I’m going to come out and say it. This year, I am hoping to see as many unsexy Halloween costumes as possible. Not only that, I hope this is the start of a bigger, general trend of women being allowed to wear whatever the hell they want in general.

Happily, there are early signs pointing to this already happening. A list of Google Trends released this morning shows that among the most-searched Halloween costumes are: Pennywise (the terrifying clown from Stephen King’s 1986 horror movie It); Fat Thor (the Marvel comic hero Thor but – you guessed it – fat, as in the latest Avengers film); and Demogorgon, the monster from Stranger Things with a head like a flower.

So far, so good. The world has also rejected sexy fashion trends over the last year: push-up bras are near dead; our shoes are getting bigger and uglier; and the baggy, unflattering jeans that a 2003 SNL skit dubbed Mom Jeans (“cut generously, to fit a mom’s body”) have made an unprecedented comeback this year. And that’s not even touching on the popularity of prairie dresses.

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I’ve worn my fair share of sexy cat costumes for Halloween, and I don’t look down on my past self. But I am excited to think that I won’t be spending this Halloween shivering in the cold, walking home bare-footed and wondering whether anybody at the party really thought I was pretty.

I am excited, also, to think that this could be the year when people will stop turning their heads at my unshaven body and that, one day, I might live in a world where no one can expect me to wear dangerous and impractical shoes to work. Wanting to walk through the world without constantly having to think about whether I look good shouldn’t be a big ask, and I hope this is the start of a time when it won’t be.

There is a photo of my best friend during her university years that I will always look back on with fondness. She is nestled between lots of beautiful women wearing the sexiest of Halloween outfits, while she is dressed as a big green blob with an eye for a face. She dressed up as Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc for Halloween that year, and to this day the photo still makes me laugh. While everyone looked anxious, she seemed completely at ease.

Back then, when we all thought it was essential for us to all look great in order to fit in, my best friend was stealing the show by wearing the most unflattering costume there was. What if we could do this every day of the year?