Halloween in Edinburgh: A Snapshot
By Rose Levitt
It was with great ambition that I stepped out into Edinburgh’s halloween. The concept was as follows: visit the most popular student spots, interview anyone with a good costume, and return home with some kind of insight into the mind of an edi student, through the lens of fancy dress. Yet here I sit, finally recovered from halloweekend, searching through my notes for some kind of epiphany and finding only chaos. Instead, I will endeavour to paint a picture of what I saw. Conversing with Dracula, Feathers McGraw, the Sun and the Boy in the Dress all in one night has left me whiplash-struck and forever changed, and although I can’t yet quite quantify how, I’ll do my best to give you a snapshot.
To begin with a classic cliché, everything in life is a lesson, and halloween is no exception. In no particular order, my key learnings are as follows:
One costume is not enough, and, to be frank, anything less than a triad tells me all I need to know about your commitment level. If this is something you struggle with, I recommend thinking of halloween as a mountain to conquer: Wednesday-night drinks can be the foothills, a few accessories on top of your usual jeans will suffice. Friday/Saturday is the long-haul, this is when you conquer the summit - think sequins and elaborate makeup, if you’re not over-stimulated by existing in your outfit, you’re doing it wrong. When you wake up on Sunday, bedsheets slightly glittery and at least one part of your outfit missing, you’ll know that you’re on the other side of the hill. One girl provided an example of the perfect trio: Squid-Game Doll, Galinda (Wicked) and a buzz ball.
The more niche the better. In life, not everyone will understand you, and the sooner you accept this the better. Take this from someone who has a history of throwing on a cowboy hat and calling it a day: the coolest people are the ones who have a costume that requires an explanation. My personal favourites included DJ Princess Peach and Brad Pitt in need of money for a Porsche.
The pros and cons of a Homelander suit, while ostensibly irrelevant to everyone but die-hard The Boys fans, actually illustrate a few important things to consider while picking a costume. Firstly, it was a tight fit and therefore flattering, sure, but - as I was informed - this leaves little opportunity for peeing, bending, general movement and existence. Secondly, temperature issues abound - too hot inside, too cold outside. While I do believe that cold is a mindset and jackets are for the weak, this is only within reason. So, before you find yourself out on the cobbles in an outfit you deeply regret, ask yourself, can I really last the night in this?
Now, having been thoroughly educated, I’d like to close out with the one overarching theme I was able to spot: orange. Maybe it’s the influence of the pumpkin, maybe, as @databutmakeitfashion on Instagram predicted all the way back in May, 2025 is the year of orange. Either way, we all seemed to have it on the brain. I asked every interviewee their favourite costume they’d seen, and time and time again I was told the Lorax. The colour seemed to haunt me, from the Squid Game Doll I talked to, to the girl who told me if a man dressed as an inmate (in an orange jumpsuit!!) it was a sure indicator he lacked any kind of personality. What should we take from this? No clue. I’ll leave that up to you.
