FASHION
Spooky Season with Even Scarier Consequences: Halloween’s Fast Fashion Traditions
By: Bella Gallus Edited by: Mams Jagha
Pumpkin spice lattes, sweater weather, and the changing of leaves. For some, these signify the highly anticipated “Halloweekend,” which is just a few short weeks away. Your TikTok may have been filled with videos captioned “cool girl Halloween costumes,” or clips of prominent social media stars stressing the need to find unique Halloween costumes and purchase them early.
This emphasis on celebrating Halloweekend has increased through the past years, resulting in rising fast fashion waste produced by a Halloween celebration that lasts not a single day, but four or five. There seems to be more and more unnecessary pressure to purchase cheap, one-use outfits for “Halloweekend,” which not only harms the environment but is a waste of money. Can there be a more efficient way of Halloween spending? Those purchasing Halloween costumes should turn away from the easy websites like Shein and Amazon and instead look for clothes and accessories that they can reuse in the future, so that their Halloween costumes are not just one-use.
There has been a glaring rise in the excitement surrounding Halloween, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Retail Federation reported that Halloween spending reached and passed pre-pandemic levels in 2023 at 12.2 billion dollars. In 2017 Halloween spending was 9.1 billion dollars, it slowly dropped to around 8.8 billion dollars in 2019, and then 8 billion dollars in 2020. This year, it is expected to be 11.6 billion dollars. The National Retail Federation noted that this year 72% of people plan on celebrating.
Although there is a slight drop in expected expenditures for Halloween this year, the waste produced by costumes and fast-fashion purchases will likely be at the same level. The National Retail Foundation estimates that spending on adult Halloween costumes is expected to reach 1.8 billion, and 1.6 billion for children’s costumes.
Nora Farley, a Syracuse University student who is vehemently opposed to fast fashion, states that on campus, it seems that most students are purchasing three to four costumes. She cites the reason for buying multiple costumes as people wanting “to have fun all weekend and not ‘outfit repeat,’ so they must buy a costume for all aspects of the weekend.” The negative perpetuation of “outfit repeating,” on its own needs to be eliminated, however, the need to have one costume for everyday of the weekend is a massive waste.
In recent years more and more people are turning to online websites to buy Halloween costumes. In 2023, “Amazon searches for ‘Halloween costumes’ [rose] 180% and searches for ‘Halloween costumes for adults’ [rose] 395% in August,” Retail Dive reported. These websites produce cheaply made costumes that generally are not meant to be reworn. This creates textile waste and wastes peoples’ money. Why is there such a need to mass purchase cheap items?
There is a generational gap that comes with these trends. Generation Z is more likely to turn to sites like Amazon, as 56% of Generation Z reported turning to Amazon first for their Halloween needs. Additionally, 58% of millennials reported using Amazon primarily. Overall, 44% of consumers from all age groups are using Amazon first. Farley corroborates that she is buying most of her pieces from Depop and Amazon, and has heard that most people are purchasing from Amazon and Shein.
Of all Halloween costumes manufactured, 83% are made from non-recyclable oil-based plastics that are meant to be discarded after one use, reported Waste Managed. People often purchase costumes and only intend to use them once. In fact, four out of 10 Halloween costumes purchased in the United Kingdom are only worn once. This aligns with patterns in the United States as over 5.4 billion kilograms of textile waste is generated by throwing away costumes.
Many people often discard their Halloween costumes after the season. Seven million Halloween costumes are thrown out in the United Kingdom each year, and Waste Managed estimated that at least 35 million are thrown out in the United States. Again, a theme emerges of spending hard earned money on costumes that will soon be discarded. We need to refocus purchasing trends to simple items that can be reused because the Halloween costume industry is only part of the fashion industry which all contribute to increased waste.
This amount of textile waste simply produced by Halloween costumes is incredibly harmful and only adds to the toll the fast fashion industry is taking on the environment. Earth.org reported that the fast fashion industry makes up 10% of carbon emissions globally, and this is expected to double by 2030. Earth.org also wrote that 11.3 million tons of textile waste is produced in the United States each year, which is equivalent to 85% of all textiles produced ending up in a landfill each year.
Additionally, the fast fashion industry heavily wastes and pollutes water. It takes 2,700 liters of water to make a single T-shirt, that is enough water for a single person to live off of for 900 days. Also, the industry produces 20% of the world’s waste water, through the processes of dyeing and finishing garments.
When clothes are washed large amounts of microplastics are made into the ocean, due to clothes being made with blends of polyester and nylon. Half a million microplastics make it through the sewage systems and into the ocean each year. The Environmental Protection Agency reported that 35 percent of microplastics in the ocean come from the laundering of synthetic materials.
It’s important to consider purchasing items that can then be utilized after Halloween. For example, for a witch or black cat costume, purchasing a simple black top and skirt and then accessorizing on top of it ensures that some components of the costume are versatile and can be practically reworn. For more affordable options, websites like Depop, Ebay, and Vestiaire Collective are just some second-hand online stores. Additionally, in-person thrift stores like Goodwill or Salvation Army often have Halloween costume sections. There are options for celebrating a sustainable Halloween like reusing costumes, buying used costumes, or purchasing items that you will wear after Halloween. Focusing on the future not only benefits personal spending habits but also the environment.