Like all trends, acceptable Halloween costumes have changed dramatically over time. These days, most parents recognize that Halloween costumes that include clothes from another culture should be avoided.
This can be difficult when your child genuinely admires someone from another culture and wants to dress up like them.
For children, getting to dress up as a favorite character or animal and go trick-or-treating is one of the best parts of the holiday.
There are even some parents who won't let their children dress up as characters like Disney's Moana, who wears traditional Polynesian attire.
For some parents, deciding whether to let their children dress up as a character from another culture can be difficult.
A hijab is a traditional headscarf worn by Muslim women.
Since winning the competition in 2015, Nadiya, who is British and Bangladeshi, has become an acclaimed food author.
"Last weekend, when we were getting ready to make some cookies, she said she wanted to 'play Nadiya' and went to grab a towel to cover her head like this woman does. I told her that wasn’t OK, that this woman wore a scarf because of her religion and it wasn’t nice to do that when we don’t follow it..." the mom said in her letter.
"Prudie, my daughter can’t pretend to be this woman by donning a fake hijab in my house, her aunt’s, or for Halloween, can she?" the mom asked.
Prudie explained that the mom should continue to encourage her daughter's admiration of Nadiya.
But, it was up to the mom to explain to her daughter that in the past, Caucasians mocked people of color by dressing up in their traditional clothes.
"That said, I think you’re right to draw the line at letting your daughter put on a hijab for a Halloween costume, and if it becomes necessary you can say: 'Sorry, I’m your mom and I said so. You can communicate the persona of Nadiya the baker through some other means,'" said Prudie.
