With Halloween fast approaching our infographic looks at how costumes have evolved over the recent decades. After Christmas Eve, most children will consider it the most magical night of the year. It is a time of glowing jack-o-lanterns carefully carved out of pumpkins, going around the neighbourhood asking for tricks or treats, and dressing in the most fantastic costumes parents can come up with.
Once upon a time the traditional costumes were angels, devils or ghosts, but by the 1920’s characters began to appear, influenced by film stars such as Charlie Chaplin in his hobo outfit. In 1933 John Louis Roventini was working as a bellboy at the New Yorker Hotel when he was discovered by an advertising mogul, who had him perform a page, issuing a “Call for Philip Morris”. This in turn had a massive effect on Halloween costumes, with the addition of gypsy and jester suits being some of the first mass produced outfits.
With the publication of the first Marvel comics and the Mask of Zorro film, the 40’s saw little boys clamouring to be dressed as super heroes, but it wasn’t until the 60’s that little girls caught up with specific character outfits. The release of Michael Jackson’s Thriller music video in 1983 paved the way for zombie costumes, which in turn gave rise to the mummy and walking dead outfits that are still popular to this day.
So what can we expect to see in 2013? ith the 50th anniversary of Dr. Who this year there will be a host of weird characters for boys to choose from. Perhaps girls will see themselves as Catwoman, or Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games. Whatever else happens on October 31st, you can be certain when you open the door you’ll be in for a big surprise!
A History Of Halloween Outfits [Infographic] by the team at Giraffe.ie
