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Halloween Costume Accessories |
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The
LTM party store features a wide range of halloween costumes to fit
your every whim and fantasy. Jewelry Prosthetics About the Author Reviews Not everyone can afford a pair of sexy $500 Manolo Blahnik heels, but everyone can (and should) spring for this sumptuous, pocket-size portfolio of pumps, sandals, slippers, mules, and boots, each of Cinderella quality. (Entertainment Weekly) Shoe fanciers will swoon over this dazzling parade of more than 1,000 treats for ladies' feet, like dainty bride's slippers, go-go boots and marabou mules; pumps, platforms and plain old sneakers. Give it to your solemate.
And you can always place the book on your coffee table where it will (a) take up very little physical space and (b) end up enticing everyone who sits down in your living room into developing a shoe fetish. Seriously, this is a well-researched, beautifully photographed, elegantly written gem of a book. If you happen to like shoes, you really owe it to yourself to obtain a copy of it. Review: Cool book for shoe lovers Review: Enchanting! Review: excellent pictures of different shoe
designs Review: Great Reference
Get Your Halloween Party Started! To plan your Halloween celebration you’ll want the very best selection to choose from! LTM Party is your ultimate Halloween super store! We have over 8,000 professional Halloween costumes, Halloween decorations, accessories, special effects and Halloween props specially selected for the ultimate in Halloween parties. Adult Halloween Costumes - Child Halloween Costumes We have every type of Halloween party costume imaginable. We have sizes and styles for everyone including costumes for babies, toddlers, couples, children, teens, plus sizes, and adults. We even have Halloween costumes for pets! Here are just some of the Halloween party items you'll find here at your Halloween headquarters: Movie & Celebrity Character Costumes Do you want to be Spiderman, Catwoman, Scooby Doo, Batman, Austin Powers, or a Pirate of the Caribbean? We have professional licensed movie costumes and accessories that are top of the line theatrical grade. We have items from numerous famous movies, including Spiderman, Shrek, Catwoman, Batman, Harry Potter, Austin Powers, the Flintstones, Scooby Doo, Alien, Friday the 13th, Predator, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and lots more! Children and Teenager Costumes We have a giant selection of costumes for all ages. These costumes are clothing grade, and made of top quality materials We have hundreds of of your favorite characters from little angels to devils that will be sure to delight the most discerning of tastes! Funny Comical Costumes Want a funny look for Halloween? We have super hilarious costumes for men, women, and children and couples. Whether you want to be a dim witted "Got Deer Hunter" or try a little cross dressing just for laughs, you'll find it here. We carry tons of wigs, funny props, accessories, jokes and gags. We have all the right Halloween stuff to keep your friends laughing. Sexy Adult Costumes If you’ve been wanting to explore your more naughty side we have plenty of super sexy costumes for women from naughty nurses to sassy cheerleaders. We are sure you’ll agree that our sexy adult costumes are quite a treat! Political Masks and Costumes Why not have a little fun with politics? We have all of your favorite politician masks like: George Bush, John Kerry, Bill Clinton or even Arnold Schwarzenegger. Halloween Accessories & Props We have accessories galore to complete your perfect Halloween look We have anything from funky teeth that would scare the heck out of your dentist, ultraviolet makeup, special facial scar and prosthetics, stage blood, go-go boots, wigs, angel wings, sickles, swords, pitch forks, moustaches, wigs... you name it and we have it! The Ultimate in Haunted House Displays & Special Effects If your goal is to create a haunted house or just be the most shocking monster out there - We carry masks and displays created by some of the most creative and frightening special effect masters in the world. These masks and scene props are extremely unique, hard to come by and very scary! We also have quite a selection of how-to books on creating your own special effects and perfect monster makeup. Halloween Party Decorations Are you throwing the neighborhood Halloween party? They'll be talking about your party for years! We can make your trick or treaters scream with delight with a wide range of spooky Halloween decorations and accessories. How about scaring the daylights out of your guests with skull ice buckets, or wiggly brain jello? Icky but effective for creating peals of screams and laughter! Don't forget our super scary Halloween sound tracks and music on a variety of CDs. Halloween Traditions - Where did it all start? Why do we dress up in Halloween costumes, bob for apples, carve pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns, and tell ghost stories on this night? Our traditions of Halloween can generally be traced to the time of the Celtic civilization and their annual celebration following harvest time. The Celts were a group of people that lived in the area near the British Isles around 400 B.C. Each year the Celts would hold a celebration at the end of harvest. The festival was held near the end of October which they called “Samhain” which literally means “summer’s end”. Samhain marks one of the two major “doorways” of the Celtic year. October 31, lies exactly between the Autumn equinox and the winter solstice. It is theorized that these ancient people with their reliance on astrology thought this was a very potent time for magic and communion with spirits. The Celts believed all laws of space and time were suspended during this time allowing the spirit world to intermingle with the living. In later years it is thought that the tradition of wearing costumes, evolved as people would disguise themselves from the spirits in order to keep from being possessed. Why do we trick-or-treat? Trick or treating actually is an American tradition, but it may have had it's origins also with the ancient Irish. During their annual harvest festival they would leave food at altars and doorsteps as a way of saying thank you to the Gods and to appease spirits. Candles were lit and left in windows to help guide ancestors and loved ones home. Apples were buried along roadsides for spirits who had no descendants to provide for them. There are other theories as well, but nevertheless this does provide some insight as to why we trick-or-treat today. So there you go, that's how the Halloween tradition began! Keep the Halloween tradition going with LTM Party Halloween costumes, for adults, children, teens, and Halloween decorations for the perfect Halloween party.
