Broadside Opinion

Stephanie Tran, Broadside Correspondent

What’s the first thing that you think of when someone says “Halloween”? Probably orange and black, haunted houses, candy and of course, costumes. Pretty innocent, right? Sure, except that while browsing for costumes in a store or online, you’ll see several blatantly sexy costumes being sold. Of course, costume companies market these costumes towards adult women and teenage girls, but the funny thing is that, well, isn’t Halloween supposed to be scary, not sexy?

According to an Encyclopedia Britannica Online article on Halloween, “scary beings such as ghosts, witches, and vampires” became a part of Halloween over the years. Passing over arguments over whether or not vampires are attractive or not and ignoring ghosts as being, well, dead. Witches, it can be argued, are hardly attractive, never mind sexy: old, ugly women with large noses and warts, probably carrying a broomstick and sporting a pointed hat. In short, not even remotely sexy.

A quick search on websites such as CostumeHub.com soon proves you wrong. Typing in “witch” and filtering only the “sexy” costumes introduces the viewer to six sexy witches. While three of these witches sport the typical pointed hat and one even touts a broom, there’s no denying that the short skirts, high slits or plunging necklines scream “sexy” rather than “scary.”

I’ll admit, I entertained thoughts of wearing an appealing costume to be in a themed group of friends. However, my costume idea of black patent pumps, black skirt and cami, and black stockings soon disappeared as soon as the temperature plummeted (and interest from my friends waned). I have no problem with people dressing up from time to time to flaunt their “assets,” and I’m certainly not saying that Halloween should have a dress code, but I wouldn’t walk around in a tiny costume and court potential dates and a cold.

Ladies, trust me: you can be just as charming in a witch costume with long sleeves and a long skirt, not to mention being quite a bit warmer, than the skimpier versions. And after all, spending the next week or two sneezing and coughing because you wore that short skirt for one night just plain isn’t sexy.