On Oct. 31, all standards of behavior and civic responsibility are altered. It is completely acceptable to look like a prostitute, a murder victim, a sperm, a condom or a vicious animal. But on any of the other 364 days of the year, such dressing would elicit stares, whispers and plain judgment about one’s character and mental state. Why is it that after Halloween, we must put away our costumes, pumpkins and spider webs?
After putting significant thought into a costume and beginning in August to put the pieces together, making or buying whatever I must by end of October, all my energy comes to fruition for only a single night.
But what if the thought you put into your costume in August was no passing fancy but in fact some serious planning, engineering and executing? Is it right to simply put away that costume after one, two wears, perhaps a party or a screening of The Exorcist? What if you love your costume so much, you wish you could wear it everyday? This year, break some rules and dress up on a Tuesday in November or December. Make the ultimate statement of blas?? disinterest in self-consciousness by putting on this year’s Halloween costume whenever the hell you feel like it.
Inquiring with raised eyebrows and judgmental frown, the polo shirt-clad student asks: “Why are you wearing that?”
“Why not?” you respond while on your way to class dressed as an Oompa-Loompa, orange face and all.
In truth, costume-like fashion only makes life more interesting. Consider a Dutch still life painting of fruit and glass. It is very detailed and realistic, and there is a lively play of light on reflective surfaces but there is nothing to question, no lingering thoughts after viewing. Then imagine the master Salvador Dal?? and his surrealist works you could marvel at for hours and still not understand. If every day of life is a Dutch still life, make one a Dal?? by wearing that costume to the movies, to class, to an interview for a JP Morgan internship. All the still lives that see you will be blown away by the surrealism you have painted for them.
