As well as being a celebration of the change of season and the evolution of older Celtic festival Samhain, Halloween is an exciting opportunity to flex your resourceful and creative muscles. I’m sure many of us have at least one good, or at least funny... memory of a childhood costume that has stuck with us, whether it be for Halloween or another fancy-dress occasion. We can guarantee kids today will be creating the same memories and we feel glad to be a part of that.
At ApparelXchange many of the team have been recollecting fond memories of wearing costumes as a kid, long before supermarkets made everything for us.
- Sam, our Warehouse Assistant recalls dressing up as a skeleton and a vampire when he was very young and going out guising.
- Sonja, our warehouse manager grew up in Finland where Halloween wasn’t celebrated at the time, but Finns have an old tradition of dressing up as witches and decorating giant wands of willow in Springtime when their fluffy buds are out. Bedecked in their makeshift costumes which were always entirely homemade and incorporated pieces pinched from a parent or carers wardrobe- like big shawls and hats, the kids would then go door to door collecting chocolate.
- The strongest memory of dressing up for Halloween our retail assistant Amy has, is of fashioning a very gruesome zombie costume from an old, ripped plaid shirt, torn up white fabric strips as bandages, and borrowing 2 prosthetic arms from her dad who has one arm. This amused while mildly disturbed her P2 teachers, seeing a 6-year-old with adult sized arms trailing along the floor in the annual Halloween parade round the school hall. Amy remembers the making of the costume being extremely fun and bonding with her parents while doing so. The love of making homemade costumes never left her.
- Claire, AXC Volunteer Coordinator, says when October comes around and it’s time to dress up, having twins makes the possibilities endless… here’s Claire’s kids dressed as Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf. Cute!
- Natasha, a regular customer in the AXC recalled the time her mum dressed her up in a white cardboard box as a last-minute sugar cube costume after forgetting it was Halloween and sending her on the school parade.
It just goes to show you can make costumes from all sorts and bonus points if you can incorporate regular clothes that can easily be reused, like the costumes put together in the header image on this blog.
Let’s round this up with some gentle reminders why it’s worth considering the environmental impact of all the waste we generate at festive times from single use items.
- Polyester, a plastic polymer used in over 63% of costumes, can take 20–200 years to decompose
- It is estimated that around 7 million Halloween costumes are purchased annually in the UK. These costumes often end up being worn only once before being discarded.
- In the UK, it's estimated that Halloween costumes generate around 2,000 tonnes of plastic waste each year.
And on a more positive note, let’s embrace the chance for kids to self-express and add sentimental value to making a homemade costume, not to mention how much money you can save while doing so.
- UK families typically spend around £20 to £30 on a single Halloween costume for their child. This amount can increase if accessories or additional items are purchased
- Supermarkets are known for selling cheap costumes, but this often means lack of uniqueness, and the costumes are poor quality.
- Given that around 7 million costumes are purchased annually, the total spending on kids' Halloween costumes across the UK can reach approximately £140 - £210 million each year.
So this Autumn, whether you’re piecing together a character using day-today items that can be re-worn, or getting crafty by chopping things up, sewing or painting on the garments, let’s be prepared where possible and utilise pre-loved items that makes for happy memories and a happier Earth.
Check our website for fancy dress online shopping here, or visit us in person to peruse the costume rails at 65 Nithsdale Street, G41 2PZ.
- Amy