Clowning Around in Clown Costumes

You either love them or you hate them. Clowns that is. Not necessarily the person behind the grease paint and baggy trousers, no, rather the persona of the clown itself. If you watch the audience during a clown show you will see expressions that are either filled with joy or tinged with terror. And this is especially evident when looking at children. This fear has been linked to the process whereby a child starts to make sense of facial features and it is thought that the clowns own reliance on exaggerated facial features maybe what triggers the fear which can be carried into adult life. This phobic reaction to clowns is called; coulrophobia.

Fortunately the vast majority of people see clowns for what they are meant to be, bundles of fun who are attempting to bring humour and joy to the world.

Professional clowns have usually attended a clown school where homework revolves around tying balloons into animals and other shapes, learning face painting (something becoming more popular at children's parties) and learning how to clown around and make people laugh. Lastly, a professional clown develops and then keeps to his/her own face make-up design.

A circus clown theme is an excellent choice for costume parties whether for children or adult. The more sinister clown costumes make for great Halloween costumes for older boys and tweenies.

As you would expect clown costumes come in a number of different styles some reflecting the thoughtful and reflective Pierrot style of clown, or the Harlequin clown, often seen as the leader of the group carrying a slapstick with which he exerts his control, albeit that he inevitably loses the stick and the group use it against him.

With the exception of Pierrot and Harlquin, clowns will be garishly dressed and can either have a bald head or colourful mop head so finding a clown costume for yourself or your child should be easy. Patterns for clown costumes are readily available from larger haberdashers and colourful fabrics are all you would need. If making a costume is too time consuming due to the popularity of the theme, clown costumes are readily available all year round.

If you choose to buy a clown costume then the options will be between visiting your local fancy dress store or shopping on-line through an internet based fancy dress costume site. In either case, they should also be able to offer you a selection of clown wigs, oversized clown props such as glasses, bow-ties, flowers and combs all or any of which will squirt water along with the more skilful spinning plates and juggling balls. And don't forget your clown make-up and false nose.

Online retailers tend to lay their shops out so that it's easy to find the costume that you are looking for and a few will have an exceptional variety of fancy dress costume accessories. And in the main, it is the careful selection of your costume accessories that really brings the whole costume together.

How Halloween is celebrated around the world

Did you know that Halloween is one of the oldest holiday? The American tradition of trick-or-treating "dates from the early All Souls Day parades in England. During the festivities would be to ask poor people for food and families would give them pastries called "soul cakes" in return for their promise to pray for the dead relatives of the family. The practice, known as "going a-Souling" was eventually taken up by the children who are the houses in their neighborhood and visitgiven to drink, food and money.

In Ireland, where Halloween originated, the day is still much as it is in the U.S.. Bonfires lit and throughout the country, children in costumes and go trick-or-treating. Then most people to parties with neighbors and friends, where they bob for apples, go on go treasure hunting and playing card games. A traditional food eaten on Halloween is barmbrack, a sort of tunnel, in stores or baked in oil can be bought at home. The"Halloween Brack" traditionally includes various objects baked into the bread and was saying as a kind of happiness that uses game. Baked in the barmbrack were: a pea, a stick, a piece of cloth, a small coin and a ring. Each element, when they get into the disc, should carry a meaning, the person eating it: the peas should not marry the person of this year, which meant you stick an unhappy marriage or continually be in disputes; mean you have the cloth bad luck or be poor;the coin meant that you would enjoy the good fortune or be rich and, last but not least, the ring meant that you would be married within a year.

In various parts of England there is a festival called holy days, on the 4th November falls. On this night, children play tricks on adults from the minors to more serious tricks like having garden gates from their hinges area. While England, as in much of the British Isles, common, children carve faces or designs on pumpkins. Usuallylit from within, the lanterns are then displayed in the windows within the meaning of this theme on the night of fear and terror. Before the introduction of pumpkin carving from the U.S., they would carve large turnips, and in some areas this is done today.

And here in the United States, forget the age old tradition of charcoal-Night? In parts of the USA, it is as a coal Night, Goosey Night or Doorbell Night known and is always on the evening of 30 October. Tricks likeToilet papering yards and houses, powder-bombing and car chases and Smashing Pumpkins are just some of the tricks are played by young people this evening. In northern England it is known as the Corpse Night, Goosey Night, Tick-Tack night, night or Corn stunt night. In Liverpool, UK, it is known as Mizzi night. In Ireland, it is called Mischief Night, and is so popular that teenagers get the week around Halloween from school.

So this year on 30 October, you think your car move intothe garage to bring all the pumpkins inside, and keep you on your outdoor lighting. It's Night of coal and the children treated for just tricks!

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