October 31st is the one night a year students get away with dressing up as anything they can imagine. The costume possibilities are endless. From scary costumes to funny outfits to movie characters, Atlanta’s streets come alive with vibrant colors and incredible outfits on Halloween night. Once students reach high school, trick-or-treating typically becomes a thing of the past. However, students still want an excuse to wear costumes, so they find other activities to partake in. Whether it be a party, a haunted house, or simply handing out candy, there is no doubt that a costume will be worn on October 31st.
Although wearing the costumes is enjoyable, the search for one is not quite as fun. First, students face difficulty finding a unique costume that hasn’t been worn 100 times before. They try to stray away from basic options like black cat, sports jerseys, and vampire costumes, since there is no doubt many others will be wearing the same. Another problem with finding Halloween costumes is the price. Having an intricate costume with multiple parts can add up very quickly. Sometimes, borrowing a costume can be the way to go. On top of this, many high school students also like to celebrate “Halloweekend,” the weekend before Halloween. Freshman Charlotte Nichols had to find costumes for YoungLife camp, Friday night, Thursday (actual Halloween), and Saturday. “Every year, I feel like I see the same costumes, but it was hard to find an affordable costume that I haven’t seen before,” said Nichols. “This year was especially difficult because I had to find multiple costumes.”
Every October, new costume trends are introduced. Some outfits from previous years become more popular, while others are brand new. After hearing from many North Atlanta students, some of the most popular solo costumes are Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, Batman, and Top Gun. Popular group costumes include cheetahs, princesses, mermaids, fairies, and sailors. Lastly, a fair amount of couples dress up as Padme and Annakin from Star Wars, a hunter and deer, and Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf. Sophomore Zoey Brathwaite and her friends hopped on the trend and dressed as princesses. “We all got matching costumes, but with different accessories and colors,” said Brathwaite. “I chose to be Tiana from Princess and the Frog because she has always been my favorite princess.”
This year, a new Halloween festivity has gained popularity on the infamous social media app, TikTok. Videos of people dressing up for “rhyme without reason” parties have gone viral all across social media. The notion of these parties is two people dress as completely random things that happen to rhyme. The more random and funny the words are, the better the costume is. Some examples of costumes are Hannah Montana/banana, weight lift/Taylor Swift, and fairy/dairy (cow). “Rhyme without reason” allows people to get very creative with their costumes. Freshman James Ackerman and a lot of others in his grade decided to try out this new trend. “My partner and I are being DJ and PJ (pajamas),” said Ackerman. “I’m super excited to see what all my friends dress as.”
Throughout the years, costumes and traditions change, but Halloween stays the same. Despite the struggle to find costumes, Dubs will always look their very best on this spooky night, and their outfits will not disappoint.
