Skeleton Costume: The Symbol Of Halloween
Make no bones about it, wearing a skeleton costume this Halloween is guaranteed to be super scary. Skeletons are the most common symbol of Halloween, as well as a symbol of everything scary. So why not add a skeleton costume to your Halloween festivities this year and haunt your friends, family and neighborhood.
If you fancy being a skeleton this Halloween then you have a lot of choices. You can choose from a straightforward skeleton costume with attached skeleton bones, mask and gloves. This is the classic skeleton costume like the Spooky Skeleton Costume for a child on the left. If you click on the picture you’ll find a lot more classic skeleton costumes.
However, if you want to be a bit more frightening why not try the terrifying Zombie skeleton costume. A zombie is seen as a reanimated corpse or mindless creature. They have become very familiar as a genre of horror movie. Personally, I’m a big fan of the Resident Evil films. Here’s an example on the right: a Skeleton Zombie Adult Costume…
Why are skeletons such a potent symbol of Halloween? Originally, Halloween was a celebration of life and death and what better symbol of death than a skeleton. Another recognisable symbol is the skull and crossbones normally associated with piracy. A pirate ship would show a flag, called the Jolly Roger, consisting of a skull about two long bones crossing over each other in an X. The skull and crossbones was not only associated with piracy but was a common fraternal motif adopted by many American college fraternities, sororities and secret societies in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
However, it is Mexico’s Day of the Dead, celebrated on November 2nd that skeletons are famously associated. It is a day when family and friends gather to pray for the souls of the dead. Skulls are the most common symbol, usually made out of sugar or chocolate with the name of the department inscribed on them. Another image associated with the Day of the Dead is the Catrina figure, a costumed female with a skeleton face.
Here’s an example on the left based on this tradition: a Dame of the Dead adult costume. It has a screen-printed character veil and a full length gown with a skeleton screen print on the bodice and arms. It’s a very glamorous Gothic outfit.