Tag: costumes

Horror in Paradise

Spooky new statistics show a major uptick in breakups due to couples costumes this Halloween season, as reported in a study by a local ghoul. The study was conducted with hundreds of couples aged 18 to 28 in Montreal, but is representative of a greater worldwide trend.

Students make up 66.6 per cent of the demographic surveyed, with 13 per cent of them being Concordians. Of the Concordia students, a dismal two per cent of couples are slated to survive this Halloweekend without breaking up over their costume, and one per cent is expected to make it through without a heated screaming match.

“My girlfriend wanted us to dress up as peanut butter and jelly,” said Ben Shee, a third-year computer science student. “Normally, I’d be all for a couple’s costume, but I’m literally allergic to peanuts,” he said tearfully during a phone interview. Shee explained that after he vetoed this idea, his girlfriend dumped him because he wasn’t accommodating her need to wear the thrifted pink crushed velvet dress she had gotten specifically for the occasion.

Perry Noid is a second-year sociology major who broke up with his boyfriend because of their indecision. “One day he wanted to be Toopy and Binoo, the next day he was set on Linguini and Ratatouille.” Noid lamented his six midterms in the coming hours, and his lack of time to deliberate and plan their outfits.

“Don’t you think my degree is more important than a costume?” he remembered saying to his partner, who replied, “‘Absolutely not.’” From there, Noid explained that there was nothing else to do other than end the relationship and dress as a Montreal Canadiens player for the seventh straight year.

Dating expert Diane Rott noted that this year’s breakup numbers greatly surpass those in the past, and attributes this phenomenon to what she dubs a “high-stakes-Halloween.” Those who have yet to soft-launch their relationships need a clear and concrete way to claim their beloved in a sea of Britney Spears and cats, and therefore turn to couples costumes. However, since people are so excited to properly celebrate Halloween after last year’s terrifying turn of events, they place an absurd amount of pressure on themselves to have the best costume and the best time, throwing all concern for the person they’re with out the window.

So, dear Concordia couples, please beware of these gruesome figures, and remember, the only thing scarier than being alone is having a lame costume.

 

Feature graphic by Madeline Schmidt

Categories
Student Life

There’s more to pugs than their looks

Photo by Jad Abukasm

Four-year-old Olaf and his younger sister, Greta, dressed up as ketchup and mustard for the annual Halloween party on Oct. 26. Competing among others, they won the award for best matching costumes. Their prize: a bunch of bone-shaped treats and squeaking stuffed animals.

The two pugs were among 25 others that gathered for the 11th Annual Halloween Pug Party at Girouard park in NDG, hosted by Montreal Pug Meetup Group.

“We’ve been coming for the past six years,” said Greta and Olaf’s owner, Francine Boyer. Her daughter was completing the trio as a giant hotdog. “The dogs just love it.”

Along with the two curly-tailed condiments, Lilou was awarded for having the funniest costume: he was dressed as a chicken. His owner, Julie Larivière, was delighted when her oldest of two was victorious. Lilou’s younger sister, Ciboulette, had to pass up the opportunity because she is too small to fit in any costume.

“Even the tiniest were making her tumble all over the place,” Larivière laughed.

But the event itself is far more than winning free bacon-flavoured treats in exchange for cute dog apparel. The Halloween party is just one gathering among many others from the online Montreal Pug Meetup Group.

“We gather once every month and the dogs play and have a lot of fun,” said Meredith Chatman, who coordinates Montreal Pug Meetup alongside her 12-year-old pug, Benny. “Owners come here and make friends, and the community just keeps growing and growing,” she said.

Over the years, the pug community in Montreal has grown significantly and it isn’t just a local phenomenon, Chatman explained. In fact, the native Chinese breed has gained huge popularity worldwide in the past decades. Back in the 18th century, they were introduced to European countries. They even became the mascot of a Saxon excommunicated group of masons, The Order of the Pugs.

Nowadays, their squished snouts, popping eyes and snoring habits make them popular on social media. Their online presence includes Instagram pages, such as Doug the Pug, that have millions of followers. Some of the most trending posts feature costumed pugs and short sketches like eating pizza and snuggling during a cold winter day.

But it isn’t always la vie en rose for most pugs. They are the product of generations of inbreeding resulting in numerous health issues.

