Four Halloween clichés to avoid

Halloween is one of the most anticipated holidays of the year because, except for the lucky few who get to be mall Santa’s, it’s the only opportunity to dress up in costumes and have a blast.

The real fun with dressing up, though, is not rooted in the ability to act like somebody you’re not, and it’s sure not about spending lots of money on your costume. It’s about creativity.

Nothing makes a Halloween party special like the one person with a truly unique, creative costume. And if you happen to be wearing that costume, it assures you an entire night at the center of attention.

While I can’t tell you how to be creative, I can tell you a few tired costume clichés to avoid on your quest to the perfect costume.

Sexy profession
Sexy nurse; sexy cop; sexy construction worker; sexy waste management technician.

I’ve seen ‘em all, and as much as I love to condone some good ol’ sexiness, basing any costume around revealing professional garb is bound to elicit as many yawns as it does hoots and whistles.

And gentlemen, you may be nodding your heads right now, but this means you too. More often than not, creativity means keeping your shirt on.

Just because you’ve got the goods doesn’t mean you get a free pass from finding a thoughtful, innovative costume.

Slutty animal
Oh, what’s that? You’re going as a slutty black cat for Halloween? It may score a 10 for sexiness, but about a 1 for originality.

Sorry ladies, but before I stop harping on the over-use of the same old sexy costumes, I’ve got to get my say in about how annoying it is when half a party is dressed as skimpily-clad fur balls.

I may be shooting myself in the foot here as a heterosexual male, but I challenge all women this Halloween to dress up un-sexily for a change.

The Joker
This may be a bit more specific than the last two, but goddamn, last year’s Halloween was among the most frustrating I’ve ever experienced just because every guy decided it would be cool to imitate Heath Ledger’s iconic Batman villain.

It was so overdone last year that I hereby declare green and purple vests with overblown clown makeup to be an obsolete costume concept.

And if anybody tries to respond with the phrase “why so serious?” just respond with a firm beating from your utility belt.

The play on words
This was okay up until a few years ago, but enough already with the pun costumes.

You know what I mean – people dressed up as a “ceiling fan,” with a sign that says “go ceilings go!” or put a rose-coloured “I” on their shirt and call themselves “pink eye.”

Yeah, it was clever, it was cheap, it was fun.

Now let’s all just move on with our lives.