The Most Creative Costume

When I was growing up and Halloween came around, I actually had to plan a costume. Now as I walk around stores I find aisles of pre-made costumes for all kids to enjoy. It makes me wonder just how many Hannah Montanas I will actually see this year.

I never had the luxury of being able to go to the store and pick out a pre-made Spidey costume. No, I would end up going to the fabric store with my mom and she would buy a kit. Now let me explain these kits to you. They came in paper envelopes that looked like the envelopes photos came in. Inside were pieces of paper with the measurements for the cutting of the fabric.

There were never any name brand kits either. You could never say, let me have the Captain Hook kit. No, if you asked for that they would give you Pirate-Male or Pirate-Female. Looking back on my costumes I wore here were just a few...

Pirate- Male
Ninja- Male
Scarecrow- Male
Clown- Male
Spider-Man- Male

One year I got creative, I wanted to change, I didn't want a costume made from a kit. So I got to work. My childhood imagination leapt from idea to idea, synapsis I didn't even know that I had were firing, it was in these moments I was a costume god. Then, after that euphoric 30 seconds, I came up with the best idea that I had ever had for a costume. It was the most original idea on the block.

I rushed down the stairs shouting for my mom and dad, they rushed out of the kitchen thinking something terrible had happened. They were greeted with my giant toothy grin, "I wanna be Steve Urkel", was all that needed to be said.

The plans were set in motion, I bought a pair of stretchy suspenders, a yellow and blue striped shirt, doned my finest blue-jeans and rolled up the cuffs. The turtle-shell glasses and glasses strap were the finishing touch. But wait there was something missing. My parents couldn't tell, they thought I was the spitting image. Ah, but I knew what that something was, I'm a white kid, Steve is black.

Did you figure it out yet?

Thats right, I painted my face black. I went Trick or Treating in blackface.

Now remember the blackface had nothing to do with race...it had to do with accuracy. Steve was black, how could I not paint myself.

Long story short, I didn't get much candy that year.

But I look at kids costumes now and I see no creativity in them, they are all store bought, cookie cutter costumes that I will see 1000 times that night. Where are the kids with the stones to go in blackface? Where are the kids that want to be so creative that they will make a costume that nobody else has? I'm gunuh be 25 in November and I still make my own costumes. That will be something that will never change.

To all who have kids, if they do want to go as Hannah Montana, make that damn costume, I guarantee the crappiest version you make, will be 10 times better than the store bought.

Tomorrow's topic...

Why don't horror villians grow beards?