“At some point, breeders thought ‘Hey! Those features are pretty cute on dogs,’ but they didn’t really know they were actually creating medical deficiencies,” said Tara Ogaick, former veterinarian technical assistant at Animal Health Clinic, and a pug lover herself. “If you keep breeding the same types of genes over and over again, those genes will carry through and, in some cases, they will develop more strongly.”

Over the years, pugs and other breeds like bulldogs have been genetically engineered to keep their popular physical traits. These breeds are said to be brachycephalic; in other words, they have flat faces. Added to their distorted physique, common obesity and squat necks, these dogs suffer from constricted airways. According to a study by the Universities Federation of Animal Wellness, only a handful of pugs actually breathe normally.

“This makes them really susceptible to weather conditions,” said Ogaick. “In summer they can overheat and, during the winter, their breathing becomes even harder.

But Pug Meetup prioritizes their dogs’ health over anything else. There are no meetups during the winter and they are postponed in summer when the weather gets too hot.

“Many people also join to talk about health issues on the Montreal Pug Meetup website, so people will post online and talk about certain health related things,” said Chatman.

Owners also take plenty of precautions to ensure their dogs stay safe. Boyer, for example, opted for a surgery consisting of cutting a small filament in the nostrils to slightly open up the airways.

“It doesn’t cure it, per say. They still snore, but it helps their breathing significantly,” she said.

Despite pugs having breathing problems, it is important to understand that each breed comes with their own issues. Ogaick explained that golden retrievers are also known to have hip problems because of inbreeding.

But it is possible to reduce issues, and by consequence, the cost of vet bills. Ogaick said that some breeders have started cross-breeding pugs with other elongated snout dogs in order to reduce airway constrictions. People can also choose dogs with more prominent snouts.

While this may contradict the century-old purity of the traditional pug, owners are not totally against it. Larivière explained that, if such changes may benefit the breed, she doesn’t mind losing a bit of cuteness.

“We choose dogs that fit with our lifestyles,” said Larivière. “Pugs aren’t like huskies; while you need to take them out for walks, they aren’t as energetic as others.”

So, while they will keep their reputation of couch potatoes, pugs will stay among the most popular breeds and bring smiles to their owners and their Instagram followers.

Photo by Jad Abukasm

Categories
Opinions

Don’t mess up your dress up

Halloween: the time of year that’s filled with candy, ghost stories, horror movies and haunted houses. While all this makes it spooky season, the only really spooky thing about Halloween are some of the costume choices that people make.

In my almost four years of working in a party store that turned extra Halloween-y during the month of October, I have seen a lot of things happen and a lot of things change. When I started that job at 16 years old, to be quite honest, I was not as culturally aware of what was right or wrong, or what cultural appropriation was. Working that first Halloween, I witnessed a lot of people buy some relatively inappropriate costumes: sexy geisha, Pocahontas, “gypsy,” and more.

It was during a time when people didn’t really speak out about what was right or wrong in terms of what to dress up as for the holiday. I was young and naive and, while I knew it wasn’t necessarily right, I thought “it’s just a costume,” so I didn’t say anything to those customers. Over the next three years, that definitely changed — as much as it could, and I would try to convince customers to go with an inoffensive costume while also keeping my job.

Over the following Halloweens, I’m sure there have been more times than I can remember where customers bought costumes that are homophobic, islamaphobic, promoting or presenting domestic violence, cultural appropriation, or were just plain insulting, but there is one instance that I remember vividly.

A white couple came in last minute to find costumes for a friend’s Halloween house party. They wanted to find accessories so they could be Lil’ Wayne and Nicki Minaj. When I asked how they planned on not just looking like a woman with a neon wig and a guy with a grill and a white tank top, both said they would just apply a lot of bronzer to “look black.” I was older, I was wiser, having gone to cegep where I became much more woke about social issues and, at this point I’d been working there so long I could run the place. So I told them, straight up, not to do it and it was wrong.

After explaining to them why it was wrong, I was a little shocked that they might still go through with their plan of essentially portraying blackface, despite them looking like they were in their late 20s, early 30s. Even though I grew up and became more aware of all these horrible costumes, I realized that not everyone has.

I don’t work at the store anymore, but I’m sure the same costumes that have been coming out year after year are still there. While people may become more aware of what is and what isn’t appropriate to wear as a costume — hint, someone else’s culture is not acceptable — there is blame to place on the companies and manufacturers for what comes out in stores. If people don’t realize something is inappropriate about a costume being made available to them, that’s another problem. Sure, there might be lack of education and conversation about what makes a costume offensive, but that isn’t an excuse, because it can be as simple as just asking a few people for their opinion. That being said, people that still choose to wear offensive costumes when they know they’re offensive have no real reason other than they are insensitive or have no functioning moral compass.

