Tuesday, September 23, 2008

You're Not Going to Granny's Like That


I can’t show the rest of this picture because this is supposed to be a family-friendly blog. Ironically, it’s a picture of a costume that is intended for children. My daughter and I found this little number in the party store hanging next to the Tinkerbells and the Hanna Montanas. It’s supposed to be Little Red Riding Hood. It said so right on the big sign next to it. The thing is, we just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to cover up two of the letters in the word 'Hood’ and snap a cell phone picture. Okay, we were only misbehaving a little, and we’re trying to make a point here, people!

Besides our newly editorialized title, I also cropped out the rest of the costume itself – the part that the party store deemed appropriate for small children – so I’ll describe it. Little Missy here is sporting a mini-skirt, tights, cherry red platform heels, and is striking a guess-what-I’ve-got-in-the-picnic-basket pose. The costume doesn’t come any larger than a girl’s size 14 – a size my 14 year old outgrew years ago.

Do we really want our eleven year old daughters ringing doorbells - and begging for candy - in a get-up like that? By the way, Little Red Riding Hood wasn’t our only choice. With a little white-out we could have similarly renamed Honey Bee, Red Hot, Hop Diva, Hollywood Starlet…

13 comments:

PJ Hoover said...

Yeah, somewhere in the past, Halloween turned slutty, especially if you are talking adult costumes. Thankfully my daughter loves superheros and is happy with Batman and Spiderman costumes.

Kelly Polark said...

It is crazy! Last year I was appalled at a few of my junior high neighbors with a similar kind of outfit and fish net thigh high stockings! Why would a parent allow that?!

Rebecca Ramsey said...

This makes me NUTS!
Since when did Halloween become an excuse to dress up as a sloot? (That's what my French friend always called it, and I've adopted the term. It's perfect.)
What has happened to our culture?

I'll get off my soapbox now and will go have a cup of coffee. Maybe that will help.

Becky

Carrie Harris said...

Sloot? Snarf!

Seriously, though, if this weren't a family friendly blog, I'd tell you what I call those. I posted it in my comments section because I can't find any creative but appropriate way to say it.

As the mother of two young daughters, this frightens me. So much that I'm learning how to sew, which is frightening in and of itself. :)

Rena Jones said...

I noticed this too. Before you found these costumes in the adult section, and even then, they were rare. But now they're marketed to way younger kids. It's mindblogging. It's also kind of sad because the costumes are from such cute stories for kids. Costume makers should really leave their sick adult fantasies at home and let the kids be kids.

sruble said...

The prepackaged costumes always make me cringe, especially the skimpy ones. I can't believe they're marketing them to little girls.

Whatever happened to the poorly constructed homemade costumes, like I used to wear? (My mom was great, but she wasn't a Halloween costume making mom. She actually wore a costume I made when I was in H.S.)

Half the kids that come to our apartment for candy don't even wear costumes anymore, or just have on a mask. At least they aren't wearing these costumes, yet.

Adrienne said...

PJ - you're lucky! For so many it's just an excuse to get into the make-up...

Kelly - I can't believe how many kids seem to have no supervision by that age.

Becky - Love that term! I may have to adopt it too. I hope the coffee helped.

Rena - what's sad is people must be buying them...

Carrie - The good thing about sewing costumes is it's dark outside so know one can tell I can't sew a straight line!

sruble - I love the funky homemade costumes! It's a shame we hardly see them anymore (but I have my kids convinced they are the best).

Adrienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Keri Mikulski said...

Seriously?? What the heck is going to be in stores when my three year old is a teen. Yikes. :)

Adrienne said...

Keri - I know, it's scary, and not in a fun Halloween kind of way!

Brenda said...

And we wonder why girls these days have such a complex about themselves...they aren't thin enough and now they aren't slutty enough...what next?

I remember when my sister dressed up like a princess. Her dress came down to her knees, but my mom still made her wear sweatpants underneath the dress...where have those days gone...

Kimbra Kasch said...

I've been lucky. My daughter always dressed like a sports fanatic - which she still is.

My favorite cheap costume was a girl dressed all in black sweats with cereal box fronts stapled to the sweatshirt. She carried a rubber knife. When I asked her what she was, she looked at me like - DUH! "I'm a cereal killer." Loved it - still do.

Adrienne said...

Brenda - I agree. The latest costume catalog we received was just shocking.

Kim - That's a good one!