What Inappropriate Halloween Costumes Have You Seen at the Office?

O'Neaux
Oct 29, 2009 9:17 AM CST

A woman came dressed as a “kitty”.  Wearing only a sleeveless black leotard and tights with “cute” little ears on a headband and an “adorable” tail.  Oh, did I fail to mention this was in a court house?

Will
Oct 30, 2009 3:40 AM CST

I live and work in Holland.  Here there is an incredible offensive costume. It is more frequently seen at Christmas but you do see it at Halloween sometimes. It is the “zwarte piet”. This is one of Santa Claus’ helpers, which in the Dutch tradition are black slaves! Adult white men paint themselves in blackface with big red lips and afros, and parade around as these comical simpletons, looking like Al Jolson! Almost no one objects to it and people who are actually black don’t object because then the other Dutch accuse them of trying to take away their “culture”! Please tell your friends all over the world, look it up wikipedia, and get the word out about this horrible racist practice here!

Fred
Oct 30, 2009 6:08 AM CST

Andy the Lawyer FTW.

Brian D
Oct 30, 2009 7:20 AM CST

I wholeheartly agree with LHS. I think people should dress up as people who get overly sensitive about these issues. Now that’s a scarey costume (a overly sensitive liberal).

Coco
Oct 30, 2009 7:28 AM CST

Nobody should dress up at work; sorry.

Lori
Oct 30, 2009 7:37 AM CST

We used to encourage everyone in the office to dress up for Halloween.  I’m not sure why.  This practice stopped after the managing partner’s legal assistant dressed as a french maid, complete with fishnets, short skirt, and stilettos.  She carried a little duster around as well.  While this was disturbing attire for the office, her outfit was surpassed by one of the male associates.  The guy is 6’4”, at least, and he dressed as a Hooter girl with fake breasts, a blond wig, and the tighest orange shorts I’ve ever seen on a man.  After this, we were no longer allowed to dress up for Halloween.

LHS
Oct 30, 2009 7:53 AM CST

Good grief Joe, because it’s fun. Try to have a sense of humor. What a stick in the mud.

Joe
Oct 30, 2009 8:07 AM CST

LHS: Our “fun” is a continued source of enjoyment to our competitors in China who are laughing all the way to the bank and to dethroning the U.S. as the new superpower.  Our “fun” and our nation’s collective ignorance when it comes to global issues contributed to us getting into the mess we’re in now.

Lily
Oct 30, 2009 8:16 AM CST

Just google “Julie Myers Halloween” and you’ll see the most inappropriate work costume ever.  A deportation officer dressed up as a detainee.

You know it’s bad when CNN covers your Halloween party.

LHS
Oct 30, 2009 8:40 AM CST

Joe, I never extolled the virtues of store-bought costumes. I’ve never bought a costime in my life, only an occasional accessory like a witch hat, the last of which I’ve had for at least 10 years, stores flat, and is easily stored in perfect “working” condition. I would be the last person to condone wasteful, synthetic costumes, shipped from overseas, to be worn once, with packaging, no less. If you can’t even imagine that it’s possible, and yes, “fun,” to come up with any sort of creative costume from items you have at home - bandanas, hats, pipecleaners, cardboard - you have additional problems other than being a sour bump on a log. I would never support mass consumption just because I do think dressing up can be fun; quite the contrary. Go get some sunshine and sit under a tree. It would do you wonders.

R
Oct 30, 2009 9:17 AM CST

1. Gosh, Joe, I feel absolutely terrible about contributing to America’s dethronement as a superpower because I bought a Halloween costume… LOL

2. The fact that the “Illegal Alien” costume that’s so wildly popular nowadays comes with a GREEN CARD proves that in the eyes of many, you’re automatically “illegal” if you look like one (i.e., if you look Hispanic).

3. #1, 11 and (maybe) 16: could you please submit photos of those costumes to ABAJournal and if so could ABAJournal please run them (with faces pixellated out). I think it would be very instructive.

4. As for my office, one man once showed up dressed as a fat old woman. To make matters worse, he hadn’t taken along any regular clothes to change into… By the end of a long workday he seemed thoroughly depressed.

tim
Oct 30, 2009 9:40 AM CST

huh - if I wear an illegal immigrant custom and I get called out for it - i will be the one suing for harrassment. 

what’s wrong with dressing up as an illegal immigrant? 

i’d find a custom of obama more offense than of an illegal immigrant

jeff
Oct 30, 2009 10:14 AM CST

Joe - stop contradicting yourself. 

First you make off topic comments. (see post 10) 

Then you remind others what the topic is and that they shoud stick to it (see post 12).

Finally, in post 22, you take your own advice and state “maybe this isn’t the right forum for this debate.” 

WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM???

NativeNewYorker
Oct 30, 2009 10:41 AM CST

John/#4:  I sincerely hope you are being sarcastic in your comments that being offended of racism is somehow being arrogant.  If not, your comment only proves the point that some white people, wherever they live, don’t think it’s in bad taste, offensive or wrong to make fun of others—who aren’t white.  I suppose you also thought it was funny when Princess Diana’s son dressed up as a Nazi.

trace
Oct 30, 2009 11:09 AM CST

Comment removed by moderator.

Shannon
Oct 30, 2009 11:23 AM CST

I firmly believe lawyers should dress up in costumes everyday.  Actually, that is what we do - dress up like penguins and think you are being “normal.”  In terms of functional clothing, suits fail: they don’t provide warmth, durability, or freedom of movement.  So why not wear something just as functionally useless, like a pumpkin costume?

MNJD
Oct 30, 2009 11:54 AM CST

Joe#10… I bet you are a real hoot to party with… you sound like the life of the party

trace
Oct 30, 2009 12:38 PM CST

Joe - Just to cheer you up, the Mayan calendar says the world will end in December 2012 - just saying!
So party like its 1984!

LHS
Oct 30, 2009 12:58 PM CST

Ha, Joe (of #10, 22, and 26) ignored my comment #19…ball of fire he must be anyway :)

MacTheKnife
Oct 30, 2009 3:38 PM CST

@ 21 R - “2. The fact that the “Illegal Alien” costume that’s so wildly popular nowadays comes with a GREEN CARD proves that in the eyes of many, you’re automatically “illegal” if you look like one (i.e., if you look Hispanic).”

It proves nothing of the sort.  I suppose everyone is entitle to an opinion, but uninformed and ignorant ones like yours regarding this comment about the illegal alien costume are without value or merit.  If you had bothered to educate yourself as to what the illegal alien costume is, you would know it is a space alien in an orange jumpersuit with an oversized “greencard” the size of a magazine.

Adamius
Oct 30, 2009 3:47 PM CST

John (@ #4), you are everything that is wrong and backwards with the world.  Remember that slavery was once a part of America’s “culture”, as was making fun of japanese and jewish people in children’s cartoons, as was slaughtering Native Americans either with superior weaponry or by underhandedly giving them blankets infected with disease.  Some “culture” shows a people to be very UNCULTURED, and I for one am very happy to see those old ways die, dry up, and disappear.  Secondly, you are obviously white.  That costume couldn’t be offensive to ANYONE but an American?  What about a black person?  If you would be a little reluctant to wear that costume in front of a black friend of yours (and I’m sure you have MANY) [sarcasm], then you should realize it could be offensive to ANY black person.  It also makes white people feel ashamed for the shameful behavior of their ancestors.  There’s really nothing good about that costume, and anyone that feels it should be celebrated, I have no use for.

Honestly
Oct 31, 2009 11:44 PM CST

Great to see so many mindless racists in the comment section.  If you’re actual lawyers, I pity the law schools that have you as alumni—and of course none of you have the gall to actually write your real names because you know exactly where it would put you.  But there are many of us who know how to check IPs, and your days are numbered :-)

Caroline
Nov 1, 2009 10:01 PM CST

This comments thread is among the most upsetting and disgraceful I have seen on this site.  I am ashamed that some of you are my colleagues - particularly the ones who condone sexist and racist costumes and activities. 

I think that this one:
Posted by Diamond Jim - 2 days, 14 hours, 33 minutes ago

We have an annual firm Halloween party and any female associate or secretary who is not in costume must participate in our wet t-shirt contest.

is the most inappropriate costume/behavior I have heard of in the workplace.

Halloween is all fine and good, but there is a time and a place for everything and work is not the place for Halloween costumes, especially as legal professionals.  There clearly aren’t enough of us who know where to draw the line between fun and inappropriate.  By the way, I’m 27 and hold this view, not some cranky old partner.

associate
Nov 3, 2009 11:22 AM CST

I think that this comment thread distinctly shows one thing:  We need a mandatory first year class in sarcasm and humor.  It’s clear that many here have no idea what either are (I’m looking at you Caroline at 45).

khazeh
Nov 3, 2009 4:58 PM CST

associate @47, not all jokes are funny, and put-downs are not always funny to those you are putting down. You might wish to reconsider whether others share your sense of humor; you’re not going to get the opportunity to scold a partner or a big-ticket client about how PC they are and why they should be laughing at the same jokes you do.

On costumes, I’m thinking of a senior associate who showed up for Halloween in a hideous lime-green “pimp” costume - which would have been a lot less inappropriate if this particular attorney hadn’t cheated on his wife with several paralegals, and then gotten fired for having pornography on his work computer.