It’s Halloween! A holiday. While most holidays honour or celebrate something, what is Halloween all about? What is it a celebration of? And how did it originate?Halloween is a holiday celebrated every October 31. It has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain (pronounced “sah-win”). The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead overlapped and the deceased came back to life. Here in Kigali, it will be celebrated at the Bamboo Restaurant on T2000 building. Dubbed the “Fancy dress Halloween party”, it will feature wild Halloween music from 10:00pm till dawn. It’s a ticket-only event. K-Club in Nyarutarama is also holding its own, with an event named the “Halloween Nightmare.” Ladies’ Halloween: look sexy!For the skinny ladies out there, it’s your excuse to go out dressed in next-to-nothing costumes, but for the plus-size ladies, it can be disaster!It happens every other Halloween – the bigger ladies want to go out dressed as something really sexy, but once they see themselves in the mirror looking anything less than Victoria Beckham, they make a U-turn, and it’s back to the old, “safe”, matronly long skirts, and full tops. I once saw a lady in a plus-size Polo shirt at a Halloween party. Why? Simply because she didn’t have the confidence to go out in a skimpy hot number like the rest of her friends. Start with a color scheme. For instance, if you are pale or blonde, you could go for a baby blue color scheme, as this compliments this skin tone rather well. Still for the big girls, a costume that hugs you at the waist could add spark to your diminishing waistline. If you trust in your bust to pull a corset off, pick one up from your stylist.Fact is, you don’t have to bare it all to be considered sexy for this Halloween. Take one thing about your body that you think you really love, and work the rest of your outfit around it. As you will have discovered, the corset works very well for a good bust. If you have killer legs, you could go for fishnet tights with a sexy red dress to be the sexy beast. If you love your arms, pick an outfit that shows them off – whatever feature of your body that you love, show if off the most and you will feel sexy and confident, regardless of what outfit you have opted for!Men’s HalloweenUnlike their female counterparts, most men do not wear any costumes for that Halloween party. Occasionally though, a few men will don a generic pirate or caveman costume, or anything that won’t draw ‘too much attention’ to themselves, but still is ‘festive’ enough to fit into the crowd.To borrow from the sistas, dressing up for Halloween should be a chance for men to get in touch with the little boy, the wild side in them. Yes, the ladies are to be found decked in all tribes of sexy costume; Leopard print corsets, sexy bunnies and fishnet stockings. There is no reason why the men should not follow suit. The first rule is to not stray far from what is comfortable, what works for you: If shopping for a costume, pick one that flatters your alter ego. For instance, if you are meek and timid in public and at work but are a playboy in private, you could try a shirt from your favorite sport. If you are the honest and straight-forward type, but really sneer at everyone in private, then a costume fitting the mad scientist that you really are will do just fine.Try to have as fun with your selection as you possibly can. Many times, we are mistaken in thinking that in wearing a costume, it must automatically be something flamboyant. Following the above rule, allow then your private behavior to become public. Set your self free. It’s only Halloween, and not a date with the governor of your Central Bank. Since ordinarily you are the opposite of this to friends and family, they are most likely to conclude that you’re simply enjoying the moment. Now go right ahead and enjoy the rest of the night and revel in everyone’s costumes and their private characters.At the end of the night, the costumes will be put away and everyone will return to their regular appearances. So Halloween should be viewed as a night of excitement and not embarrassment. Remember, Halloween is a holiday!
