Crikey!

When Elaine Raines grew up in the 1950s, Halloween costumes consisted of ghost costumes cobbled together from sheets and pillowcases and scarecrows formed from flannel, hay and straw hats. Popular costumes for guys were Mickey Mouse, Popeye and Frankenstein. She says she never had a store bought costume and had to rely on whatever was around the house.\n"It was whatever you could make up at home," she says. "You really just had to make your own. You had to use your imagination."\nRaines says Halloween has become a much bigger, commercialized holiday since she was a kid, and the most notable boom is in the costume.\nGhosts and scarecrow costumes have been replaced with skimpy costumes for the ladies and offensive costumes for the gents. Steve Irwin with a stingray, a depiction of the twin towers burning and Michael Jackson coupled with a young boy in footie pajamas are just a few seen, heard of or planned for this year.\nBloomington stores sell mildly offensive costumes such as a pregnant nurse, a priest with a hard-on and a flasher. But to put together a really offensive, in-your-face, jaw dropping costume, you'll have to make your own. John McGuire, owner of Campus Costume, says traditional costumes like pirates are huge this year, but if you look around, the current trend is for guys to dress like a current controversial or funny character from pop culture and for girls to dress scandalously. But McGuire says it's mostly men who try to be offensive.\n"It's mainly the guys' costumes that are," McGuire says. "The ones that like to make people laugh and offend people."\nThe most offensive costume McGuire has seen is called "Country Loving." It consists of flannel pajamas and an inflatable sheep attached to the front so it looks as though the farmer is having intercourse with a sheep. Though some may consider it offensive, he says he is not easily offended by costumes. There are a number of controversial costumes -- from the streaker to a couple costume "nut and bolt" that fit together to simulate sex -- but many of the boldest costumes are not for sale.\nSenior Jason Boyd says the most offensive costumes he's seen have been online.\n"The funniest one was a paper mache twin towers," he says. "The towers were on fire, with a toy airplane attached. It had action figures hanging off with strings, so it looked like they were falling out of the building."\nWhen told of the costume, senior Sher Lewin was taken aback, and her jaw dropped. \n"I don't think people should dress up like tragedies," she says.\nBoyd admits to being a big fan of controversial jokes and costumes, and is really trying to push the envelope this year.\n"I feel like everyone's going to go as Steve Irwin," Boyd says. "I think it would be funny to be Steve Irwin alive and have your friend be a sting ray and attack you during a party."\nLike all fashion choices, wearing an offensive costume has its drawbacks. If you have a mullet, you probably won't get laid outside of Bedford, and if you dress up like a flasher, you could end up haunting a little girl forever.\n"When I was 10, I went to visit my sister in college at Florida and was out to dinner with my parents," senior Justine Menter says. "Some guy with a trench coat was running around. When he opened his jacket, it triggered a plastic penis to raise. It really freaked me out. I tried to pretend like it didn't bother me, but I was really traumatized."\nWhile guys have the option of streaker, Ron Jeremy, or a costume the Bloomington store Halloween calls "Super Stud," the sexy costumes are usually left up to women.\nSome students think the only thing more overused than a "bringing sexy back" joke is a sexy "insert job here" costume on a girl. Sexy fire fighter, nurse, angel, intern, etc.\nSophomore Samantha Hornstock says the scantily clad costume is so commonplace that you can't get called out for it.\n"It's the one day of the year that it's acceptable to dress really provocative, and no one will call you a slut," she says, paraphrasing "Mean Girls."\nLewin says she was used to the slut costume as well, and wondered what happened to the classic costumes.\n"I always see girls dressing in really slutty versions of every profession," she says. "Nobody dresses really Halloweenie anymore - like witches and stuff."\nVariations on the slutty costume get great responses if they're clever. The morning after girl with messed up hair and smeared make-up with a condom wrapper in the pocket of a collared shirt is a popular variation. \nLewin says she saw a girl dressed as a groupie wearing a T-shirt that says "I fucked Mick Jagger" with condoms for jewelry and a "cute little mini skirt." She says the costume really stuck out in her memory three years later.\nTwo IU seniors are trying to come up with the ultimate wholesome costume. But they may succumb to peer pressure as Halloween gets closer.\n"Me and my roommate are thinking of going as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln this year," senior Candice Levy says. "Everyone dresses slutty, so we figured we would do the exact opposite. Well, maybe we'll be a slutty Abe Lincoln and George Washington. You know like with a corset and wigs and stuff? I don't know. We'll see what happens." \nAs girls try to break the downward revealing costume spiral before we're dealing with a Rose McGowan ass-baring costume, guys will likely continue wearing the most current, controversial pop culture costume. \n"The guys get into it more now than back when I was growing up," Raines says. "A lot of the girls aren't wearing much of anything. I hope the girls get more material. They can't get any skimpier than what they are now"