This year, instead of buying into all the Halloween costumes, which are usually overpriced and sold from a warehouse to as many people as possible (making it hard to have a unique costume), take some ideas from historical costumes and traditions from the countries and cultures of our clients. As a professional translation company, Tomedes has the opportunity to absorb bits and pieces of cultures, traditions, holidays, and more, from all over the world. So we thought, hey, why not suggest some of this cultural coolness as an alternative for 2010 Halloween costume ideas. While a lot of commercial costumes are based upon world cultures and their historical or current traditions, you have to admit, they are so yesterday. If you want something unique this year, or a place to start for a 2010 Halloween costume idea, take a look at the collection of costumes compiled below, from around the world – they’re bound to be better than another vampire or Paris Hilton costume.
While geisha and kimono costumes are nothing new to Halloween, there may be something said for going with the authentic route, rather than the mini-skirt geisha costumes that should come with an illegal warning if you intend to bend over in it. Below are some photos of different historical era Japanese kimonos.
Moving onto China, which has endless different regions and language dialects. These regional differences affect not just our Chinese to English translation service, but they also make for variations in regional Chinese culture and traditions. Featured below is a photo of an ethnic Monogolian bridal costume, from the Mongolian Inner Autonomous region of China. Beside it, some other traditional male and female costumes from earlier eras.
Russia has some very remote and interesting regions, where you can grab ideas from. The Nenet people of the Siberian Yemel Peninsula, are some of the most unique people in the world, because they still live off the land, so to speak. Below is a photo of a Nenet woman and her children, and next to that, a photo of a Siberian shaman costume – yep, Siberia totally has shaman, in case you didn’t know.
If you’re thinking that they look like Inuit people, you wouldn’t be far off – they are distant cousins, and their languages are very similar for quite a few words. Incidentally, individual Siberian tribes require Russian translation as well, because each tribe has their own native language .
Speaking of Inuit, this culture also offers some great ideas for 2010 Halloween costume ideas. For instance, tribal dance costumes:
Something like this would certainly be superior to another lame “Eskimo girl” costume, which usually consists of some short furry dress with a hood and a pair of Ugg boots.
If you want to go with something a bit more European, there are thousands of options, especially when you break them down according to time period and country. If you were planning on going for something a little sexy, then perhaps you could get some ideas from this 17th century Turkish entertainer/dancer costume:
While this clothing was pretty exploitative back when it was worn, a 2010 Halloween costume idea like this – well, it’s just hot.
Moving into other regions of historical Europe, we have Polish and French 17th century dresses. Interestingly enough, sometimes they were the same thing, as many Polish elite wore French fashions of their era. Here’s an example of a Polish 17th century costume, which is actually French in its design, and next to it, an elite or royal dress from the same era in Poland.
Moving onto Dutch and Finnish language speaking regions of the old country, we can see traditional costumes of both Finland and the Netherlands.
However, the most creative 2010 Halloween costume ideas are those influenced by equivalent holidays in other cultures. Latin America’s Dia de los Muertos, which in a Spanish to English translation means “Day of the Dead,” is made festive with an array of skeleton costumes, white ghostly face painting, and death masks. The Day of the Dead is celebrated in Latin America to honor the ancestors of the land, but is also traditionally believed to be the night when spirits roam free among the earth. Since not all spirits are believed to be friendly, the living dress up like the dead, in order to disguise themselves. Some of the costumes are pretty outrageous – but very cool. Likewise below, is also a photo of a native Ecuadoran tribal costume. Mayan costumes are also a great idea, and can be found easily with a simple search online.
The Jewish holiday equivalent to Halloween is known as Purim, which comes from the Torah story of Queen Esther and her guardian, Mordechai, both of whom risked their lives to save their Hebrew people, and so established the festive holiday - Purim. Most costumes are similar to what you would find on Halloween, minus the ghouls and witches and vampires. Here are a few examples of festive Purim children, with a very cute, creative costume idea, whether for Purim or Halloween.
These are all just a small fraction of the kinds of 2010 Halloween costume ideas you can collect just by taking a look at cultural histories and traditions of the clients of our translation company. Unique costumes get harder and harder to come by, and often even when you think you’ve got a bitchin’ idea, you find out so-and-so did that last year, or, even worse, no one bloody knows what you’re supposed to be. Try a different route this year, by digging deeply into the wardrobes of another culture – our guess is you’ll love the costume you find.
