Mock it or love it; the costume aisle reveals insights into our culture

There’s no more difficult decision in October than what to wear for our annual Dia de los Muertos/Halloween festivities. Luckily, we’ve come a long way from the plastic face masks and vinyl costumes that my mom used to buy me at the dime store in North Portland, the ones in the cardboard box that always smelled like chemicals. I can still feel the beaded sweat that would form on my forehead and nose about five minutes after I put on the mask, and the way the elastic band cut into the back of my head.

Last year, a good friend hand-made my Regency ball gown so that I could pay tribute to my favorite author, Jane Austen. This year, I’m planning on a much simpler approach that involves very few new purchases. Without giving too much away, it involves some horns and a flag pin, but I don’t want to say more.

Even though I’m not buying a costume this year, I am completely fascinated with costume shops that spring up everywhere during the season. I find them incredibly tempting, from the wild array of hosiery to the crazy boots and shoes to walls of wigs. Considering I actually still have a dress-up trunk at home that includes wigs, elbow-length gloves, tiaras and costume jewelry, you can see that these places present some dangerous shopping opportunities.

Of course, there’s also a lot in a Halloween costume shop to mock, and more and more frequently, to gasp over. A lot has already been written about how incredibly sexualized women’s costumes have become, so I will put aside any comments about how boobs seem to be the ultimate Halloween accessory these days. But there’s plenty else to criticize.

Now I must also be clear that I’m talking about the sort of strip mall type of costume shop, not places that rent out theater-quality costumes, which have a much higher quality level and a much greater variety of outfits. The places I visited this weekend offer their costumes in clear plastic bags, and feature choices ranging from Princess Leia in a gold bikini to Pimp Daddy Joe.

But getting past the rampant sexism, there seems to be something about Halloween that also seems to give people license to put aside the political correctness they are supposed to espouse the rest of the year. We were baffled to spot an “Indian Princess” outfit that sported, alongside fringed suede and plastic beading, a Zuni Indian Zia sun motif on the belly, which also happens to be the emblem of the New Mexican flag. The Indian chief outfit was straight out of a 1950s children’s show.

The “Mexican” outfit included tequila shot glasses and a large sombrero. You could also make the next logical step and simply dress like a taco. Rural white Americans don’t escape, either, as there’s a whole section of “redneck” outfits, as well.

Religious themes are also popular. Rasta hats, complete with fake dreadlocks, are ubiquitous in these shops, as are naughty nuns and scandalous priests. Pagans even get the chance to eye roll as a common pagan symbol, the pentagram, becomes an accessory for Satan costumes.

It also seems a shame that the kids’ costumes are pushed right up against the adult section. I watched a toddler in the kids’ section who was waiting for her mother to scour the aisles for an appropriately cute outfit, probably a princess or a ladybug. Meanwhile, the toddler was staring in fascinated horror at a life-sized zombie statue lying at eye level right next to her, as if crawling out of the grave. Surprisingly, she neither cried nor ran, but she could not look away.

And neither, it seems, can I. No matter how many really troubling things I find at costume shops this time of year, I always find something I can’t live without. This year it was a sequined devil’s trident, and some Red Cross nurse shoe clips, and very nearly, an Amy Brown fairy costume, complete with gauze wings, which I put back with the utmost reluctance. Maybe next year.