Ok I found something to rant about. I was looking at this website, here , and it shows all these costumes from the past. I totally remember getting dressed up in a Darth Vader costume one Halloween. I use this term very loosely because it was not a costume.

cos·tume

1. A style of dress, including garments, accessories, and hairstyle, especially as characteristic of a particular country, period, or people.
   
2. An outfit or a disguise worn on Mardi Gras, Halloween, or similar occasions.
   
3. A set of clothes appropriate for a particular occasion or season.

My "costume" consisted of a remolded death mask, in the shape, sort of, of Darth Vader's Helmet. This attached to your head with a piece of elastic held to the mask with these two staples. These staples, were a lovely thing, that after digging into your head for the better part of a night of groveling for candy, as we were wont to do, would then snap and make your mask unwearable.

Which leaves us with the actual costume part of the costume. One would think that Darth Vader would be a nice black cape, or come with a light saber, or something. But no... I was this little twerp of a kid running around in my Darth Vader costume. The body part of the costume consisted of a bright Yellow Parka with a picture of the real Darth Vader on it, so that once my mask detached itself from my head, people would still know I wasn't just an odd little person in a yellow parka trying to beg for morsels (Please, sir, can I have some more....)

Now my big problem is the sheer shoddiness of this so called Costume. I mean if I dress as a vampire now, or a doctor, or a ghoul as I have in the past, people rarely guess as to what I am. Because I wear a COSTUME that looks like what I am. Because I consider a costume a disguise. You are acting a role for the night. Now I know that the lovely people of my neighborhood are not going to expect a little 10 year old for Darth Vader, I am just saying they could have gone that extra mile to make the ten year old feel that they would.

I have said my piece.

-SLR