Most people have grown up hearing the phrase, “be yourself”. Halloween is a holiday that takes that phrase, carves a funny face in it, and throws it away in the trash with last year’s candy and pumpkin spice latte. However, has Halloween gone too far this year? Though most costumes I found in Spirit Halloween were adorable, and even really awesome, some costumes I just couldn’t forget about – because they’re just so offensive and terribly stupid.

One costume that claimed to be “honoring a public idol” but was just as honorable as the slurs used to describe transgender individuals was the “Caitlyn Jenner” costume, complete with a wig, leotard, and a sash that says “Call Me Caitlyn”. Obviously a trashy “parody” (if you could even call it that) of the Vanity Fair cover featuring Jenner, the costume is meant for men – obviously passing off Caitlyn’s coming out as some kind of slandering joke against her transition. To me, the costume only says one thing: “Buy this if you haven’t grown up yet and you think the struggles of others are a huge joke!” Obviously, it belongs in the trash along with every other racist, transphobic, and homophobic costume in the party store…

And then there are the Minion costumes. Until yesterday, I knew NOTHING about true fear until I saw the amount of Minion things they had available. And no, I’m not talking about the little kids costumes; those are adorable and kids should be allowed to be a minion if they want. I’m talking about the Minion costumes meant for grown women and men. To each their own; but I’m just too uncomfortable to accept the fact that there is a sexualized version of a tiny yellow lump’s skin and clothes available for ladies to wear.

However, while there were surreal and terrifyingly terrible things, there are costumes that do make up for the stupid ones. I particularly enjoyed seeing the flapper and 1920’s costumes – but that could just be because I’m an old soul at heart. Regardless, if you want a good costume, Spirit Halloween has the stuff – and some pretty sweet props and decorations to boot!