On that note, if you’re reading this and you’re wondering if your Halloween costume is offensive, here’s a little checklist of what you shouldn’t wear: anything to do with Indigenous people; black or brown or whatever colour face; anything that pokes fun at or promotes domestic violence, sexual harassment or assault; anything that makes fun of people with disabilities.

If you’re really unsure, literally just think of whether or not your costume’s concept has been part of any ridicule, harassment, genocide, etc. at any point in time.

And if you’re still not sure, I don’t know if you’re ready to be anything other than a cat or Superman.

Graphic @sundaeghost

Categories
Opinions

Editorial: A word about Halloween costumes

Graphic Jenny Kwan

With Halloween just two days away, we at The Concordian would like to take a second to remind everyone to be mindful of their choice for costumes.

While this holiday has come to represent fun, spookiness and candy, it has also been used as a free pass to (intentionally or not) belittle certain groups of people by wearing their identities as costumes without reprimand because “it’s just a costume,” or “it’s not supposed to be offensive.”

For starters, privileged people shouldn’t get to decide what is and isn’t offensive. Second of all, the impact people face as a result of their identity being reduced to a costume carries more weight than whatever the intent was.

Another person’s identity just… Isn’t a costume.

A little louder for the people in the back?

Another person’s identity is not a costume.

Seriously, guys, even Fox News gets this.

If you have to ask yourself “is this offensive?” the answer is probably yes.

Some inoffensive yet marvellous suggestions include, but are not limited to: CRAZY FROG, A COCA COLA BOTTLE, SHAWN MENDES, A CRAYON, YOUR FAVOURITE FROZEN CHARACTER, A LIZARD, OUR EDITOR-IN-CHIEF’S DOG, OUR CREATIVE DIRECTOR’S CAT…

You get the point. Literally anything that isn’t borrowing a person’s identity for a day without considering the systemic struggles they face, or reducing that identity to one stereotypical symbol.

 

Graphic Jenny Kwan

Categories
Opinions

He said, she said: Halloween costumes in 2012

Graphic by Jennifer Kwan.

We want you to remember what Halloween costumes are all about, so here’s our take on the difference between men’s and women’s costumes:

Women’s costumes: slutty is the new sexy
by Paula Rivas

You’ve seen it in all the teen movies, Halloween is that one time of the year when it’s socially acceptable for ladies to dress down and there is no doubt that it gets worse and worse every year.

It feels like girls nowadays are looking towards Halloween costumes that are more and more outrageous. I have seen it all, from the emergence of touchy costumes that mock cultures to the creation of sexier and sexier costumes for young women. Let’s not forget how some girls will compare and judge each other even more than is already happening in the ferocious jungle of the girl world.

Don’t get me wrong, women do occasionally come up with hilarious and innovative costumes. Unfortunately these costumes aren’t on display anywhere. Upon entering a Halloween store, all we can see is different characters in slutty outfits.

Lena Haddad has been working at a Halloween store in Montreal for the last three years, seasonally. She says that she sees the same patterns in costume buying for women.

“Look at the wall, it’s every costume possible, made into a slutty dress,” she said. “I’d say about nine in 10 women looking for a costume here end up picking one that shows a lot of skin.”

My question is this: why do we insist on squeezing into skin-tight thigh-high stockings and tiny dresses in the freezing autumn air, spending $60 or more on a piece of cloth that you will only wear once? Girls, it’s time to change it up.

I once entered a party exactly like the one portrayed in the movie Mean Girls, where the guys dressed up as beer kegs, political figures and one even came as a penguin! Meanwhile, the girls primped, plucked and stuffed themselves like turkeys on Thanksgiving only to show up as sexy police officers and sexy nurses.At this party a catfight broke out over a girl (dressed as a sexy firefighter) insulting another girl (dressed as a sexy boxer) for looking too “skanky.” Talk about ridiculous. They spent about half an hour analyzing and yelling at each other over what they were wearing while the Halloween party went to waste . . . all because of a costume.On a tireless search for originality in women’s Halloween costumes, the other day I was browsing costumes online when I stopped in shock to see a new costume which has been created for us girls. To my horror, I was looking at a “sexy burka” costume sold for $49.85. A girl was dressed in the traditional style black burka, but everything else was a different story — she was wearing a tiny black matching dress exposing cleavage and legs but only leaving a slit for the eyes on the face.

