Dressing up is fun. Pretending to be someone or something you are not provides us with some leeway to act in ways we normally wouldn’t.
A lot has been said about the psychology of dressing up and wearing costumes: it’s a way to express dormant aspects of our personality, it helps us satirize the way we feel about certain things or people, it’s a way to express something that we wish to be. Costume-wearing is nothing new (although modern generations have perfected the art of dressing up). Even back in Ancient Greece, dressing up was something common; and Aristotle believed that it’s natural for human beings to “delight in works of imitation”.
Yet while it’s “normal” and common practice among modern cultures to dress up, some have taken it a bit too far. A quick search of weird costumes can give you some interesting (and disturbing) results: i.e. pregnant nun, poop emoji, really scary clown…you get the idea.
This is probably one aspect of costume psychology I’d personally rather not dig too deep into.
With Halloween here, various companies, as well as flexible workspace operators, encourage people to dress up for the occasion. It’s a fun community building activity that can help many find common hobbies and passions, which then lead to improved relationships and connections.
Or does it?
Modern cultures and traditions associate Halloween with horror. Case in point, last year, we shared 5 workplace horrors that make the workplace experience almost (if not entirely) unbearable.
This year, we’re taking a closer look at Halloween costumes. Turns out that dressing up can prove to be quite the fun experience…just as it can prove to be quite the awkward, weird one. Boy, can people truly shock you at times.
And so, without further ado, here are a few of the best costumes to make people feel uncomfortable in the workplace (AKA: the worst costumes to ever wear to the workplace).
1. Anything showing too much skin, anything sexualized, or anything sexuallly inappropriate.
2. Anything religiously, culturally or politically sensitive (2017 specific examples).
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We said it before and we’ll say it again: let’s keep politics out of the workplace.
3. Any workplace personnel or coworker.
4. Anything that requires you to entirely paint your face or heavy makeup.
That stuff gets everywhere. Besides, it has the potential to be creepy and make those around you feel highly uncomfortable.