It's that time of year again: Halloween. If you have XX chromosomes, then you're probably frantically planning your costume or contemplating the age old question, "Exactly how much candy corn is too much?"  

Whatever the case may be, I'm challenging the typical stereotype for adult Halloween costumes in favor of witty garbs that ooze the opposite of sex appeal. 

Now, of course, while this article is merely a suggestion, its purpose is to present the notion that perhaps being different and decorous will help you achieve recognition in a brighter positive light.  

Remember how much fun it was to decorate your front lawn and dream about the buckets of candy that would fill your pantry all year long?

Nostalgia beckons for the days where your only request was, "Mom, can I be Cinderella for Halloween?"

Realistically, planning your costume was a HUGE to-do and even today you spend MONTHS in advance piecing together your wardrobe to perfection. All Hallows Eve wasn't just about the candy, it was the one day of the year where we were expected to mimic our favorite heroes and express our true weirdness in public! 

Upon entering the eternally awkward and all-encompassing phase of middle school years, while the thrill of Halloween doesn't diminish, our choices of Halloween costumes do. That's not to say that some of us don't still dress like Disney princesses, but let's face it, the majority of traditional "adult costumes" available exploit the innocence of a once conservative character by co-opting raised hemlines and spandex.

After falling down the rabbit hole, I don't think it was Alice's intention to become overly exploited eye candy. Since when did Alice herself become a "Wonderland," when did Alice trade in her petticoats and start sporting thigh high stockings and stilettos? We went from princesses, pumpkins and ghosts to cliche cops, nurses and bunnies (and I'm not talking about the furry ones at Easter).

Who exactly decided that adult Halloween directly translated to, "The one night a year when a girl can dress like a total slut, and no other girls can say anything about it"? Honestly, while all girls no doubt enjoy dressing up, this doesn't mean that we should also downgrade our morals. In our hyper sexualized culture, should Halloween really be a "free pass" to dress like something that would be against your moral code the other 364 days out of the year? I rest my case. In a population where the "norm" translates to risqué and showing some (well LOTS) of skin – I must question when our originality disappear! 

Radical in theory, I feel as though we should change our standards and dress more originally. Consider the the infamous hot dog costume from the movie "Accepted" – in a game of would you rather, I believe that I'd much rather yell, "Ask me about my wiener," then suffer the obnoxious whistles, shouts and comments from a testosterone crazed male population. 

When it comes to the attention of others, it's absolutely acceptable to want to make a statement... however just make sure it's the RIGHT kind of statement.

I'm not here as your mom, and I'm sure as hell positive that we've all heard this before. Yet, somewhere along the way in the midst of our downtown adventures and tipsy Thursdays it seems as though our values have strayed. 

We're all human, and the pressure to conform in society is CONSTANT, but if there's one thing I've learned from being in college it's that there IS a way to dress to impress without giving off a negative persona. In fact, quality attention is the kind of attention that lasts – attention that turns into something with meaning. Often times it's necessary to ponder the question, "Am I dressing for myself, or am I dressing to impress someone else?" It's a powerful question, but it sparks a thought or two. If you're dressing for yourself, and not the approval of others, then you've already won half the battle. After all, female confidence should stem from her more valuable assets, such as her creativity and wittiness, not from her outward appearances that may have negative connotations written all over it. 

In short, the bottom line is that Halloween is not the one time of year that everyone should compromise their values and provide a template for temptation in the eyes of the oh-so-visual males. Halloween IS a time for parties, fun, a casual excuse to make black and orange jello-shots, and, of course, a time to dress up and TREAT YO SELF. 

So here's my last tidbit of advice, be fun, be young, be foolish and dress up as whatever fits YOU as an individual. Be creative. Be a princess. Be a ghost. Be Beyonce. Most importantly, be different in a society that is slowly succumbing to the norm.