This is a story from October 2005:

OSFO started thinking about Halloween 2005 on November 1, 2004. In the spring, there were causal musings about what she wanted to be. By summer, she had narrowed her choices to three or four possibilities.

After Labor Day, when those Halloween catalog arrived in the mail, the urgency began: “When are we going to order my costume, Mom?” She circled everything in the catalog that she liked. But there was a double circle and stars around the costume she really coveted.

The cowgirl costume.

I have to say I respected her choice. Cowgirls are cool. And a nice contrast from last year’s Snow Queen (which was lovely, I might add, with its sparkly white fabric and long cape).

But being a cowgirl is EXPENSIVE. I said “yes” before I realized just how expensive it was going to be. The a la carte style of pricing in that Halloween catalog can be a bit misleading.

Still. We needed to place our order in time for pre-Halloween delivery.

We ordered the brown hat, simulated cow hide chaps, suede fringed vest, suede gloves, and a bandanna. That ran us about $75.00 including shipping. There were other items like a pair of leather cowboy boots that were just too outrageous.

If it sounds frivolous to spend that much on a costume it is a frivolousness born of experience and lots of it. I have been doing Halloween costumes since 1993. A child’s ontentment with his or her costume is key to an angst-free Halloween season. And that’s worth a bunch. We’ve made many of our own costumes, some of which were quite impressive. But homemade costumes involve lots of materials and can be quite pricey, too.

I think the most “creative” and cost-effective costume we ever did was the year Teen Spirit wanted to be “A Boy Caught in a Rainstorm.” Hepcat took a black umbrella and attached long pieces of blue and silver string. Wearing a yellow slicker and boots, my son looked great. Just like a boy….

Teen Spirit, who is now 14, was big on obscure and unexpected Halloween costumes. He actually liked it when people would say, “Who are you?” That happened when he went as TinTin one year and Thompson and Thompson the next from the Belgium comic book, “TinTin.” In subsequent years he went as characters from “Alice In Wonderland.” Two years ago he went as Quisp, the bright green 1960’s breakfast cereal mascot.

At the Halloween parade, a few baby boomers recognized him and shouted : “I loved Quisp and Quake.” or “Omigod, Quisp was my favorite breakfast cereal.” But for the most part, he got blank stares. He liked it that way.

This year he and all of his friends are going as pirates. I think his costume may be a homage to Johnny Depp as Captain Jack (in “Pirates of the Carribean) by way of Keith Richards. It should be fun.

On Saturday, OSFO and I bought the finishing touches for her cowgirl costume: cowboy boots at Payless ($9.99) and blue jeans and a white button down shirt at the Children’s Place ($26.00). I don’t even want to add it all up this morning.

It’s too much. But Halloween always is.