Give Your Cuffs a Scare With Halloween Cufflinks

Halloween was conceived as means of confusing evil spirits that wandered the earth in search of vulnerable and unsuspecting souls. Originally, people dressed as frightening apparitions in the hope that the spooky baddies would leave them alone as they traversed the dark and shadowy paths and streets of their villages and settlements.

It makes sense that this time of year would create fear among primitive people whose lives were based on superstition rather than scientific fact. It was clear that at this time of year - the time of the harvest - things could go terribly wrong. Wait too long and the crops wither in the fields. Harvest too early and crops could rot in the heat or - if eaten too green - could sicken people and livestock.

In addition, this was the time of year that livestock was slaughtered for the winter. If the weather turned warm again, meat could rot, and even if the meat could be properly stored, the rotting bones and carcasses could cause illness or attract wild animals and insects.

For this reason, long-ago peoples built huge bonfires to ward off animals and burn the remains of the slaughter. Bonfires remain a major function of Halloween because of this connotation. In Ireland, where metal was scarce and precious - especially once the English got over there and started pilfering all the good stuff for themselves - and root vegetables relatively abundant, lanterns were carved from turnips. Ultimately, the Irish got lanterns just like everybody else's, but the turnip lamps were revived each year by children looking for treats throughout the neighborhood - part of the celebration, in that very Catholic country, of the Vigil of All Saints Day.

There is a lot of confusion between the All Saints Day and All Hallows Eve. All Hallows Eve - later shortened to Halloween - was a pagan holiday, and, like so many pagan holidays, the Church tried to obliterate it by creating a holier, more appropriate celebration with which to replace it. For children and people of a partying mindset, however, All Saints or All Souls Day lacked the spooky and tantalizing attraction of Halloween.

As a result, you'll see a lot of emphasis on costumes and snack-size candy bars this month. And while the old evil-spirit-warding standbys - ghosts, witches, pumpkin-men, and the undead - will have plenty of face time, Halloween has evolved to allow trick-or-treaters and other partygoers to take on the persona of their Own Personal Heroes.

As such, there will be a lot of angels, princesses, and German beer frau - some of them completely literal, and some of them really slutty. As for guys, you'll see superheroes, movie idols, and ladies' men of all shapes and sizes.

What I wonder, though, is why people wait for Halloween to make themselves into the people they want to be? In real life, you can dress like a real star - and in something other than garish nylon that ties in the back.

Be a real superstar. In a well-cut dark suit, you can be any number of characters: Dracula, James Bond, the guys on Law and Order, the guys on Mad Men. You could also be really successful on days other than October 31.

Add a white shirt for Dracula, a green turtleneck and some neck bolt for Frankenstein, a lab coat for Dr. Jekyll, and a fancy gold lighter and a shaken martini for 007. A red ribbon festooned with medals can turn you into a vampire or Prince Charles (don't forget the joke teeth for both of those costumes), and a black tie can turn you into a creepy undertaker.

To really top off your look, add some cufflinks. Cufflinks add the perfect finishing touch to every outfit, and they make the final statement for Halloween. Especially with today's fashion fixation on skulls and bones, there are cufflinks that can take you from a smart joke at the office to the Best Costume prize at the local pub or the country club.

Children play make-believe all the time, and get to live out their fantasies at Halloween. We're adults. Fantasy is all well and good, but why not be a master of your own destiny and make your dream a reality?

Dress like a man - not a kid.