by Essa Nazari
Hallowe’en. The spookiest night of the year, and for us, it is the start of the holiday season here at Hogwarts and thus begins the season of trying to figure out what to wear for the different festivities that are hosted by the school for the student body as a whole.
When thinking about costumes there are a couple of things to consider. First, and probably most importantly, you do need to stay within the dress code. For the bash (and dances as a whole) there is a bit of a relaxing of the dress code a bit. But here’s the gist of it, if you are wearing a dress, it cannot be a low cut one without a cover-up, it cannot have too high of a slit in the leg, nor can it be too revealing in the midriff area. Also, when you are considering your costume, you cannot be dressed inappropriately (to grown-up, we’re still in school so c’mon, let’s think about this for more than a clock-tick) or have weapons on your costume.
When you are thinking of your costume, it is always fun to think of the theme. This year is spooky. So, if you are struggling with a costume, think about what you consider to be spooky. However, you could also tap into fairy tales, I know of one group who are borrowing from the Brother’s Grimm for their costume. Another group are going as skeletons. This is the time of the year that your imagination is the limit and upper years are the key to making a good solid costume. Transfiguration and spells are always the way to go for a cost-effective costume.
Finally, there are a few things that you might want to consider while choosing your costume. For one, could it be using someone else’s identity, culturally or otherwise? A werewolf student recently said in one of our Owl Post meetings when another student mentioned going to the Bash as a werewolf or a vampire that she’d, “rather… [her] identity not be [made into] a costume… [and] I’m sure those vampires from a few years ago might feel the same way.” (Small side note here for our new readers, for the last couple of last year, we’ve had vampires visit the school around Halloween for one reason or another.) Also, we have professors from all over the world, who I am sure will carry the same line of thought.
So, let’s review costumes for the Halloween Bash. Creativity is key but stays within our dress code. There is nothing worse than a professor sending you back to the dorm because you are out of dress code (and they will…or they will give you the ugliest jumper in the school to cover up with). Be mindful of what your costume consists of. And finally. Be mindful of what…and who you are portraying.