All about Halloween from Wikipedia The term Halloween, and its older spelling Hallowe'en, is shortened from All-hallow-even, as it is the evening before "All Hallows Day". In Ireland, the name was All Hallows Eve and this name is still used by some older people. Halloween was also sometimes called All Saints' Eve. The holiday was a day of religious festivities in various northern European pagan traditions, until it was appropriated by Christian missionaries and given a Christian interpretation. In Mexico November 1st and 2nd are celebrated as the Day of the Dead. Halloween is also called Pooky Night in some parts of Ireland, presumably named after the púca, a mischievous spirit. On Great Britain and Ireland in particular, the pagan Celts celebrated the Day of the Dead on All Hallows Day (1st November). The spirits supposedly rose from the dead and, in order to attract them, food was left on the doors. To scare off the evil spirits, the Celts wore masks. When the Romans invaded Great Britain, they embellished the tradition with their own, which is both a celebration of the harvest and of honoring the dead. Very much later, these traditions were transported to the United States, Canada and Australia. Halloween is sometimes associated with the occult. Many European cultural traditions hold that Halloween is one of the liminal times of the year when the spiritual world can make contact with the physical world and when magic is most potent (e.g. Catalan mythology about witches).
In England it is said that elves rode on the backs of the villagers' cats. The cats had fun but the villagers did not and would lock their cats up so that the elves could not catch them. Children were told not to sit in the circles of yellow and white flowers where fairies have danced as they may be stolen by the fairies. It was also bad to sit under the hawthorn tree since fairies loved to dance on these and if they saw children their tempers would be prickled. In England, the black cat was considered to be good luck, whereas a white cat was considered to be bad luck. In England children make "pumpkin men" from large pumpkins. They cut out designs into the pumpkin. Then they place them on display in their windows to go along with the scary theme of Halloween.
Salem, Massachusetts, USA, also has laid claim to the title "Halloween Capital of the World," though Salem has tried to separate itself from its history in the subject of witchcraft. Despite that, the city does see a great deal of tourism surrounding the Salem witch trials, especially around Halloween. New York City, New York, USA, hosts the United States' largest Halloween celebration, The Village Halloween Parade. Started by a Greenwich Village mask maker in 1973, the parade now attracts over 2 million spectators/participants as well as roughly 4 million television viewers each year. It is the largest participatory parade in the country if not the world, encouraging spectators to march in the parade as well. It is also the largest annual parade held at night. In North America people believed that it was unlucky for a black cat to cross one's path, to come into homes, or to travel on ships. In the United States trick-or-treaters are welcomed by placing lighted pumpkins known as jack-o'-lanterns in their windows. The North American tradition of trick-or-treat comes from the original idea that you must be kind to dead ancestors or they will play a trick on you. The War of the Worlds, a radio adaptation by Orson Welles based upon H. G. Wells' classic novel of the same name, was performed by Mercury Theatre on the Air as a Halloween special on October 30, 1938 and the live broadcast reportedly frightened many listeners into believing that an actual Martian invasion was in progress.
In Adelaide, South Australia, a large festival takes place at the Norwood Oval (an oval close to the city) and people celebrate in a huge parade. Stalls include activities such as; Bobbing for Apples, Discos, carving Pumpkins, Rides, Candy and many more Dark Attractions.
