Halloween is one of the best holidays: there are not many obligations that come along with it and sometimes you get free candy in class and other places. There is not a whole lot to complain about.

Unless you are looking to buy a stock, reasonably-priced costume for women, yet remain modest. While men can find costumes that are more “authentic,” if you will, women are left to choose between “naughty nurse” and “promiscuous
pirate.”

Now, there isn’t anything wrong with these racy costumes; anybody who feels comfortable wearing them can be my guest. But it is frustrating, as a female, to not have other options readily available.

One option is to drop half a paycheck or more on a costume. Female costumes that actually resemble their inspiration are often unavailable in stores or if they are, the costumes are highly overpriced. But the only other options for buying a stock costume is the version with a short skirt that won’t do much good in the cold, with a really lame name, for a reasonable price.

The other option is to make the costume yourself. The gauntlet of homemade costumes, however, is daunting, time consuming, and sometimes expensive. Plus some of us just are, sadly, not creative enough to come up with a solid costume.

It starts to seem as though women are expected and even encouraged to wear less and less each Halloween. And while this is awesome because it can give women a sense of liberation, it also perpetuates the slut shaming that spikes every year at Halloween. Plus it makes costume parties difficult for those who would prefer to wear more.

Revealing costumes are not the problem, it is the under-production and price inflation of the less revealing costumes.

As a woman, looking for a feminine costume that approaches the line of authenticity comes at a moderate price, and self-assembly can be quite the quest. A quest that does not always end fortuitously.

To be whiny, it is not fair that men can waltz into any costume store and find a halfway decent costume that resembles its muse and fits a college student’s budget. It is not fair that to find a costume at this same level, a woman has to try and develop her sewing skills or take out another student loan.

All the month of October needs is equal-opportunity costumes. With that problem solved, the only other complaint is that we still have to go to class.