"Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it."
Growing up in a small town right on the Bible Belt, I did not really experience the obsession with sexy Halloween costumes until college. Even then, I turned my nose up at the skimpy outfits while spouting out all sorts of radical feminist babble. I was like Kristen Bell at the Halloween party in Fan Boys, in her Picasso's Blue Period costume. I would come up with some weird ass, smarty pants costume and be ticked off when people didn't get it.
It was only when I moved to New York City that I learned the allure of the sexy Halloween costume. Shopping at Ricky's for Halloween was completely different than looking through the pop up kiosks at the mall at home. Almost all of the costumes for women were tiny little slips of material, all short skirts and thigh highs. And they were out on display. Back home, these delights were kept hidden behind the counter or found only in the adult book shops. All my feminist ideals melted away and I had to have one.
The plastic bags squelched together loudly as I searched through the racks. Sexy maids, cops, fire ladies, nurses...oh, my! I cannot remember the one I chose to try. What I do remember is the disappointment I felt when it did not fit. Even the largest size they carried, which was XL for a supposed size 12-14, didn't fit. I was a size 10 at the time. I looked at the smattering of plus sized costumes available, only to be disappointed again. None of them were as fun or flirty as their thinner counterparts. Most of them were comical and poked fun at being large. I left the store sad and confused.
I steered clear of the sexy outfits again, leaning back towards the weird and off-beat. My favorite being Uma Thurman from Pulp Fiction, complete with smeared eye makeup, syringe sticking out of my chest, a bag of fake heroin and a home made pack of Apple Cigarettes. Needless to say, I found I was not the most popular at the super hopping Marquee Halloween party that year. I was out done by a sea of feverish fairies, sultry she-devils and naughty nuns. So, I stopped dressing up for Halloween, unless lots of clothes and blood were involved.
I'm ready to get my Halloween sexy back, or I guess to claim it in the first place. Over the years, I feel that the various companies who offer sexy costumes have become more realistic in their sizing. I know now that I need to order a size up, sometimes even two up, in order for the costume to fit. So, bring it on DreamGirl and Leg Avenue...let's have a sexy Halloween!