Black and orange are the traditional colors of Halloween. In modern Halloween images and products, purple, green, and red are also prominent. Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins and scarecrows, are also reflected in symbols of Halloween. The carved jack-o'-lantern, lit by a candle inside, is one of Halloween's most prominent symbols. In the British Isles, a turnip was and sometimes still is used, but immigrants to America quickly adopted the pumpkin because it was more readily available; additionally, it is much larger and easier to carve. Many families that celebrate Halloween carve a pumpkin into a frightening or comical face and place it on their home's doorstep after dark. The practice was originally intended to frighten away evil spirits or monsters. Neopagans of North America honor their ancestors on October 31. It was once believed that on this night any souls who had not yet passed into the paradise of the summer lands might return to wander the streets and visit their old homes once more.
In Ireland, great bonfires were lit throughout the breadth of the land. Young children in their guises were gladly received by the neighbors with some "fruit, apples and nuts" for the "Halloween Party", whilst older male siblings played innocent pranks on bewildered victims. In Scotland, children or guisers are more likely to recite "The sky is blue, the grass is green, may we have our Halloween" instead of "trick or treat!". They visit neighbours in groups and must impress the members of the houses they visit with a song, poem, trick, joke or dance in order to earn their treats. Traditionally, nuts, oranges, apples and dried fruit were offered, though sometimes children would also earn a small amount of cash, usually a sixpence. Very small children often take part, for whom the experience of performing can be more terrifying than the ghosts outside. Tricks play less of a role in modern Halloween, though Halloween night is often marked by vandalism such as soaping windows, egging houses or stringing toilet paper through trees. Before indoor plumbing was so widespread, tipping over or displacing outhouses was a popular form of intimidation. Casting flour into the faces of feared neighbors was also done once upon a time. Typical Halloween costumes have traditionally been monsters such as vampires, ghosts, witches, and devils. In 19th-century Scotland and Ireland the reason for wearing such fearsome (and non-fearsome) costumes was the belief that since the spirits that were abroad that night were essentially intent on doing harm, the best way to avoid this was to fool the spirits into believing that you were one of them. In recent years, it has become common for costumes to be based on themes other than traditional horror, such as dressing up as a character from a TV show or movie, or choosing a recognizable face from the public sphere, such as a politician (in 2004, for example, George W. Bush and John F. Kerry were both popular costumes in America). In 2001, after the September 11 attacks, for example, costumes of Islamic terrorists, firefighters, police officers, and United States military personnel became popular among children and adults. In 2004, an estimated 2.15 million children in the United States were expected to dress up as Spider-Man, the year's most popular costume. [1] "'Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF" has become a common sight during Halloween in North America. Started by UNICEF in 1950, the program involves the distribution of small boxes by schools to trick-or-treaters, in which they can solicit small change donations from the houses they visit. It is estimated that children have collected more than $119 million for UNICEF since its inception. BIGresearch conducted a survey for the National Retail Federation in the US and found that 53.3% of consumers planned to buy a costume for Halloween 2005, spending $38.11 on average (up 10 dollars from last year). An estimate of $3.3 billion was made for the holiday spending. A child usually "grows out of" trick-or-treating by his or her teenage years. Trick-or-treating by teenagers is accepted, but generally discouraged with genial ribbing by those handing out candy. Teenagers and adults instead often celebrate Halloween with costume parties, staying home to give out candy, listening to Halloween music, or scaring people. Visiting a Haunted house or a Dark Attraction are other Halloween traditions. Notwithstanding the name, such events are not necessarily held in houses, nor are the edifices themselves necessarily regarded to possess actual ghosts. A variant of this is the haunted trail, where the public encounters supernatural-themed characters or presentations of scenes from horror films while following a trail through a heavily wooded area or field.
Some games traditionally played at Halloween are forms of divination. In Puicíní (pronounced "pooch-eeny"), a game played in Ireland, a blindfolded person is seated in front of a table on which several saucers are placed. The saucers are shuffled and the seated person then chooses one by touch. The contents of the saucer determine the person's life for the following year. A saucer containing earth means someone known to the player will die during the next year, a saucer containing water foretells travel, a coin means new wealth, a bean means poverty, etc. In 19th-century Ireland, young women placed slugs in saucers sprinkled with flour. The wriggling of the slugs and the patterns subsequently left behind on the saucers were believed to portray the faces of the womens future spouses. In North America, unmarried women were frequently told that if they sat in a darkened room and gazed into a mirror on Halloween night, the face of their future husband would appear in the mirror. However, if they were destined to die before they married, a skull would appear. The custom was widespread enough to be commemorated on greeting cards from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The telling of ghost stories and viewing of horror films are common fixtures of Halloween parties. Television specials with a Halloween theme, usually aimed at children, are commonly aired on or before the holiday while new horror films are often released theatrically before the holiday to take advantage of the atmosphere.
