Girls in the gutter for Halloween?

First I saw SFO Mom: Halloween Frustrations, wherein a mother asks for suggestions for a Halloween costume for her ten year old daughter because what's being marketed is not acceptable. Then I saw that SFO Mom isn't the only one screaming bloody murder over what's being marketed to young girls this year. See here and here and here.

I used to love going around on Halloween, all dressed up. I still sometimes dress up to hand out treats. I dislike the ghoulish sideshow stuff, but the dressing-up and parading in all your silliness or finery is (or can be) one of the highlights of childhood, I think.

So, I vote that we push for cool options to stuff that stinks. Let's leave the toxin merchants in our dust, shall we? Suggestions?

Let's see. I'll kick off the list with a mime (I love good, clean mime), a cowgirl, a jungle explorer (complete with pith helmet, definitely - wearing a hat is always fun), a pioneer lady, a miner (getting to have coal on your face for a whole evening can be a nice break from always being clean, plus it's a good excuse to wear a flashlight on your head), an artist (if you prefer paint smudges on the face to coal, or smocks to jeans). Asking around the house, people suggested a ballerina, an Eskimo, a Narnia character, Raggedy Ann, a nurse or doctor, a mommy pushing a baby carriage, an Indian (Native American), an Indian (from India, saris being both modest and glamorous), a firefighter or policewoman, a roller skater. Snowshoes are cumbersome, but usable in some situations. Mountain climber. Executive. Fisherman (fake hooks, please). A folk dancer. Someone from a Jane Austen novel (or that time period, at least). A chef.

Some of the above suggestions are definitely more practical than others, but we thought we'd toss them out to kickstart the idea engine. Help us out here.

Update: Another couple or so ideas.

Update: At A Hen's Pace has several posts with photos of a recent live youth production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. See, for instance, here, here, here. (Parents, you might want to preview, if you don't want your kids accidentally exposed to evil Narnians along with the good ones.) Some of these costumes, or something like them, might be fun.