The History Of Women's Halloween Costumes

Halloween is a holiday that has been around for centuries. Have you ever thought: When did women's Halloween costumes become so popular? Well, one must first examine how Halloween came about. It started out as a religious holiday meant to appease the Gods and to denounce evil. It was thought that the souls of the dead were able to appear on this night. It is mainly of European descent, namely Celtic and Druid religions. The Celts and Druids are the first ones that dressed up in costumes. They mainly wore animal skins and plant skins to ask for God to grant them a bountiful harvest and easy hunting so that the upcoming winter season would pass by without much harm to them. It was also to protect them from any dead souls that might have made it through to the real world.

As the years passed the tradition of Halloween started to change. It stayed mostly a religious holiday until the late 1800's. But it was at this point that the ideas changed to be more inclusive. That said, the changes have been mostly studied in the United States and this is when most of started changing the celebration to not be only focused on a good harvest, but on family celebrations. Becoming more family oriented it allowed people to enjoy the holiday together and perhaps even bring the community together. It was at this point in history that costumes started to come to the forefront more and more.

Girls and boys, as well as men and women, dress up today for this magical holiday. Though originally it was only children that dressed up, that has changed as the years have passed. Pop culture is a definite influence on how one dresses. Kids typically dress based on what is on the cartoon channels they watch, while men and women dress as what they feel like being for a night. Halloween offers a night to let your guard down and become a super hero, animal, or anything because an outfit allows you to transform. Because dressing up is so popular with men and women, costume parties are being the new it thing. Parties for adults with contests and such have made this one night a huge party event.

With so many stores out there, there are a lot of choices for females. It really depends on what the individual is looking for. Sometimes it is easier for someone to step out of their comfort zone to become something that they normally would not even think about! Take your average woman of today, they could dress from something as funny as a fifties do-wop girl to something sexy like a French maid.

Historically, women's Halloween costumes were mainly characters like witches or teachers; typically they did not step outside the comfort zones of what women traditionally did or were portrayed as. As the years have passed, they have started to run the gamut. It is typically the night of anything goes. They are not just locked into dressing up in a traditional garment like a witches smock, but they might think outside the box and dress in something very untraditional. This night allows one to really be anything that they want to be. One can be someone else for an entire day and even an entire night. The more creative an outfit is allows the person wearing the outfit to really become that person, animal or character. Women can really benefit from dressing up for the day and or night because it is never too late to explore the boundaries of what people expect of you. Dressing up in costumes allows you to let down your guard to be someone else for a short time. The day after Halloween, the costume is retired to the closet with memories of a fun time wearing it!

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