Alice in Wonderland

Halloween is becoming an increasingly hot topic in pop culture news as trends show a shift from a childrens' Candyland to an adults' pleasure palace. Recently, Halloween has become a day for adults--women of all shapes, sizes and walks of life, especially; to dawn seductive costumes and prance around to wild parties as someone else for the night. Someone else they may have always wanted to be, or sometimes someone no one wants to be by the end of the night. This has become the norm. The party scene in general has exploded, as it does periodically decade by decade in America's history. This decade, as it comes to a close in 2009, is the Halloween Party.

As with every decade there is a drug of choice. What's different about this one is that the drug is not a substance. Substance is done, all the substances for every part of the mind have been explored, exploited and outlawed. This decade it is the costume. A seemingly harmless drug in comparison, right? Costumes don't put people over the edge. As of yet no young girls have thrown themselves off buildings, or scratched sores onto their faces with the "jitters." Harmless little Alice costume... or is it?

Still, it seems that for some people, in this day and age, dress is enough to change them. In a materialistic, celebutante-obsessed society, clothing--just for one night--has become a mind altering drug. The costume is an easily accessible, over-the-counter, self-prescribed happy pill that doesn't have any long-lasting effects. It won't make a person sick, it won't give a person cancer (or will it? ... doesn't everything?) it will just make them look different. And if they look different, well on Halloween that's enough to be someone else.

However, it's not just the public fueling this shift from naive to naughty. Where are these people buying these costumes? As Halloween becomes sexualized the market for role playing outfits has moved out of lingerie stores and into the mom section at the local costume megastores. Designers are snipping skirts on all their favorite fairy tale and historical characters, and people love it. This makes skimpy costumes acceptable because the taboo of entering a lingerie shop and wearing the purchase past the bedroom (or in the bedroom, for that matter) has disappeared.

The moral of the story is, no one questions why Suzy is acting differently and neither does she. However, the reality is, on November 1, Alice doesn't exist but everything Alice did does. Again, just like any drug, when a person is on it they aren't in control, but no one will take that for an excuse the next day.

Google Image Result for http://www.michaeljacksonhalloweencostumes.us/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Michael-Jackson-Thriller-Halloween-Costume-CD.jpg." Google Images. Web. 02 Nov. 2009. .