Gen X gets a lot of slander from younger gen’s online, and as one of the youngest of this generation, I just need to point out what should be obvious: almost all of the music and fashion that the younger generations are inspired by and reviving are the creations of Generation X. Punk? Gen X. Hardcore? Gen X. Hip hop? Gen X. Shoegaze? Gen X. Grunge? Gen X. House/EBM/Techno/Electronica? Gen X. So credit where credit is due, please.
But our Halloween costumes, well, those were pretty crappy although fun to look at now. If your costume wasn’t hastily thrown together by your working mother with glue and seam tape and smeared facepaint you applied yourself before school or trick or treating (my trauma, not necessarily yours), then maybe your mom (our parents were Boomers, dads didn’t really participate) bought it at the grocery store and it was flimsy a plastic mask with a razor-sharp edge and a printed plastic bag you pulled over your head. And political correctness/social awareness and compassion were issues our generation brought up as we got older, so as kids, our parents dressed us as “hobos” like it was cute. Cultural appropriation was also a popular choice for costumes.
Now you can dress like a Magnum or a guy on a toilet. Lucky you. Enjoy this gallery of Gen X childhood costumes:
