Every October, sometime in the last week of the month when we finally had a free evening, my mom, my little brother, and I would load into the car and make the trip to Party City to shop from the Party City Costume Wall. We always went late. I was raised by a single mom and Halloween costumes landed somewhere low on her list of things to deal with. We never complained. I’m not sure we ever even noticed we were going that late.
Party City in October smelled like latex, plastic, and a dream. It’s a specific combination that hit you the moment you walked through the door. It’s like your whole body registered it before your brain did. When the smell hit, I think it intoxicated all of the kids in the store as every parent there struggled to wrangle their feral children, including my own.
When you got into the store, you ran straight to the back of the store…that’s where it was. The Wall! If you grew up in the 90s you already know exactly what I mean. Every costume Party City carried was displayed as a photograph, organized into categories that ran the full length of the wall. Infants, toddlers, kids, women, men, couples. Each costume had a number code. After you found the one you wanted, you went to the nearest employee, a kid between the ages of 16 and 20 who was absolutely fighting for their lives for $7/hour, and told them the number code and size. Then, they’d go to the back and find the costume in your size and bring it back. If it was out of stock in your size, your search continued.
I took my time regardless of how late we were running or how many people were trying to get around me. I’d narrow it down from the whole wall to maybe ten options, then to five, then spend an unreasonable amount of time deciding between the final three. My brother did the same thing. We were serious about this. It was Halloween and this decision was the most important decision we’d make all month as elementary schoolers!
The poodle skirt was a reliable choice for me. I’m pretty sure I chose two different ones over the course of 4 years. Of course a lot of the costumes we loved back then aren’t available anymore. We’ve since learned about cultural appropriation and we know better but the options felt limitless.
After finally finding the perfect costume, it was time to try it on in the teeniest tiniest dressing room you’ve ever seen. Once you confirmed it fit, you got to sweep the store for your accessories. I always loved that part. The costume was nothing without the accessories. Why did we take it so seriously? I guess as a kid, you subconsciously lean into the things that you know you will miss later. Even if you don’t realize it.
I think I was 12 when I chose from that wall for the last time. Party City filed for bankruptcy and closed its doors in 2024. Now, you can order a costume on Amazon from your phone and have it delivered by the next day. It arrives in a cardboard box and gets opened and set aside until Halloween day. It’s not the same. The experience, much like the color we used to love so much at Halloween, is gone.
It’s absolutely not the same…
Feeling Nostalgic? Read more 90s Halloween Nostalgia here.