A lot of guys dread the costume party invitation. Getting dressed up like an idiot. Going out in public. Which you'd probably never do if your girl didn't beg you to go. So why does she get so excited when that invite comes? And why is it so important to her to dress up for Halloween? And drag you into it? I asked three sex and dating experts for their thoughts.

The first thing they tell me is that many women have elaborate fantasies (hence the success of trashy romance novels and the rise of Fabio), but they rarely ever get a chance to act any of them out. Dr. Trina Read, a national sex columnist (trinaread.com), explains, "Many women love to push their dreary, minutia-driven daily persona aside and become a sexy alias."

"Halloween is the only day of the year when we have an excuse to pretend to be someone we are not," adds Adele Testani, Co-Founder and President of HurryDate (hurrydate.com). "By dressing up, we have an excuse to act like our character, and do things we may not have done if we weren't wearing a costume."

It's like dating a whole different woman for one night. Score one for costumes.

April Masani, author of the best-selling books Date Out of Your League and Think & Date Like a Man, (AskApril.com), says, "Putting on a costume gives women 'psychological permission" to behave differently than they normally do. Wearing something sexy, silly or mysterious evokes feelings of in the costume wearer, and these evoked feelings can lead to new behaviors like sexiness, silliness, mystery, etc."

Sexy new behaviors? Costumes - 2. Public Humiliation - 0.

And finally, why should we join the ladies in dressing up for the party? "Women are attracted to men who are outgoing and put themselves out there," says Dr. Trina. "For example, the guy who gets out on the dance floor and does the White Man Overbite is far more sexy than the guy in the corner nursing his beer."

So by dressing like a fool, we actually become more desirable.

Let's recap: Your woman gets to act out some of her deepest fantasies, try on some new, possibly sexy, behaviors, and you get points for putting pride aside and getting into the spirit of the party. Hard to argue next time that invite comes.