A Halloween custom which has survived unchanged to this day in Ireland is the baking (or more often nowadays the purchase) of a barmbrack (Irish "báirín breac"). This is a light fruit cake into which a plain ring is placed before baking. It is said that whoever finds this ring will find his or her true love during the following year. Other foods associated with the holiday: candy corn The feast day of All Souls Day, celebrated to commemorate those souls condemned temporarily to Purgatory, was inaugurated by St Odilo, at the time the abbott of the influential monastery at Cluny, on November 2, 998.
As November 1 is the first day of the new year, the day also meant the beginning of Winter, which the Celts often associated with human death. The Celts also believed that on October 31 (the night before the new year), the boundary separating the dead from the living became blurred. (There is a rich and unusual myth system at work here; the spirit world, the residence of the "Sidhe," as well as of the dead, was accessible through burial mounds. These mounds opened at two times during the year, making the beginning and end of Summer highly spiritually resonant.) The Celts' survival during the cold harsh winters, depended on the prophecies of their priests or Druids. They believed that the presence of spirits would aid in the priests' abilities to make future predictions. The exact customs observed in each Celtic region differ, but they generally involved the lighting of bonfires and the reinforcement of boundaries, across which malicious spirits might cross and threaten the community. Like most observances around this season, warmth and comfort were emphasized, indulgence was not. Stores of preserved food were needed to last through the winter, not for parties.
The custom survives most accurately on the island of Ireland, where the last Monday of October is a public holiday. All schools close for the following week for mid-term, commonly called the Halloween Break. As a result Ireland and Northern Ireland are the only countries where children never have school on Halloween and are therefore free to celebrate it in the ancient and time-honored fashion. The custom of trick-or-treating is thought to have evolved from the European custom called souling, similar to the wassailing customs associated with Yule. On November 2, All Souls' Day, beggars would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes" — square pieces of bread with currants. Christians would promise to say prayers on behalf of dead relatives helping the soul's passage to heaven. The distribution of soul cakes was encouraged by the church as a way to replace the ancient practice of leaving food and wine for roaming spirits at the Samhain. Further information: Puck In the Isle of Man where Halloween is known as Hop-tu-Naa children carry turnips instead of pumpkin, and sing a song called Jinnie the Witch.
Though the custom is only attested over the last century, and the mangel-wurzel itself was introduced into English agriculture in the late 18th century, "Punkie Night" appears to be much older even than the fable that now accounts for it. The story goes that the wives of Hinton St. George went looking for their wayward husbands at the fair held nearby at Chiselborough, the last Thursday in October, but first hollowed out mangel wurzels in order to make lanterns to light their way. The drunken husbands saw the eerie lights, thought they were "goolies" (the restless spirits of children who had died before they were baptized), and fled in terror. Children carry the punkies now. The event has spread since about 1960 to the neighboring village of Chiselborough. Sources: on-line report from the Western Gazette and
a National Geographic radio segment. Chiselborough Fair is memorialized
by Fair Place in the village. The National Gazetteer of Great Britain
and Ireland (1868) reported that there was "a fair for horses
and cattle on the last Thursday in October." In parts of northern England, "Mischievous Night" occurs on the 4th of November, the night before Bonfire Night(associated to Bonfire night because the last phases of the plot were coming together). It is celebrated in the same way, although minor vandalism often includes fireworks, which appear in shops in the United Kingdom around this time for legitimate reasons — to set off alongside bonfires on the following night.
The mingling of Christian and Pagan traditions in the development of Halloween, and its real or assumed preoccupation with evil and the supernatural, have left many modern Christians uncertain of how they should react towards the holiday. Some fundamentalist and evangelical along with many Eastern Orthodox Christians and Orthodox Jewish believers consider Halloween a pagan or Satanic holiday, and refuse to allow their children to participate. In some areas, complaints from fundamentalist Christians that the schools were endorsing a pagan religion have led the schools to stop distributing UNICEF boxes at Halloween. Another response among conservative evangelicals in recent years has been the use of Hell houses, which attempt make use of Halloween as an opportunity for evangelism. Other Christians, however, continue to connect the holiday with All Saints Day. Some modern Christian churches commonly offer a fall festival or harvest-themed alternative to Halloween celebrations. Still other Christians hold the view that the holiday is not Satanic in origin or practice and that it holds no threat to the spiritual lives of children: being taught about death and mortality actually being a valuable life lesson. Likewise, to many Protestant churches, October
31 is also the date of Reformation Day, a minor religious festival.
Some families, churches, and religious schools combine the holidays. What sets Halloween costumes apart from costumes for other celebrations or days of dressing up is that they are often designed to be gruesome or scary. Popular monsters of legend or fiction are regular themes for Halloween costumes, as are pop culture figures like presidents, film or television characters.
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Halloween Costume Ideas
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