Dress to Impress at QHSS: Who had the costume worthy of top model?

Like with every group of new students here at QHSS, comes another wave of popular culture references. This year we had a pandemic staple, the video game Among Us. Not one, but three different freshmen dressed up as an Imposter, dawning a signature red jumpsuit. When asked about it, they all remarked that they did not know about this and were accidentally the same character. The game had skyrocketed in popularity during the pandemic as more youtubers began streaming it.

Highlights of Halloween Parade

In more classic costumes, junior Ilyse Joseph won the award for best costume this year with her witch costume. When asked about her costume inspiration, she remarked that she “was really inspired by Goth culture,” with the dark accents including a large billowing skirt. Many of the pieces came from Hot Topic. This created a very unique blend of traditional witch aspects with a more modern spin, definitely deserving of the Best Costume Award. Other awards were more humorous, such as the Scariest Costume Award. Playing along with the crowd, Mrs. Zhou gave the award to sophomore Jennifer Huang with her fish headband (an extremely scary accessory indeed).  The parade featured over 200 students and various classic events, such as the Mummy Wrapping and students competed to guess how many candies were in a jar.  Yet, the costume contest still remains a great way for students to show their creative flare.

Dress to Impress: Cardinal Chronicles Edition

To conclude this spooky season, the Editorial Board wants to highlight some iconic looks worn that day! From popular culture references, group costumes, and a plethora of headbands, it’s definitely been a tough competition, however, we’ve narrowed it down to our top three favorite costumes!

Third Place: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Picture this: it’s 2017, and as you eagerly await your school’s Scholastic Book Fair, your mind only focuses on one book: the new copy of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, wondering what new mischief Greg Heffley encounters. This Halloween, QHSS received a special edition of this classic series and this time Greg broke his best friend Rowley’s arm!

Sophomore Fatima Siddiqua and Enson Chu rocked their cardboard cutout costumes of Greg Heffley and Rowley Jefferson, an iconic duo no one expected! Alongside their cutouts of each character’s head, they had speech bubbles dedicated to what each character would truly say. On the right, Rowley Jefferson (Fatima Siddiqua) has his catchphrase, “ZOO-WEE-MAMA,” – a term Rowley coined for his comic strips, in response to Greg’s speech bubble, “I’m the one who broke his hand!” referring to Sidd’s cast.

Not only has this costume drawn the attention of the Editorial Board, it seems as if the rest of the school would agree, as the duo won the title Most Creative Costume and were seen hitting the famous pose 28. Quoting a certain popular game Dress to Impress, this duo would automatically win five stars in our rating!

Second Place: Disney Princesses

“A princess, shut up!” As quoted from the beloved 2000s movie, The Princess Diaries. The young adult movie follows a teenager as she discovers that she’s a princess. Regardless, this quote has been used as a TikTok sound clip during this Halloween season for a popular costume that’s circulated this year. With frilly laced corset costumes, precise color coordination, and the power of friendship, various costumes magically emulated famous Disney Princesses—the perfect blend of Victorian culture with a childhood classic.

This Halloween, we’ve seen school spirit extremely prominent within the freshmen class; one highlight was a group of freshmen girls dressed in a series of classic Disney princesses, from Snow White to Belle. Although all the girls had the staple corset piece, each personalized their costumes with different accessories, such as the iconic light blue headband to represent Cinderella’s choker or the flowered braid and golden tiara from Rapunzel.

First Place: Furry

Finally, as everyone anticipates, The Cardinal Chronicles would like to crown our first place winner to…Jacob Li and his extravagant cat costume! Although every year there are bound to be numerous animal costumes amongst QHSSers, Jacob Li has had one of the most memorable costumes this Halloween, and for future Halloweens to come.

Not only does he humorously portray a cat through his white, furry-textured accessories, his costume challenges gender stereotypes through his white lace skirt. Societal norms have pushed male-identifying individuals into wearing specific clothing pieces, however in recent years, we have seen men challenge this cultural norm.

One notable cultural shock was singer Harry Styles styled in a skirt in numerous concerts and magazine covers; a look that truly shocked the internet, but surprisingly embraced quickly. However, when in a public space, it might seem intimidating for men to wear and embrace a feminine fashion. Therefore, we applaud Jacob Li for his actions towards defying gender stereotypes, while fully committing to his iconic costume.