All was not deemed to be well at Slivington Manor this week, at least by external armchair experts. A family Halloween costume caused quite the ruckus across the internet simply because a toddler wanted to be an iconic child character and Paris Hilton let her daughter do the wholesome thing.
Maternal Morality
Allie Voss went viral about this issue on X stating, “When families do a group costume, whether the mom makes herself or the little girl the princess tells you everything you need to know.” She broke it down in her comments going on to say, “If the mom makes herself the princess and her child the side character she is terminally self-centered.” But Voss left little possibility for the fact that maybe London truly wanted to be Chip, a beloved character by young and old alike, as did the plethora of people who sided with her.
Hilton shared one of her family’s costume on Instagram days ahead of Halloween with the caption, “My life is a fairytale and the magic never ends”. Later in the comments of someone else’s video dissecting her family’s Halloween costume, she explained, “Beauty and the Beast is one of their favorite movies, and London said she wanted to dress up as Chip. She said it was her favorite character in the whole movie.”
Bethenny Frankel shared a different perspective on TikTok, “Paris Hilton dressing as Belle… and her husband as the Beast works. If they were going to a Halloween party, that’s what they were doing. If [London] asked to be the princess, I’m sure the next day the child could be the princess.” Having worked extensively with high-profile families, both as a colleague and a caretaker, I have seen moms be princesses one evening, but it didn’t end there. The next morning, their daughters would take off to their day schools with the same costume concept, rivaling the fashion shows they’d be on their mother’s hips for. I’d also see how these little ones would stare up adoringly at their mom as they transformed into the characters their children adored.
Frankel — Paris and Nikki’s former childhood nanny — went on to say, “In fact I had a candy costume one year for my talk show that was literal gorgeous candies like everywhere and an amazing wig, and I made a matching one for my daughter because she wanted to be it. Which is what Paris would actually absolutely do. So like, she’s literally the belle of that ball. It’s her business. She doesn’t have to apologize for that. That’s why her kids live this beautiful life and get to do these amazing things and can go to Disneyland and all these things. So everybody needs to stop. It’s ridiculous. Paris comes from a whole entire family of girls. She understands what girls want, what girls need, and life in that house is being a princess. It’s a nonevent.”
Exhibits in Enchantment
Paris Hilton continued to engage with this viral controversy for #TheCutieCrew (what she calls her family online). She made a video about how London’s costume came to be and Hilton captioned the video, “When your daughter’s favorite character from Beauty and the Beast is Chip, you let her be Chip!” Paris added, “My little princess knows exactly what she wants!” Of course London Hilton is sliving, her fabulous and emotionally intelligent mom taught her how.
It should have already been embarrassing enough that people attempting to cancel the OG heiress of the millennium for a fashion choice were hiding behind anonymous profile pictures. But what’s even more ironic is that they could get up in arms without recognizing who London Hilton actually was in her family’s group costume. Some claimed she was Mrs. Potts, while others claimed she was a side dish.
Thankfully, the Hilton family’s actual Halloween costume should be easier for the unwashed masses to parse in all of its macabre magnetism. After all, who could see those little black pigtails on her two-year-old, the unattached hand on Hilton’s shoulder, and think anything but that London was dressing up as main character Wednesday Addams for the spookiest day of the year?
Others, however, understood the situation they were looking at. Brittany Hugoboom, founder of both Evie Magazine and 28Wellness, fashion icon, and model, had this to say, “Paris Hilton has dressed her kids as the main characters before. Sometimes toddlers just want to be Chip! It’s not that serious”. As a mom and cover girl herself, Britt inhabits the same maternal fashion world that Paris does.
According to what Paris has shared with us over London’s short life so far, her daughter has been Dorothy of the Wizard of Oz, part of a Rainbow Brite costume, Winnie the Pooh, Jessie from Toy Story 2, and now Wednesday Addams. Considering Paris’ love for glitz, glam, and whimsy, I’m sure these are far from the only dress-up characters her daughter has been able to enjoy in the first two years of her life.
The Joyless Juggernaut
Fundamentally, in the words of Tolstoy, “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Every family has nuance and lore that affect it, and the perspective of it internally and externally. While Paris Hilton is a public figure, and a persona, why are we tearing apart a mom who’s doing the best she can for the little ones in her life? Why is her motherhood called into question from a handful of wholesome photographs? If London is happy, healthy, and safe, that should be enough for fans and armchair critics alike. I hope each one of them, and you, dear reader, has a happy Halloween. And I hope no one rips apart your little one’s costume regardless of what iconic or wacky thing they decide to be this year. Autonomy and self-possession? That’s hot.
