Dear SOS,
I'm sort of confused as to this whole Halloween thing. In years past I remember only dressing up for the actual night if I were trick-or-treating, or just going to a party. Now, here I am at college and, lack of trick-or-treating aside, all of a sudden there are now eight nights of Halloween!
Which nights should I pick to dress up, and also, what counts as going "too far" with a night's ensemble?
Sincerely,
Out-Spooked
Dear Out-Spooked,
Although college definitely does expand all plausible reasons to party, Halloween this year has proven to be somewhat of an anomaly. Because the holiday falls on a Wednesday, thus nestling it between two weekends, it works to create one conglomerate chunk of costumed revelry.
I prefer to call it "Halloweek." Plus adjoining weekends.
And while all this news is exciting, it doesn't necessarily work in favor of our livers or wallets.
You need to keep in mind that it is not necessary to go out every conceivable night during Halloweek. In fact, it may actually work to your advantage to eliminate a couple of going-out nights in your schedule, and seeing as today is Monday, you can use the past weekend as a way to gauge the nights to come (i.e. Did you ingest too much candy corn last Friday night? Maybe you can pass on the bars on Tuesday and instead choose to watch repeats of "Halloweentown" on the Disney channel).
Also, on the less integral of Halloweek's nights, don't go all-out with your costume. Instead, stick to key accessories that make you look festive but don't require a great deal of cash or tedious assemblage. This way you can save your 17-piece "Medieval Monk" ensemble for the nights when you really want to catch the attention of that "Little Red Riding Slut" from your Spanish class.
Halloweek can be a great time of year to step up your romantic game, especially because wearing a costume can often work to boost your confidence. Halloween is on a Wednesday this year, and I'm pretty sure they call it "Hump Day" for a reason. So if you do intend on getting your game on, make sure you are wearing something to catch her attention - in a good way.
Although I do applaud the confidence it takes to sport a floor-length pope costume with matching triple crown, the draping train will probably do a better job at wiping the frat basement floor than it will at getting the girls. And yes, ladies, a "Pregnant Nun" costume is funny, but simultaneously pretending to be both celibate and pregnant can understandably give your man some mixed signals.
If you do decide to don a politically incorrect costume, you should be prepared to attract a whole variety of responses. For example, two nights ago, a friend of mine went out as Peewee Herman in a costume complete with candy canes and a sign reading "I like your children more than you do." Need I say more?
Anonymity should be considered as well. Head-to-toe ghost costumes or plastic blood-gushing Scream masks are great if you want to lay low, but unless you have a really memorable eye-color, the chances of your crush adding you on Facebook the next day are slim at best.
If, however, all goes well and you find yourself with or without costumes in your crush's bed the next morning, you may want to borrow some nondescript article of clothing for the lovely little jaunt back to your dorm - because the walk of shame is a million times more shameful when you're in a pair of wings and a tutu.
Contact Charlotte to get advice for all your problems at Charlotte.Steinway@tufts.edu.
