When I was a kid my extremely frugal mother’s idea of a Halloweencostume was to rummage through the closets and throw on whatever she could find.  This particularly stylish ensemble consisted of one of her old black and white skirts, a Hawaiian grass skirt, two wicker bells (Christmas decorations), a bearded mask all crowned by a frilly lampshade.  When kids (and adults) would ask “what are you” I would never know.  But, I won the costume contest at the local community center every year.  My getups might have bee bizarre, but they beat the pants off the typical unimaginative store bought costumes on the other kids.