A Deep Dive into Halloween Costumes
How to prepare for the biggest fashion show of the year.
BY AVA RAUSCH WITH ART BY MEGAN BORMANN
One common goal among all college halloween costumes seems to be: how close can I get to the actual costume without breaking the bank? I take this as a challenge each year to create the most timeliness costume without stepping foot into a “Spirit Halloween.”
Growing up I loved looking through the Party City Halloween magazine each October and circling all the costumes that caught my eye. Most of them were princesses, the occasional superhero was thrown into the mix, but I distinctly remember falling in love with the “salsa dancing princess” costume that I begged my mom to get. She had to call three Party Cities but in the end, I got my wish of becoming a salsa dancing princess. The only downside of trick-or-treating in Minnesota is having to wear a winter jacket over your costume. No one knew who I was…but I did. Nowadays, I would rather catch hypothermia than wear a winter jacket over my costume.
It is estimated that the average person spends $33.59 on a Halloween costume each year. While it may not seem like a steep price, it adds up. If you get a Halloween costume for all 4-years of college you would end up spending more than $134.36. This doesn’t include the additional costumes you buy for the multiple nights of “Hallo-weekend”-the weekend of Halloween, (because you obviously can’t celebrate for just one day).
Before you know how to afford your dream costume you need to figure out what you want to be. Playing dress up is fun and all but it can be exhausting choosing between a thousand different options. The best thing to get your creative thinking flowing is deciding what genre you want to be: horror, pop-culture, animal, movie character, celebrity etc. Narrowing down your options by what intrigues you the most allows you to separate practical costumes from a dream you had a couple nights ago will evade the panic attack you’ll have before going out because you can’t get your costume to look right…so you end up wearing a basic cat costume. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with dressing up as a cat but we all know how little effort goes into wearing all black and drawing whiskers with a sharpie on your face.
Looking at trends is very important in your costume selecting process because it not only gives you inspiration but it also lets you know what costumes not to wear. You don’t want to show up with five other Cassie’s from Euphoria at the same party. You can tell what costumes are going to be overdone by how popular the show/celebrity/character has been that year. Going along with the Euphoria example: there have been countless tutorials on how to do Euphoria inspired makeup, Euphoria inspired parties and outfit ideas. If there is anything you should take from this article it is that you shouldn’t dress up as a Euphoria character this Halloween. You don’t necessarily need to follow trends from the year, go ahead and march to the beat of your own drum. But it is important that people know what you are dressed as. Nothing is more embarrassing than having to explain what you’re dressed up as.
One strategy to make your selection smoother is basing your costume off an article of clothing that you already own. You just got adorable white Mary Jane heels? A fairy or princess costume will fulfill your fantasies. I personally use Pinterest as a lifeline while selecting outfits, you can simply type in an accessory or piece of clothing you want to make an outfit out of and it will spew out a multitude of trendy ideas in a split second. I don’t know where I would be without Pinterest. Not to mention, there are a ton of DIY costume ideas that college students post for the exact same reason: inspiration. There’s a mutual understanding among most college students that we are all broke, which works in favor of mostly all costumes being made rather than being store bought. It eliminates the financial burden and stigma associated with making your own costume.
Halloween costumes are something that have been around for years and have been constantly evolving. I remember calling my grandma about this piece and her saying how she made my mother’s Halloween costume, she was a witch mostly every year because my grandparents couldn’t afford elaborate costumes that the other kids in the neighborhood were wearing. Halloween is a time for self expression and wearing what makes you comfortable is the best costume you can wear.