Halloween is a special time of the year for many children and adults. Most Sidwell students can remember a time when they dressed up as a pumpkin, superhero, or a princess.
Some of last year’s costume crowd pleasers were Taylor Swift Eras Tour costume, Cruella de Vil and Mario and Luigi. Unsurprisingly, in 2023 Barbie and Oppenhiemer costumes were also worn by many students.
While Lower School students loved to dress up in dual costumes as angel and devil or as witch and wizard, group costumes like M&Ms and decades were a hit for friends and families. According to a Newsweek study from last fall, Virginia’s most popular costume was Spider Man and Maryland’s was a fairy.
The most popular costume in the United States is a witch, topping the charts in eleven different states all over the country. NPR News says that last year, 5.8 million people planned to dress as a witch and 2.4 million planned to dress like a vampire.
For many Sidwell faculty members, Halloween at the school is hazy as other traditions like pumpkin patches, parades and birthdays took center stage. Upper School Math Teacher Dominic Lee ’00, however, has vivid memories of Halloween from his time at Sidwell.
His favorite tradition was his science teacher, Melanie Fields, dressing up as a witch every year. “She had a big pointy hat and green face paint. The number of her decorations grew each year,” said Lee. “My favorites were the motion-sensing spider and screaming door decoration.”
Lee also remembers his last time trick-or-treating, the year he dressed up head to toe as the Grim Reaper. He now spends the Halloween season playing golf. As a faculty member, he loves seeing students put in effort to make great Halloween costumes.
Julie Langenbrunner, an Upper School Science Teacher and Sidwell faculty member, loves celebrating Halloween. She decorates her classroom to spice it up for the fall season.
Jake Watson, a Sidwell Alumni and current Latin teacher, remembers dressing up in lower school for the traditional parade. In high school, he wasn’t as much of a fan of dressing up but continued to enjoy the Halloween candy. Watson says that the dining hall was always festive around that time of year.
This year, many people are excited to dress up in green and black for their Beetlejuice or Brat-themed costumes. There are also many classics, like clowns, witches, and cheerleaders.
Next year’s big costumes could be movie-themed, such as the new Moana, Zootopia 2, or the next Captain America, which are set to be released next year. Additional Halloween and Black Phone movies are said to be released sometime in 2025 and could make awesome scary costumes.