Hogwarts, class of 2020

I'm gonna be honest. This year has not been great. Not at all. That's why within the last month every single time I was getting obsessed about Halloween and telling people about my costume, everyone was shocked that I even had any Halloween plans. Even more when they realized my plans included a full on costume I've been preparing for way too long and no intentions of going to a party at all!

Let's start with the fact that last year while scheduling my parents' flights to the US I unintentionally booked them for the October 31. I was so mad at myself for choosing to drive all the way to New York (from Northern Virginia) just to pick my parents up from the airport. I mean, yes, it was their first trip to America and yes, they do not speak a word of English but... Halloween??? So my perfect homemade Gryffindor uniform stayed in a closet for another year.

Turns out it wasn't that perfect at all. My skirt was a bit too small and waaaaay too short. Plus I bought this cheap grey cardigan that I didn't really like. That's why I spent last month on making sure that this time my outfit will be as authentic as it gets. I ordered an awesome Gryffindor sweater on Poshmark for only $20 and I got a nicer (bigger and longer) skirt for like $15. With the things I already got the year before like long yellow and red socks, white short sleeve shirt from Amazon (about $10) and a tie that was not entirely one of the original Gryffindor merch but still looked pretty good with the rest, I was ready to rock the party!

I have to admit, I’m incredibly proud of my costume. You know when you buy the ones on Halloween websites or in the Spirit Halloween and you end up wearing them once or twice in your life? They usually look very tacky and you'd never be able to use them on a daily basis. Well, all parts of my costume were purchased separately from many different sources, could be reused on any other occasion (even casual date or day at school/work) and were looking absolutely legit! I looked great, just like I had finished a class and was walking my dogs after school. It didn't look like a bad quality costume at all and the fact that I put so much heart and research into it made me feel even better.

That is why I decided to wear it all day long. In the morning I walked my dogs in it, then I went for a class to the gym when a bunch of other people were dressed up too. I worked out hard for over 45 minutes. I took off the sweater and the shirt, plus I put shorts under my skirt but besides that I was rocking my Gryffindor outfit at the gym super proud of myself and pretending it was my PE class or something. Then I figured they didn't have PE, they had quidditch but it still made me feel just like I was back at school (even if we never really had uniforms). Afterwards my husband and I went for a date, then to get some candy to leave in front of our door for those few kids who might be trick or treating and we ended the day with a movie night, new American candy I have never had before and some wine. A perfect weirdly normal Saturday day and I didn't take off my costume even once (besides a quick laundry inbetween the gym and the date!)

You might wonder why I decided to spend all day dressed up as a Hogwarts schoolgirl. Well, as I said, it's been a tough year. I feel like we all need a break from it. Whether it's seeing your family for the first time in a while or walking around pretending to be a witch, it doesn't really matter. We all have our own ways to deal with how messed up everything has been lately and mine is to celebrate Halloween even if that means shopping for candy at the Safeway in my costume, causing a lot of stares and laughs. Plus, since I created all of it with regular clothes and not those crazy poliestery materials that they sell at the Halloween stores, I felt super comfortable all the time, even while working out!

To finish with an interesting anecdote, I'd like to explain my obsession with Halloween in the first place. See, I come from Poland where half of the country is convinced that celebrating this holiday means inviting Satan into your life and that dressing up as zombies or witches might cause evil things to happen to you. Last year they officially banned Halloween from the country! So if you were wondering why I'm so excited to celebrate it... it's simply because I still treat it as a privilege not an every year thing!

Still, isn't it fun to see how people's personalities come out in their costumes? Halloween might be the craziest American celebration of all but it also gives us such an amazing outlet to our weirdness and quirkiness. This year I got to be a witch that everyone recognized and said “hello” to for one day and now I can proudly say I officially graduated from Hogwarts, class of 2020!