Halloween Costumes History & Facts

Halloween is a holiday celebrated by millions of people each year on October 31st. A pagan holiday, the word itself comes from Old Irish meaning "end of summer". The festivals celebrated by the Celtics were to signal the end of "lighter days" and welcome the " darker half". As the Celts believed evil spirits were passing through, the tradition of Halloween being evil began. Bonfires were held and bones of livestock thrown into the flames as a cleansing ritual.

Today Halloween offers many fun activities for both young and old including bonfires, trick or treating, carving pumpkins, bobbing for apples, dressing up in costumes, haunted houses, and telling ghost stories around the bonfire. Sitting around watching scary horror movies is also a favorite Halloween tradition. Halloween costumes are one of the best things about Halloween.

Halloween costumes were orginally worn to scare the evil spirits thought to be haunting the Celts. Monster disguises were believed to ward off these scary spirits. A costume is typically of a witch, ghost, vampire, or other dark force, but as the times have changed have developed into cartoon characters, singers, and other favorites. The costume is worn on October 31st.

Costumes began to be worn in the early 1900's. As trick or treating became popular, so did these costumes, and in 1930 the first costumes were sold in stores. Halloween costumes are made for adults and children and are worn for Halloween parties and trick or treating. Many adults love the idea of dressing up in a costume, and often times the costumes can become very adult oriented in nature.

Halloween costumes are as popular as ever, with sales of them in mass stores topping over $5 billion dollars in 2009. Costumes can range in price from very moderate amounts of $15 and run well into the hundreds of dollars for the more spectacular costumes.

Along with the costume itself accessories such as wigs, masks, and makeup allow the person to create the perfect monster or character. People can become very creative when it comes to Halloween costumes and spend hours applying just the right amount of makeup and accessories to complete the look. It can be quiet enjoyable to see all of the costumes people are wearing, and even more fun as you create the look.

Costume contests are often held, making choosing a costume even more exciting! The person with the best costume is awarded some type of prize. Costume contests are held for all ages.

Costumes can be purchased at mass retailers, party stores, on line, and at Halloween specialty stores. Aside from purchasing a Halloween costume, rentals are available and you can make a costume yourself at home. These options can be much cheaper than purchasing a costume at full price. Since you will wear the costume just one time, these ideas are very well worth looking into.

Whether celebrating in the old fashioned way or the traditional, Halloween is a great time of year for all things spooky and scary!