I have blogged about Halloween a couple of times over the last couple of week. I’ve discussed make-up ideas and outfit choices and made it quite clear that certain costumes are a no go for me because they’re simply not age appropriate in my eyes.
At the time I thought I might be a spoil sport, but a recent study among 2000 people in the UK, conducted by MyVoucherCodes.co.uk, revealed that I am not the only one who isn’t too keen on the majority of Halloween costumes available (more details here):
- 66% of women stated they thought costumes on sale were over-sexualised
- The majority (76%) of those aged over 55 felt that the costumes on sale for children were not age appropriate
- Parents are not impressed with children’s Halloween costumes on sale, with 83% finding them to be inappropriate for the age at which they are marketed.
Surprised? I’m not! The motto in stores seems to be the gorier the better and it becomes a real struggle to find Halloween costumes that don’t show bones, open wounds or leaking brains. Admittedly, it’s fairly easy to find cute and fun outfits for girls as they can always go as cats or witches, but costumes for boys are usually everything but age-appropriate, if you ask me.
Frankenstein, zombies or the Grim Reaper are only a few of the costumes available for boys in all the mayor supermarkets and I personally think there are more age appropriate alternatives out there. To be fair, I wouldn’t mind not dressing Amy up at all, but I don’t want her to miss out when all her little friends go trick or treating. I didn’t when I was little and I don’t feel like I’ve missed out at all. Okay, Halloween wasn’t as commercialised as it is now, but it wasn’t until my 16th birthday that I actually dressed up for the very first time – as angel! Not exactly gory, but I think out of 20 party guests to our Halloween party only 3 looked really scary and let me tell you something: it was absolutely fine and didn’t mean that our party was any less fun. It’s not necessary to look scary and gruesome to have fun, especially not when your three years old.
What do you think about the Halloween costumes available for children? Do you think they are age-appropriate? Do you even need Halloween costumes to have fun and celebrate?
I’ve never really got into the whole halloween thing. I’ve dressed up maybe once or twice and I dress Sophie up, because like you, I don’t want her to miss out. We had a day out today and she was dressed as the most unscary spider you have ever seen! We had fun and she enjoyed being dressed up, but I don’t see the need for it to be so gory!
Haha, she’d have been scared of herself otherwise. We all know, she’s not keen on spiders…
Ah Amy looks absolutely adorable in that photo. Aaron’s costume is bones, from Aldi, but at least it is black and white, with just green spiderwebs on. No blood or gore in sight at all.
I know bones are scary, but to him, in his innocence it is just a skeleton and he is fascinated by those, from an anatomy point of view.
Liska xx