LIM College

Prof. Amanda Hallay is a full-time faculty member at LIM College and a former fashion forecaster.

The country is currently scary enough without us adding to it with fiendish Halloween costumes, surely? Yet because of the nation’s current (and rather tense) landscape, we are sure to see a plethora of Halloween costumes that speak to the current crazes on social media, as well as those that address the race to the White House.

Sales of creepy clown costumes have risen by 300% in the wake of the current craze, and although this is an obvious choice, it’s hardly a responsible one. In a nation gripped in panic over the menacing threat of these so-called “creepy clowns,” why add to the tension by playing into a genuinely frightening phenomenon?

We are sure to see a slew of unflattering Trumps (it’s an easy costume to put together, and all that you need buy is the wig. I doubt many people have similar hair!), and I also predict that grown-ups of both genders might dress as cats, sporting signs that either read “Grab Me” or “Don’t,” depending on the viewpoint.

I also predict that cheap and easy masks of the candidates will be sported to many a Halloween gathering, with the Hillary masks either gorgeous or ghoulish, depending on the political statement being made.

Town Hall debate favorite Ken Bone (the soft-spoken Midwestern undecided voter who asked a calm and sensible question about energy) is already an internet sensation, and so I think we’ll definitely see a lot of red cable-knit zip neck sweaters and fake moustaches. Retailers are already throwing this costume together to cash in on what are sure to be the lovely Mr. Bone’s fleeting 15 minutes.

Mr. Trump’s “bad hombre” remark in the final debate is destined to spark Halloween’s funniest pun, with “bad ombre” sported on t-shirts and manifest in wigs, and no doubt there will be all manner of interpretations on the theme of “nasty women.”

And as Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice was one of the year’s biggest grossing movies, the younger generation will probably side with one of the other. The kids with creative parents possibly doing both, with half their costume Batman and the other half his rival.