Costumes: “…general usage has gradually been replaced by the terms ‘dress’, ‘attire’ or ‘wear’ and usage of ‘costume’ has become more limited to unusual or out-of-date clothing and to attire intended to evoke a change in identity, such as theatrical, Halloween, and mascot costumes.”
It’s that time of year again when I ponder my inclination to arrive at Halloween parties dressed as myself, only 20% more fabulous. I recently attended a cosplay workshop at a con, and while I got some great practical tips, I felt a disconnect.
For Halloween and cosplay, it seems like the change in identity is pivotal. You come to a party and people ask “Who are you dressed as?”
This stands in stark contrast to my personal love of flamboyant dress and the like, which to me is more about experimenting, expressing parts of myself, art, being chameleon-like but in ways that are my personae.
Perhaps it’s like method-acting, or has been for me — where dressing a certain way has gently skewed me more and more into this person that I enjoy being, I LOVE being, pulling myself in new directions, one eccentric shiny at a time.
And it’s not someone I want a vacation from, necessarily, but for whom I want to develop more facets.
I’m sure part of it is that I’ve had to fight so hard to keep being who I want to be rather than who others want me to be that I’m not excited to give that up, even for a celebration.
Okay, awful problematic implications here, but it just popped randomly into my head and made me laugh — it’s kind of like Barbie has all those outfits, but she is still freaking Barbie.