For thousands of years people have dressed in costumes to celebrate Halloween: From the Celtic religious custom celebrated on Samhain to ward off spirits or what to wear to go trick-or-treating with your friends. Dressing up in costume is a tradition we still do to this very day. The history of Halloween and subsequently the costumes we wear have drastically changed over the years.  

The iconic name we all know, and love comes from the holiday All Saints Day celebrated on November 1st had a counterpart of All Hallows Eve which took place on October 31. As time went on, parts of the old Celtic festival were incorporated, and people dressed as saints’ devils and angels to celebrate. The celebration of Halloween in America had a slow start History.com sates “the celebration of Halloween was extremely limited in colonial New England because of the rigid Protestant belief.” but as the copious amounts of immigrants and some native America customs meshed the very distinct holiday celebrated today was born. Before you could go to Sprit Halloween, or your local costume store, early Halloween costumes were made with whatever one could find around the house. In a phone interview with CNN fashion historian Nacey Deihl states “People in rural America really embraced its pagan roots, and the idea of it as a dark occasion, centered around death”. People use sheets, blankets, and makeup to wear around town. People wore these costumes to parties and parades and children would go guising which eventually became trick-or-treating.  

The great depression left a permanent gloomy cloud over America during the 1930s, to escape the suffering that the depression caused people to seek entertainment at the cinema. The iconic outfits worn by the heroes and villains of early Hollywood left an impression on the children, and inevitably adults in America. This led to a huge industry of producing Halloween costumes. Pop culture is influential to each year’s costume choices, but the iconic angel, devil, and witch would never the American people’s hearts. From Dorothy Gale in the Wizard of Oz to Regina George from Mean Girls, people have been getting inspiration from the biggest film of that year for decades. 

This year the movie Barbie has taken the world over by storm, from a bright pink cowgirl to a roller blader people have been snagging any Barbie related costume they can get their hands on. The brand-new live action Little Mermaid staring Halle Bailey, which caused waves for having an African- American starring in the film, has made people want to go as the iconic Disney princess, Ariel, for Halloween. People have made Wednesday Addams from the hit Netflix show Wednesday their costume of choice this year. The age-old tradition of Halloween costumes is still alive and well today as it was thousands of years ago. Still the question remains, “What scare are you gonna to wear?”