When I was little, Halloween meant throwing on the most fun costume I could find or following whatever big movie I was into that year. This would always bring out feelings of power, and dressing to “impress” as my 10 year old self thought when she threw on a Wonder Woman costume with a giant red headband. I never really cared if anything looked picture perfect or if it would “fit my IG aesthetic.” That costume though? Iconic.
But somewhere along the lines, I grew up and suddenly it feels like costumes have lost their meaning and silliness. Somewhere between childhood trips to get candy begging my mom to not make me wear that huge winter coat over my tank top Wonder Woman dress in 40 degree weather and teenagers around me saying “What would look the best on my profile for Halloween”, everything changed. Suddenly, costumes weren’t about the outfits and having fun, but they’ve become about content.
Social media has unfortunately had a bad toll on my generation. This celebration is now all about what is “IG worthy.” For many teens and young adults, it is no longer about what we love, but about what will look good. Cute ghosts have replaced scary ones. Costumes become Pinterest approved. Even humor has been misplaced. We go for meme costumes instead of messy, funny and goofy creativity.
It seems as though, we stopped worrying about how we feel and now focus on how everyone else will see us. I believe this generation has traded magic for aesthetic. Being impressive replaced being playful and authentic.
However, this isn’t totally negative. Social media has done a great job showing creativity in a new way. Teens working on handmade entries, hacks to save money on a costume and collaboration with friends to go viral. This is truly amazing and shows how Gen-Z does Halloween in their own fun way.
But maybe, moving forward, we can bring out the best of both worlds. Keeping all of the creativity, but bring back authentic childhood joy. Dress as a fairy with fun glittery makeup, or be a chaotic farm animal like I am this year (no seriously..I’m dressing up as a herd of cows with my friends). Post a photo shoot if you’d so desire, or leave the social media and phone at home and just enjoy the night. Especially since for some of you, this is our last year as kids on Halloween.
Growing up doesn’t take away the magic or fun, we can choose to keep it childlike and not all about aesthetics. This celebration isn’t fully about looking good, its about embracing who we are, past and present and having fun.
