Of all the holidays of the year, Halloween is quite unique. While most other holidays and special occasions are just great excuses to have a party or two, get your friends and family together and have the fun of your lives on that particular day, Halloween takes a step higher (or lower) by getting you to look your worst.

So What's the Masquerade About?

Halloween is the only time of the year when costumes and masks galore with masquerade balls being held in nearly every noted hotel, restaurant and even your place. It's a rare time when you can live your fantasies and be someone or something else. For many, that includes looking your scary best. Be a hideous monster, a vampire, a werewolf, a ghost or a skeleton. Get an axe through your head, or blood all over.

Show a severed limb or two. And for the less squeamish, just about all the historic characters of the past come alive with costumes and masks that can make you a pirate, a Roman gladiator, or any of the weirdos in literature and the cinema like an Alien (there are many variants), Edward Scissorhands, Voldemort, the Franskenstein monster or just plain Dracula. Masks and costumes have always been a part of the Halloween tradition for both kids and grown ups. For kids, trick-or-treating won't have that annual festive appeal without them.

So How Did All These Started?

First off, Halloween has its roots way back during the time of Celts and Druids in England's storied past long before it was Christianized. There was this Feast of the Dead annually celebrated by the Celts in every part of the British Isles. And the date of celebration tells it all - Oct 31st after sunset. It was a festive night with food and pagan prayers offered to the dead. The Romans had the same festivity to honor their departed in the Feralia, but held on the 21st of February. Both occasions are often marked with the use of masks.

When Pope Gregory III declared November 1st of every year a day of commemorating the biblical "dust to dust" origins and destiny of the human flesh, he took the old English term "hallow" and the Scottish "e'en" so now you have Halloween to mean holy evening and with it, the traditions of the old English celebration of the dead complete with scary masks. And when the English landed to make their first settlement in the New World, the rest, as they say, is history.

The masks became more elaborate and costumes came into vogue for a more convincing realistic look. The occasion took root in the new world and in time, spread throughout the rest of the planet with about the same fervor as a Hollywood movie.

Commercialism

Masks and costumes won't be such a popular dressing style on Halloween if not for the commercialism that has made them variously accessible to anyone wanting to get into the spirit of the holiday. Scary characters in the movies that have become pop icons are now part of the costuming wardrobe. So don't be generic this Halloween, get into a mask or costume, your fellow revelers can identify. It can make the masquerade ball more interesting to see a Hollywood character in their midst.

When most people think of fancy dress, they imagine big costume parties, full of people having a mighty good time without a care in the world. Many people think of Christmas and New Year, and all the festivities that are included. Some even remember the good times they had as a child trick or treating at Halloween, dressing up as witches, vampires and ghosts. The simple fact remains that dressing up in costumes is a great tradition and boils down to having a whole lot of fun!

In Britain, fancy dress was borne out of the masked costume parties of the 18th century, where high society types would get together and have a good time in their country mansions. However it was the ever innovative Victorians that really brought out the real meaning of fancy dress at their parties, with many individuals dressed in fancy costumes as characters from whimsical stories and in traditional costumes from across the empire.

Nowadays, dress up is like second nature when it comes to celebrating special times of the year. Halloween is undoubtedly the highlight of the year when it comes to costumes, and is an industry within itself. Millions of dollars are made selling fancy dress costumes, accessories, wigs and many other items. People have so much fun at Halloween that it has affectionately become a part of everyday culture. Little kids love to dress as witches, vampires and ghosts; adults are definitely enamoured by any Halloween costumes that are comical or sexy!

Christmas is another great time for costume shopping and partying. Santa is the cultural symbol of Christmas and as such many a Santa suit and Santa hat will be purchased for the festive season. Christmas costume parties are a great deal of fun, with people getting merry with mulled wine and kissing under the mistletoe. A big part of Christmas for children is the school nativity play. This means parents and teachers have a mad dash to organise nativity costumes like an angel costume, animal costumes and even camel costumes. Luckily kids costumes are available for great prices online and in fancy dress shops.

These days the costume industry is such big business that nearly every cultural creation like a movie or book has fancy dress outfits or fancy dress accessories associated with it. Advertising is so good and directed at target audiences with such precision that they fall like dominos, one after another, with the desire to buy an outfit. For example the Pirates of the Caribbean films spawned countless pirate fancy dress items like clothing, cutlasses and even pieces of Aztec gold! Take nothing away from the producers, it is top quality marketing.

Perhaps one of the best movies for the fancy costume industry has been Mama Mia, the ABBA production. Not only has it massively increased sales of ABBA costumes, it has also reignited demand for 80s and 70s fancy dress outfits like jumpsuits and even ABBA fancy dress wigs. Costume ideas for women have almost spiralled out of control- it seems everyone wants to be a Dancing Queen!

The increasing military action in Afghanistan and Iraq has seemingly led to an increase in sales of uniform costumes, such as army outfits, sailors and even top gun aviators, along with accessories to improve outfits like machine guns and aviator glasses. Not only have adults benefited from the glut of army costumes etc, so has boys fancy dress. Quite rightly, the nation is supporting our troops.

Girls fancy dress is generally geared to fairytale characters from bedtime stories such as princesses, angels and witches. Some great quality and rather cute costumes can be found for little girls, which make them feel extra special when it comes to costume parties. Indeed angel costumes and fairy costumes continue to be the ultimate best sellers, and probably will be for years to come.

Boys fancy dress, in a similar vein to girls, is born from stories and tv programmes that take their interest. For example Bob the builder made a big impression on boys, and therefore saw a big increase in the amount of builder costumes available, the same occurred with WWE wrestling. Boys will be boys, and always look for the costume that will make all their friends jealous!

The spectrum of adult fancy dress spans from scary, to popular and even sexy costumes. From a social point of view, adults continue to dress, like children, as expressions of how they see themselves. For example many women see themselves as sexy, and therefore opt for revealing costumes like saucy devils and sexy santas. Men on the other hand embrace their childhood fantasies and dress as "manly" characters such as firemen, policemen or even soldiers. For this reason, manufacturers are able to create a massive amount of costumes and make huge profits.

The bottom line is that fancy dress is an excuse to let your imagination run riot with costumes and ultimately have a good time. The tradition should be embraced by all, as it seemingly underpins the fabric of material society, and allows individuals to express themselves in new and distinctive ways that would otherwise be sneered at. Basically, let your hair down and party!