ca]

Halloween costumes depicting Indigenous women and girls in costume at a Regina store had warning labels thanks to some local activists. Spirit Halloween in Regina is selling costumes such as 'Reservation Royalty', 'Native American Princess' and 'Wolf Dancer'. There are similar costumes for both women and girls. "It's precisely these types of images that normalize the sexualization of Indigenous women and lay the foundation for a culture that accepts the violence against Indigenous women," said Chris Kortright who helped place the labels on the costumes.

posted by Fizz at 3:27 PM on October 19, 2016 [3 favorites]

I just wanted to tell you all how much I'm enjoying your costume comments. For the first time in I can't remember when, I don't have a costume event to go to this year, so I'm dressing up vicariously through you. I hope I'll get to see some pictures after Halloween.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:26 AM on October 20, 2016