When you think of a fairy, what image do you hold in your head? Most of us think to Disney movies (where we first get most of our fairy tales from) and imagine a very small, delicate little person. Someone light enough to stand on the tip of your finger without you having to put much effort into holding him or her up. They fly, with wings similar to an insect or butterfly and are usually accompanied by glitter of some sort. They are cute, kind little beings, right? Well that may be how they are seen today, but their origins were very very different.

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The original folklore surrounding fairies described them as being either short and troll-like, or tall and beautiful like an angel. Their origins are unknown, and speculation ranges from them being types of angels, to demons, to otherworldly dead things, to an unknown species. It is also unclear as to whether or not the idea of fairies came about due to a lost old religion, or were a portrayal of a conquered people. The lists of traits they had is even more impressive and confusing than where they may or may not have come from.

Unlike fairies today, they had no wings and flew with the use of magic’s. They could shape shift as well. It was thought that their size was not a fixed state, but something that they could change at will to suit their needs. It was the same with their appearance and overall form. The people of the times mainly wrote stories about fairies as guides for protection against them. What charms and herbs to wear in order to keep them away. Apparently, fairies would readily steal your children, and sometimes leave a replacement creature disguised as what they had taken; changelings. One can’t help but wonder how many babies had to go missing in that time before the explanation of fairies as the culprits came about. One can’t help but wonder if little people infairy costumes were really responsible.

May we reconvene under the blood red moon,
-Black Widow

What most people don’t know about fairies is that their origin in folklore was a lot more dark and disturbing than your favorite Disney movies make it out to be. They didn’t have wings (they relied on magic to fly), and could appear looking like most anything; a black dog, an ugly small troll-like creature, a small child, or a fully sized angelic-looking being. They would cause terrible things to happen to you and your loved ones, and wouldn’t think twice about stealing your newborn baby and leaving a changeling in it’s place.

Fairy

Though, if you tried to go to a Halloween party dressed as a ‘true’ fairy, you could be certain that nobody would have any idea what you were supposed to be. So for the sake of recognition, being a fairy of our current popular culture would probably be your best bet. But what to do?

A cute little dress and sparkly wings would do the trick easily, but there are also a multitude of specific (very recognizable) fairies to choose from. Tinkerbelle, the jealous but well meaning fairy from ‘Peter Pan’, would be a fun and easy costume. You could get together a costume to resemble the animated version of her, or try something a little different and portray (for example) Julia Robert’s Tinkerbelle from the movie Hook.

Or perhaps you wanted to be a fairy, but were hoping to portray something a little bit more mature? With an all green attire of your choosing and green wings, you could instantly be the ‘green fairy’; a vixen said to control men’s minds after they were under the influence of the -equally green- alcoholic beverage, absinthe. Since there is no set look for this fairy, you would wear as much (or as little) as you were comfortable with and could let your creativity guide you as to how you wanted it to look.