This is not only offensive, but makes me embarrassed to say that this is the western culture of today, mocking other cultures through this candy-crazed festivity.I think it is time to step away from the herd and try something different this Halloween. This year let’s try to lay off the racy costumes and embrace original and hilarious costumes such as Princess Leia or Veronica Corningstone. Trust me, you will win more high-fives wearing these classic costumes than if you show up in an outfit that looks like it could fit a toddler.

Men’s costumes: go funny or go home
George MenexisEven as we get older, students somehow still feel the need to dress up on a frosty Halloween night. It’s a part of our childhood that we are slow to let go of.

Because it is such an important part of the year, we need to learn to do it justice. Halloween is a time of imitation and creativity. It’s a time to think of the extreme and to try and find a costume that really exceeds all expectations. It’s a time to be competitive with your friends as to who can come up with the dumbest costumes. To dress up as something original instead of wasting $100 at overrated Halloween stores. As a Halloween admirer and costume-lover, I’ve been bitterly disappointed by what I’ve seen the past few years. Men, like their female counterparts, are lacking imagination.

Let’s not lie to each other boys, we’ve been doing the same thing year after year. It’s no wonder we find doubles and triples of stupid characters these days. “The Situation” from reality T.V. show Jersey Shore, a cowboy or a nerd. It’s getting way too repetitive.

Look around you. The world is filled with inspirational people, objects and ideas.

Here is one of my favorite Halloween costumes that would stick out in 2012: the other day, I saw a kid in a ice cream truck that was made out of cardboard, with the kid walking in it acting as the ice cream man. If a toddler can do that, imagine what us young adults would be able to do.

I think the secret to a good Halloween costume is to make it yourself. You just can’t find what you want at a Halloween store. Also, making your costume at home is much funner than it sounds. Imagine walking around your house, looking at pieces of clothing and random objects you see everyday, inspiring yourself to make a costume out of these. It’s a project everyone should attempt once in their lives. You’ve become an artists attempting to do this, and I tell you, it’s a great feeling trying on your somewhat ridiculous looking work of art.

Lena Haddad has worked at a Halloween store seasonally for three years and said that most of the costumes stay the same year after year.

“People are always interested in the same stuff, from what I see,” said Haddad. “It’s always the same costumes that sell out fast, and the same ones that stay on the shelf year after year.”

There’s been a lack of imagination, it’s no secret. That being said, I do think men’s costumes have become the pioneer of innovative, new Halloween costumes. Year after year, party after party, I find myself laughing at something a guy was wearing. From bananas to parisiens to presidential candidates, variety is something that is somewhat present in men’s costumes, but there’s still a long way to go.

My advice to all: Halloween is a time of invention, so this year go out there and be different. Start by looking in the deep confines of your closet to see what you could whip up. I swear you won’t be disappointed.

TOP 5 HALLOWEEN COSTUMES IN 2012:

1. Get a cardboard box and cut it round. Big enough so that your head can be smaller than the circle. On the circle, write 25 cents on the top. This is the good part. You need to dress as the Queen of England. That’s right, the Queen of England. Take the cardboard, stick it behind your head and there you go, you are the Queen of England’s face on a Canadian quarter.

2. This one’s going to make you giggle inside. Get an enormous white paper and cut a square hole in it for your face. You’re going to become a Youtube clip. Write Youtube on the top, or print it for a more legitimate look. As for the caption, get imaginative. You can write stuff like “sexiest man on earth” or “the honey badger, ‘Gangnam Style’”.

3. Who has become one of the biggest symbols of manliness to our generation? That’s right, the Dos Equis man. Get an empty Dos Equis bottle and walk around with it all night. The rest is simple: fake white beard, nice suit and you’ve become a legend.

4. One of the better ones I’ve seen in a while, and also very simple to make. Dress as a woman if you’re a man, or dress normally if you’re a woman. Get a fake baby and either carry it or attach it to your stomach. Now, print a face sized picture of Angelina Jolie’s face. Genius!

5. Let us go to the extreme here. This is especially crazy for those of you that have a full set of hair and want to go a little bit crazy. Shave your head, I don’t want to see one stray hair. Shave it. Get red and yellow drapes and cut them in the form of robes. Simply put, you’ve become a monk.
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