One of the great things about being in graduate school is that I can go out on a Friday night fully clothed. I don’t feel any pressure to stand in line outside of a bar freezing in a tiny skirt, tiny top and really tall heels. (Ideally, I shouldn’t have felt that pressure in undergrad, but we’ll leave that for another day.)  And yet, here we are at Halloween… and the pressure is back.  If you’re looking to buy a costume that did not scream “easy,” you’re probably out of luck. Everything is cut to bare a lot of leg and lot of cleavage. In fact, I was a ballerina for 15 years, and I have never seen so many tutus.  If you’re hoping to not freeze at the Halloween party or trick-or-treating, you might find a pair of ears, funny hat or neon wig to wear after you dig through the accessories aisle. And that’s kind of it. The business model for Halloween costumes seems to have skipped women no longer in college and yet not stuck in the house handing out candy.  While the costume business may force you into feeling like you need to be in a skimpy costume, don’t forget where you might wear this costume. Halloween isn’t an excuse to forget about the day after Halloween. If you’re in the working world, do you really want Joe from Accounting seeing your naughty nurse outfit?  I hate to be a Halloween party-pooper, but you really should think about those dress code guidelines from your office when you’re planning your costume. Who will see you? What assumptions will they make? You know how they say, “Watch your behavior at the company holiday party”? The same idea comes into play here.  Your best bet is to be creative. You can do everything from coming up with a crazy cliché outfit (“Laughter is the best medicine”), to a classic book character (Daisy Buchanan from The Great Gatsby). Some of my favorites have been:  Just as negative opinion could spread because of a tasteless costume, positive opinion can grow because you can demonstrate wit and creativity. People could be talking about your costumes for parties to come, and you never know: that creativity could spark new energy at your job.
Halloween seems to be a time when we relax the our own dress codes, but is that skimpy costume helping or hurting your reputation?