Career Tips >> Browse Articles >> Job Hunt 101
Have "On the Job" Halloween Costumes Become Too Sexy?
Photo by Librarian Avenger, Flickr.com
Darren Garnick, Boston Herald
Does your job uniform include fishnet stockings? For this month anyway, they’ve become a required part of the dress code for a wide spectrum of professions: police officers, firefighters, airline pilots, construction workers, nurses and even plumbers.
A quick glance at the latest Halloween garb reveals that almost every imaginable profession is being fetishized. It’s like an erotic game of Mad Libs. You can’t just show up to a costume party as a cop. You have to be a sexy cop. You can’t be nurse. You have to be a naughty nurse. Want to be an insurance claims adjuster? Sorry, you gotta be an exotic insurance claims adjuster.
Granted, we’re talking mostly about women’s Halloween costumes and the widespread appeal of flashing cleavage is hardly breaking news – especially in a forum where there is an “excuse” to do so.
What’s new is the incredibly shrinking shelf space for non-sexy costumes. Go check out your local Halloween superstore that’s temporarily set up shop in a vacant “strip” mall space. Those who dabble in pseudo-psychology might argue that our collective workplace fantasies are dangling in the aisles.
If people weren’t buying these outfits year after year, the career choices wouldn’t be expanding.
BuyCostumes.com promises an “evening that will make your heart soar” with the “Mile High Captain,” a tight pilot’s dress with matching hat and a “Mile High Club” badge. A similarly themed costume is the no-further-explanation-necessary “Captain Layover.” On the seas, there’s the “Captivating Captain,” a “naval hottie who can command any body . . . of water.”
Clever stuff.
the_real_eric_dahl
15 days ago
32 comments
I think Halloween costumes are too sexy in general. What happened to the scary zombies?
faraz_k86
22 days ago
10 comments
lol.. I totally agree.. Halloween is just another excuse for women to dress like sluts.. and on that night no matter what they wear they wont feel guilty or ashamed.... cause hey.. its Halloween :p
-faraz from blu ray rippers
jess_
22 days ago
78 comments
I love the Pumpkin Pi idea so much - very creative :)
bethanierose
23 days ago
680 comments
I like to have fun with my halloween costume, but would never wear something trashy at work. Just because Halloween has become an excuse to dress trashier than normally exceptable any other day of the year does not make it ok to do so in the work place. Show up in a barely there skirt with full cleavage on display and that's what they will be thinking about next time you are trying to get your voice heard on a serious issue. Here's a safer idea: do something simple and practically free that makes people think. Pin a pumpkin shaped piece of paper to your shirt and write 3.1415926 on the front (Pumpkin Pi). Or wear a tshirt that says "Go Ceilings!" and walk around with a big foam finger (Ceiling Fan). Or attach a bunch of safety pins in one spot on your shirt in the shape of an up arrow (pin up girl). In the work place, it's better to be remembered for being creative or possibly a little bit corny than for being slutty.
jess_
27 days ago
78 comments
I think that there are two sides to this. There's nothing wrong with a little harmless fun on Halloween, and part of that is sometimes living out a little fantasy. But it's almost impossible to find a fun, premade costume that's NOT "sexy" if you're a woman, and that's stupid. If you can't find anything else, then of course you buy into the whole "sexy whatever" costume. These costumes have no place in the workplace - unless that workplace is a club!
bittercupofpink
27 days ago
2 comments
This is a common dilemma in high schools across the nation. Every day I see young men and women imitating the social tendencies of adults to prove their sexuality. Rather than play into this roll of accepting sexy dress, it would be far better, in my opinion, to restore dignity to our communities by refusing of buy into these dangers. Last time I checked, human trafficking is still the #1 black market commodity.
RachelO
27 days ago
2 comments
I agree that the average person would not damage their workplace reputation for a one time thrill of wearing some gag outfit.I would perfer to just wear something that others might see as cheesy, but that I can be creative putting together (that is workplace appriproate). Being sexy should(in my opinion) stay in the bedroom between you and your significant other and not the workplace!
vintagevision
27 days ago
216 comments
This article is so true. Sadly, our world has over-sexualized women through t.v., books, movies and now Halloween costumes. Young girls even want to dress sexy! Its time to start telling ourselves that we will get respect by using our minds and intelligence instead of using our sexuality. A great mind is something we will always be admired for.