Halloween is a special time for so many children: trick-or-treating, spooky movies and most importantly, wearing a badass costume. Whether your parents dressed you up, or you chose a getup yourself, Halloween is a great time to reflect on past costumes you wore and just laugh (or cry) at the old pictures your mom has saved in a photo album. 

This Halloween, ORANGE’s editorial staff thought back to their most embarrassing childhood Halloween costumes and decided it was time to share these very cute and very funny photos with the world. 

Zoya Zia — Angsty Young Butterfly

I never asked to be a butterfly for Halloween and probably would have preferred a judge’s gavel or presidential suit instead. Alas, the best costume my mom could find was a butterfly costume. Year after year in the early 2000s, I hit the trick-or-treat scene as a purple and pink wanna-be monarch. From the looks of it, I was only slightly pleased and may not have been prepared to come out of my cocoon. Although I had doubts in the moment, I am not too embarrassed by my #ootd of Halloweens’ past. The glittery eye-mask and buzzy antennas really just suit me.

Miranda Chiechi —

Californian soon to be Texan

If this cowboy hat and glittery vest doesn’t already speak for itself, it seems seven-year-old me was already accepting my fate of giving up my flip flops for cowboy boots just a mere four years later. It’s true that when I was driving away from the west coast towards the south, I was expecting desert as far as the eye could see, kids riding horses to school and cacti every half mile. Can you blame fifth grade me? When I got to the suburb that is Flower Mound I discovered I didn’t have to wear my cowboy hat every day as I had thought. But, you can bet this dream of a Halloween costume made a second appearance in the Lone Star State.

Alejandra Martinez —

Winnie the Pooh

Oh, bother. I spent days begging my mom for a Winnie the Pooh costume for Halloween of 2001. Little did we know it would take four trips to four different stores to find one. Why would a little girl want to be a chubby little bear who wears an old red t-shirt over a mystical princess for Halloween? I was never able to fully explain my love for Pooh, but I now realize that this honey-loving character taught me one important life lesson: to be confident. Pooh is known for his most famous quote, “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” Who knew that this would be a quote by which I still live by today.

London Gibson — Sunflower

The look on my face says it all. I’m not sure what my mom was thinking when she decided that taking a walking sunflower trick-or-treating was a good idea, but it definitely made for some memorable childhood photos. Sunflowers are my favorite flowers, which could possibly be a result of this very costume. But even though I love sunflowers, I’m not sure that I would ever dress up as one again — I think once is more than enough. Unfortunately for me, this costume is just one of a series of terrible halloween costumes. The next Halloween, I dressed as a large, purple bug.

Emily Nash — Genie

I was inspired by Christina Aguilera and the television show “I Dream of Jeannie.” I was so obsessed with genies that I even wrote a little book about three genies who were best friends and lived inside of a bottle (probably the most important piece of literature I will ever write). Many guessed that I was dressed up as a gypsy, a belly dancer or even Selena Quintanilla. But, alas, I begged my mom to let me dress up as a genie, and I think I successfully did so. I wore this costume almost every day and lived this life until October 31, 2004, the day I decided to retire the genie costume and go as a boring old witch.

Emma Whalen — Piece of Pizza

(and also the chef?)

I have to say, this is the most meta picture I’ve ever taken. I am at once the slice of pizza and the chef who created it. Look at the sadness in my eyes! I am a man quite literally consumed by his life’s work. I don’t remember if this costume contributed to a greater candy haul that year but I can only imagine that my concerned neighbors observed me with pity. I was the lone pizza chef, carrying his slice like Jesus carried the Cross. I’m sure I earned a few extra sympathy-candies causing even the strictest moms to break their “two piece” rule for me, the wayward pizza man. Nowadays, of course, the only place you might still see me wandering the night dressed as a slice of pizza is on Sixth Street.