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Halloween costume
Halloween costumes are costumes worn on Halloween, typically while trick-or-treating (going door to door to ask for treats). Although traditionally based on frightening supernatural or folkloric beings, by the 1930s costumes based on characters from mass media—such as film, literature, and radio—gained popularity. Halloween costumes have traditionally been worn mainly by young people, but since the mid-20th century increasingly by adults as well.
The custom of wearing Halloween costumes may have originated in a Celtic festival held on October 31 to mark the beginning of winter, at which costumes were worn to ward off evil spirits.[unreliable source?] Called Samhain in Ireland and Scotland and on the Isle of Man, but Calan Gaeaf in Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany, the festival is believed to have pre-Christian roots. After the Christianization of Ireland in the 5th century, some of these customs may have been retained in the Christian observance of All Hallows' Eve in that region. Although the festival continued to be called Samhain and Calan Gaeaf, it blended ancient traditions with Christian ones. The time of year was seen as liminal, when spirits or fairies (the Aos Sí) and the souls of the dead could more easily come to the world of the living.
From at least the 16th century, the festival included mumming and guising, which involved people going door to door in costume or disguise and usually reciting verses or songs in exchange for food. Originally, this may have been a tradition in which people impersonated the Aos Sí or the souls of the dead and received offerings on their behalf. Impersonating these beings or wearing a disguise was also believed to protect oneself from them. It has also been suggested that the mummers and guisers "personify the old spirits of the winter, who demanded reward in exchange for good fortune". F. Marian McNeill suggests the ancient pagan festival included people wearing masks or costumes to represent the spirits, and that faces were marked or blackened with ashes from the sacred bonfire.
In parts of southern Ireland, a man dressed as a láir bhán or white mare led youths house to house reciting verses—some with pagan overtones—in exchange for food. If the household gave food, it could expect good fortune, whereas not doing so would bring misfortune. Similarly, in 19th-century England, youths went house to house with masked, painted, or blackened faces, often threatening to do mischief if they were not welcomed.
In parts of Wales, men went about dressed as fearsome beings called gwrachod, while in some places, young people cross-dressed.
Although mumming and costumes were part of other yearly festivals elsewhere in Europe, in Celtic-speaking regions, they were "particularly appropriate to a night upon which supernatural beings were said to be abroad and could be imitated or warded off by human wanderers".
It has also been suggested that the wearing of Halloween costumes developed from the custom of souling, which was practiced by Christians in parts of Western Europe from at least the 15th century. At Allhallowtide, groups of poor people would go house to house, collecting soul cakes—either as representatives of the dead or in return for praying for them. The Christian tradition of acknowledging the danse macabre is also suggested as the origin of dressing up on Halloween.
One 19th-century English writer said that Allhallowtide "used to consist of parties of children, dressed up in fantastic costume, who went round to the farmhouses and cottages, singing a song, and begging for cakes (spoken of as 'soul-cakes'), apples, money, or anything that the good wives would give them". The soulers typically asked for "mercy on all Christian souls for a soul cake". Shakespeare mentioned the practice in his play The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1593). Christian minister Prince Sorie Conteh wrote on the wearing of costumes: "It was traditionally believed that the souls of the departed wandered the earth until All Saints' Day, and All Hallows' Eve provided one last chance for the dead to gain vengeance on their enemies before moving to the next world. To avoid being recognized by any soul that might be seeking such vengeance, people would don masks or costumes to disguise their identities".
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Halloween costume AI simulator
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Halloween costume
Halloween costumes are costumes worn on Halloween, typically while trick-or-treating (going door to door to ask for treats). Although traditionally based on frightening supernatural or folkloric beings, by the 1930s costumes based on characters from mass media—such as film, literature, and radio—gained popularity. Halloween costumes have traditionally been worn mainly by young people, but since the mid-20th century increasingly by adults as well.
The custom of wearing Halloween costumes may have originated in a Celtic festival held on October 31 to mark the beginning of winter, at which costumes were worn to ward off evil spirits.[unreliable source?] Called Samhain in Ireland and Scotland and on the Isle of Man, but Calan Gaeaf in Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany, the festival is believed to have pre-Christian roots. After the Christianization of Ireland in the 5th century, some of these customs may have been retained in the Christian observance of All Hallows' Eve in that region. Although the festival continued to be called Samhain and Calan Gaeaf, it blended ancient traditions with Christian ones. The time of year was seen as liminal, when spirits or fairies (the Aos Sí) and the souls of the dead could more easily come to the world of the living.
From at least the 16th century, the festival included mumming and guising, which involved people going door to door in costume or disguise and usually reciting verses or songs in exchange for food. Originally, this may have been a tradition in which people impersonated the Aos Sí or the souls of the dead and received offerings on their behalf. Impersonating these beings or wearing a disguise was also believed to protect oneself from them. It has also been suggested that the mummers and guisers "personify the old spirits of the winter, who demanded reward in exchange for good fortune". F. Marian McNeill suggests the ancient pagan festival included people wearing masks or costumes to represent the spirits, and that faces were marked or blackened with ashes from the sacred bonfire.
In parts of southern Ireland, a man dressed as a láir bhán or white mare led youths house to house reciting verses—some with pagan overtones—in exchange for food. If the household gave food, it could expect good fortune, whereas not doing so would bring misfortune. Similarly, in 19th-century England, youths went house to house with masked, painted, or blackened faces, often threatening to do mischief if they were not welcomed.
In parts of Wales, men went about dressed as fearsome beings called gwrachod, while in some places, young people cross-dressed.
Although mumming and costumes were part of other yearly festivals elsewhere in Europe, in Celtic-speaking regions, they were "particularly appropriate to a night upon which supernatural beings were said to be abroad and could be imitated or warded off by human wanderers".
It has also been suggested that the wearing of Halloween costumes developed from the custom of souling, which was practiced by Christians in parts of Western Europe from at least the 15th century. At Allhallowtide, groups of poor people would go house to house, collecting soul cakes—either as representatives of the dead or in return for praying for them. The Christian tradition of acknowledging the danse macabre is also suggested as the origin of dressing up on Halloween.
One 19th-century English writer said that Allhallowtide "used to consist of parties of children, dressed up in fantastic costume, who went round to the farmhouses and cottages, singing a song, and begging for cakes (spoken of as 'soul-cakes'), apples, money, or anything that the good wives would give them". The soulers typically asked for "mercy on all Christian souls for a soul cake". Shakespeare mentioned the practice in his play The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1593). Christian minister Prince Sorie Conteh wrote on the wearing of costumes: "It was traditionally believed that the souls of the departed wandered the earth until All Saints' Day, and All Hallows' Eve provided one last chance for the dead to gain vengeance on their enemies before moving to the next world. To avoid being recognized by any soul that might be seeking such vengeance, people would don masks or costumes to disguise their identities".
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