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Articles on Costumes

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A girl dressed as a ‘catrina’ takes part in the Catrinas Parade in Mexico City to celebrate Day of the Dead. Yuri Cortez/AFP via Getty Images

How ‘La Catrina’ became the iconic symbol of Day of the Dead

An obscure Mexican engraver named José Guadalupe Posada created the satirical skull in the early 1900s and sold it for a penny. But after he died, it took on a life of its own.
Fringe groups have long understood that capturing the public’s attention is the best way to spread their views. Karwai Tang/WireImage via Getty Images

Strange costumes of Capitol rioters echo the early days of the Ku Klux Klan - before the white sheets

For many extremist groups, a primary goal is to spread their ideology. Costumes and uniforms – even ridiculous ones – are a form of spectacle that can garner attention and interest.
‘The Craft: Legacy,’ to be released this fall, is a remake of the 1996 teen witch film ‘The Craft’ and suggests the continued relevance of punk and goth influences for rebellious teens. Here, detail from the 2020 poster. (Sony Pictures/Blumhouse Productions)

Dressed to kill: 6 ways horror folklore is fashioned in the movies

Some horror films explore women’s struggles for empowerment, sexual freedom and self-fulfilment. Six movies show the ghost, bride, mother, vampiress, witch and monster as guises of vengeful women.
Young adults now spend more money on costumes than any other age group. Michaela Rehle/Reuters

Why has Halloween become so popular among adults?

The holiday used to be all about trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. No more – and it could something to do with the fact that traditional markers of adulthood have changed.
The Queen’s top hats, this one designed by Angela Kelly and worn at the 2011 Royal Wedding, are her greatest invention. REUTERS/Darren Staples

Not merely costume: the power and seduction of the Queen’s hats

The hat is an example par excellence of aristocratic excess, the equivalent of a peacock’s tail in seducing the Queen’s subjects.
Designer Travis Banton was responsible for the tuxedo and top hat Marlene Dietrich donned for her nightclub act in Morocco (1930). Agrupación Lésbica RS

Seams, dreams: the hands behind classic Hollywood costumes

Few, if any, contemporary costume designers are household names. Some occasionally capture the zeitgeist and break through from big (or small) screen to mainstream fashion – think Catherine Martin and…
Cosplayers come in all shapes and sizes. zigazou

Explainer: what is cosplay?

I’m standing in a line at Brisbane Supanova 2013, a pop culture convention, when I’m approached by a young family with a tiny girl in a sparkly Snow White gown, complete with bright red hair bow. “We were…
Customes allow their wearers to subvert ordinary social expectations. NoPro2009

Boo! What’s so scary about Halloween costumes?

As October inevitably prompts grizzling about the premature appearance of mince pies and plum puddings on supermarket shelves, so too does it draw laments about American cultural imperialism and consumerism…

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