A holiday for all age groups, dressing up for Halloween is practice teenagers across the country take part in. With several releases and what have been dubbed “iconic” characters have inspired a batch of creative costumes for spooky night with friends.
Teenagers have the opportunity to travel back to their childhoods for a night with their costume choices. Whether it be a more mature take on a favorite character from their childhood or a more recent fascination, the process of choosing a costume and dressing up is fun and exciting. The childlike buzz of discussing these costumes and plans at school and with friends can add to the excitement, and it is reminiscent of similar conversations held on the playground about trick-or-treating plans many years ago. Many students not only celebrate Halloween night but also the entire weekend before; this can require several different costumes per day.
In the New York Post article “Best pop culture Halloween costumes of 2023, from ‘Barbie’ to ‘Bridgerton’”, Victoria Giardina compiled a list of the predicted favorite costumes of this year: Barbie and Ken from Barbie, Ariel in the live-action version of The Little Mermaid, one of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour outfits, Carmy from the Hulu drama series The Bear, Wednesday Addams from the Netflix spin-off of the Addams Family – Wednesday, the Nintendo characters Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Daisy, Maverick from Top Gun, Daphne Bridgerton from Bridgerton – the hit Netflix TV series, Austin Butler as Elvis Presley, and Rip Wheeler and Beth Dutton from the TV show Yellowstone. Other news outlets have also created 2023 costume prediction lists, with similar content. Billboard’s article “The 11 Best Halloween Costumes for Anyone Obsessed With Pop Culture” by Latifah Muhammad lists many of the same costumes as Giardina’s article, such as Barbie and Ariel, but there are also some new additions. In her article, Muhammad predicts that costumes such as Spider-Man, Hocus Pocus characters, family members from the Disney movie Encanto, and Star Wars characters, such as Ahsoka, will be favorites of many this coming Halloween.
Many CdM students share in the Halloween excitement and are already planning for the night. One such student, junior Negin Assar, is going to dress up as a “black cat for one costume, but [she] wants to think of another costume for the other nights.” She is excited to figure out her plans and celebrate with her friends. Fellow junior, Gabby Sosa, would choose Halloween as her all-time favorite holiday. “I look forward to it every year, and this year I even have three costumes,” she admits. Although she is still trying to think of a creative third costume, her rotation will include Jenna Rink from 13 Going on 30 and Padme from Star Wars. Her plans for Halloweekend itself revolve around going to the Port Streets to hang out with her friends.
CdM students make Halloween more than an evening of trick or treating for little kids; it has become a full weekend event for all age groups.