Halloween costumes: Not just for kids

A recently released survey by credit card company Capitol One found Americans spent $12.2 billion on Halloween in 2023, with costumes accounting for about one-third of that amount.

Of course, Halloween is a day when many U.S. children dress up as witches, vampires, mummies or their favorite superheroes, but Theodore Stark, associate teaching professor and costume production director for the CU Boulder Department of Theatre & Dance, says it's no surprise to him that many adults embrace the costuming custom as well, for a variety of reasons.

"I think dressing up for Halloween is just an extension of costuming that people often do, such as for special occasions, maybe for a wedding, or a trip to the theater, or a dinner date out," he says. "As someone who has worked for a lifetime in theater, I think that when people put on different clothes, they embody them in different ways. There is an appeal to that which extends to putting on a costume for Halloween."

Recently, Stark shared his thoughts on the appeal of wearing a costume to embrace a different persona, the particular appeal of dressing as a scary creature for Halloween and what makes for a great Halloween outfit. His responses were lightly edited for style and clarity.

Do you have any thoughts as to who, as adults, finds it appealing to wear a Halloween costume, or just a costume in general?

I'm not a psychologist or a sociologist, but what I can say with confidence is, Halloween costumes tend to be an extension of creativity, and people exercise their creativity in different ways. And I would say that probably the people who do this (enjoy wearing costumes) are people who feel really strongly about embracing and showcasing their creative side.

What do you think is the appeal of dressing as, say, a vampire, or a witch or a ghost?

Again, while I am not a psychologist, psychiatrist or a sociologist, I don't think it is much of a stretch for me to be able to say that those characters represent humanity-they just represent humanity in a different way. For example, in class this morning we were discussing "Frankenstein," the novel, and ultimately who is more human and displays more human traits-the monster or the doctor?

I think that humans need to be able to recognize that kind of outsider, to be able to try and identify whether they feel isolated, or whether they feel included in their own culture, and the different types of outsiders and isolation that may exist in a family, in a school or in a culture at large.

I think the other thing is as a theater professor, it would be remiss of me to not harken back to the notion of catharsis in ancient Greek theater. Part of the reason that one went to theater and engaged with those kinds of characters was to be able to feel the emotions-the fear, the grief, the acceptance-within the safe context of a theatrical performance, so that when you walked back out into the world, any of those demons, if you will, had actually been exorcised from your soul.

In my class, this last Tuesday we were having a conversation about whether a contemporary horror film does that, or whether it's just intended to scare you, but I liken that to riding a roller coaster. After you go over that first hill when you're initially frightened, the rest of it is a thrilling experience, and by the end of it, through your terror, you have actually allowed your psyche, your nervous system, to be able to process certain kinds of things so that you feel a little bit lighter at the end of it.

Do you think there's anything to the idea of adults wearing a costume to shed their skin and adopt a new persona?

In an ideal world, absolutely. The truth is, I don't think it's significantly different than drinking or getting high. We each, as humans, seek ways to be able to process things. And we all understand, especially in American culture, that there are certain norms and certain things that we need to do during the course of a day that may actually make us feel inhibited.

(With a costume), we can then do other things that allow us to get beyond those inhibitions. And, truth be told, if I had a choice between advising somebody to drink get high, or get in costume, I'd actually suggest that they do the costume and the character bit because it feels like a more-healthy route to the same ultimate objective.

Do you think Halloween costumes have changed much over the past 10 to 20 years or so? If so, in what ways?

I do see a significant difference. I may have a skewed view because I do live in a theater world, but I see many more people who are comfortable in pursuing their personality in that particular way than ever before.

There are more products available for people to purchase, so they have more options. But there also is a proliferation of how-to videos on TikTok and on YouTube, so if a person wants to be able to learn how to do their own makeup, or they want to learn how to style a wig, or if they want to learn how to make that ray gun from a particular video game, they have somebody who has done it before who can show them how to do it.

And I would say that one of the other things that we've had a proliferation of is drag. Drag is just another version of the same conversation that we are having. It is more provocative in certain ways, because it tends to challenge people's gender norms, and it tends to challenge social norms about certain adult themes.

The drag queens tend to use costumes as part of their ethos. But at the end of the day, what you generally discover is those humans who are drag queens are not only more comfortable in their day-to-day life because they have an opportunity to showcase the other parts of themselves in other parts of their lives, but because they're able to do that, they tend to be kinder, more generous human beings. They just seem to be ultimately sort of more calm.

From an aesthetics point of view, what do you think makes for a good Halloween costume?

I may be the wrong person to ask that question, because I'm a costume snob. And there is a part of me that does not enjoy Halloween, just because I have made a career out of couture, of clothing creation. I worked on Broadway, I worked professionally and continue to work in professional opera, ballet and theater. In all of those instances, my focus has been on the careful attention to detail. So, sometimes I get frustrated when I see things that seem to have been sort of slapped together, if you will, for Halloween.

One of the things about costumes that I enjoy is how far one can push the realities of the human form. We are, by and large, born in the same proportions with the same pieces. With costumes, we're able to add wings, add second heads or tails or increase height; that starts to change the reality of what the standard of the human body and form looks like.

What do you think about people who would say they are too old to wear Halloween costumes or dress up?

My only response to that is: I hope that's a rule they can choose to live by themselves but also allow other people to express themselves when it comes to such things. Just because I might think I'm too old for it doesn't mean someone else has to think the same thing.

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