Tanned face, pouted lips and golden wispy hair? Here’s what dressing up as Trump says about you

Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and moreStay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more People have used dress-up as a form of self-expression long before Halloween gave us an annual excuse to do so. Much like dreams, experts have found that dressing up in costume is a way in which we subconsciously externalize our inner thoughts and fears. While most spooky-season attire tends to fall into two camps — sexy or scary — political mockery has also become a popular theme among adult Halloweengoers. In fact, ever since Donald Trump burst onto the political scene, it seems as if politically inspired costumes have only grown more common. But why? According to Dr. Shahrzad Jalali, a clinical psychologist who specializes in trauma therapy, “Political figures often represent powerful cultural symbols.” Figures like Trump and other politicians, or even kings, essentially evoke archetypal appeal, she explains to The Independent. For example, they could represent archetypes of dominance, excess or power. People may dress as a political figure out of admiration, as a way to signal support, or express their patriotism, Dr. Jalali notes, or as a form of “rebellion and critique.”Specifically, mockery, a form of criticism, is a “passive-aggressive way of demonstrating your anger about something,” she says. “So Trump is a polarizing public figure. His mannerisms, speech are kind of easy to imitate because, you know, he’s very particular, so a mockery can be a way of processing that power that he essentially controls in society and people’s lack of comfort with it.” open image in galleryDonald Trump holds a mask of himself in 2016 at Florida rally (AFP via Getty Images)Oftentimes, people looking to mock Trump will wear elements that poke fun at his physical appearance and gestures. Coloring your face orange is a common way to mock the President’s exaggerated tanned skin tone, while a combed-over blonde wig is a typical way of parodying his signature hairstyle. Doing so could “be one way to deal with political conflict that [a person] might experience at home or in their friends group,” Dr. Janina Steinmetz, a Professor in Marketing at Bayes Business School with a background in social psychology, similarly tells The Independent. “Laughing and making fun of things are really good ways to lighten the mood or make conflict more playful and less scary.”During Trump’s first run for office in 2016, Trump mask sales went through the roof. “When [Barack] Obama was running, his mask did really well,” Howard Beige, an executive at Rubie’s Costume Co., the world’s largest producer of Halloween masks and accessories, told CBS News in 2016. “I would say the Trump line is almost double the sales of that.”Previous consumer data shows that political costuming tends to slump in popularity during non-election years. “Normally, the year after the election, political outfits tend to drop from the radar completely,” the National Retail Federation’s former senior director of marketing, Ana Serafin Smith, told Vice in 2017.This year is no different. Danielle Inman, the NRF’s senior director of media relations, shared with The Independent that once again, “political costumes did not come in the top 20 this year.” Interestingly enough, she added that “they also didn’t pop up last year even though it was an election year.”While it’s difficult to say for sure why last year was a bust for political costuming, despite a major presidential election, Dr. Jalali offers one possible explanation. open image in galleryPolitical costuming is typically more prevalent during election years (Getty Images)“I think it depends on people’s level of comfort with their self-expression. To some extent, I think given the fact that this is such a charged domain, [it] can cause people not to want to be the center of attention,” she says. “People kind of refrain from posing their political stance these days, because other people can take such offense to it.”Even if this Halloween you choose to go in more of a traditional outfit, like a skeleton or a sexy maid, there’s still a psychological explanation for it. “People have always used dress-up as a way to explore hidden parts of themselves or also confront things that are scary,” Dr. Steinmetz says. For example, dressing as a skeleton can be a way to “make fun of death a little bit, and thereby make it less scary,” she shares. On the other hand, she adds that a sexy costume may be worn as a way “to show others how [you would] like to be seen.”Yet, if you happen to be one of the few outliers looking to blow off some political frustration and anger this year, Dr. Steinmetz warns that “before donning a political costume, [you] should definitely think through who [you] want to get a laugh from, and whether others might be offended.”“It can help to be a bit playful about contentious issues,” she acknowledges, “but not if the other side feels ridiculed.”



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