halloween party time

Today I have been Superman, Batman, the Mad Hatter, Frankenstein, and Jack Sparrow.
No, I'm not suffering delusions of grandeur, yes it's that dressing-up time of year again, and it's coming round sooner than you think. Although Halloween is October 31, that is a Wednesday - fine for determined partygoers, but as midweek as midweek gets. So the big Halloween party night will be October 27, making it all the more urgent to choose that costume.
Although Britain is picking up on Halloween, pushed by all those shops eager to spark a bit of extra business, it is really confined to kids knocking on doors. They do that in America, of course, but it is also one of the major party times. And it is the biggest for dressing up, which is music to the ears of Pok-A-Dot, a fancy dress shop in Arcadia, near Santa Anita racetrack a few miles east of Pasadena.
It is like walking into the props department of a top film studio. Rows and rows of outfits stretch floor to ceiling as far as the eye can see, with separate sections for hats and shoes. At least three-quarters of the space is taken up by women's costumes, everything from Miss Whiplash to Drive-In Waitress, nearly all of them excuses to wear skirts that are shorter than short. 'Well,' said one customer with a dismissive wave of her hand, 'you get a couple of drinks inside you and who cares?' This one was clearly aiming to get more than a couple of drinks inside her on the night.
'How do I look?' innocently asked a plump girl with breasts the size of basketballs, straining against a rather flimsy Robin Hood outfit. Maid Marion she wasn't.
The ladies who run this shop know the game: be highly indulgent, let the punters' imagination run wild and try on everything they want, because in the end it'll be more likely they'll pluck up the courage to walk out with something they wouldn't have dreamt of wearing when they entered this magic shop.
For that's what it is, a dream store that enables the public to be whoever they want to be, for free until they settle on what they are actually going to buy - or rent. Whether it turns out to be a success on the night doesn't matter, yet. The game's the thing, and the owners are very good at suggesting props and accessories that will probably be discarded within 20 minutes of getting to the party. Walking sticks, death ray runs, eye patches, 60s sunglasses, all look good in the store and you want to get the outfit right. But once everyone has seen the joke, they become a burden and slide into corners or behind cupboards as the evening takes over and the costumes become irrelevant.
But all that is in the future. Pok-A-Dot is a hope factory, and late September is when the hope season begins.