Tis’ the season for Pumpkin Spice Lattes, jack o ’lanterns, scary movies, and costumes. Indeed, Halloween is on Friday! If you are anything like me, you probably don’t have a costume and the idea of spending $60 at the local Halloween store for an outfit you will only wear once is scarier than Friday the 13th.
Does your Martha Stewart-lacking abilities have you stressing out that your Halloween costume will suck or even worse you’ll be an “outfit repeater”? Not to worry my fellow collegiate Halloween celebrating sisters, I have Halloween costume hacks for you. What is a Halloween costume hack? A Halloween hack is an affordable, yet stylish Halloween costume that’ll get you in the Halloween sprit without draining your wallet. These costume ideas won’t cost you anymore than $25!
1. An Athlete:
This is probably the easiest costume to put together last minute and on a budget.
- Grab an oversized t-shirt of your favorite sports team, pull the shirt over your head and shoulders so it fits like a strapless dress, and then tie the sleeves of the shirt behind you in a knot. You can dress this idea up with some heels or dress it down with knee-high socks and tennis shoes.
- For those of you who own a jersey, or have a friend with a jersey, throw that on with some leggings! Spice the look up with some dramatic make-up, or a black eye as pictured below, and you are good to go!
2. Alvin and the Chipmunks:
For a simple, easy, and comfortable costume, consider dressing up as Alvin and the Chipmunks. This paired costume could be a blast if done with a friend!
- Includes the following:
- 2 friends to dress up with you, 3 crew necks (red, green, and blue), yellow fabric paint, a paintbrush, spandex, yoga pants, leggings (or jeans), high socks, a sports bra, fake glasses (optional for Simon), and red hats (optional for Alvin).
3. Mario and Luigi:
- Includes the following:
- A red and green baseball cap, red and green t-shirt, black suspenders, and white fabric paint (to write the ‘M’ and ‘L’ on the hats). For the bottom half of the costume you can wear almost anything. Keep in mind, Halloween is one of the few times you can go out wearing something equivalent to work out clothes; take advantage of it!
4. Zombie:
Not only is it easy to create, but this costume allows you to add a unique twist too. For example, you could be a zombie cheerleader, bride, sorority girl, doctor, ballerina, and more! I must say that with whatever you decide to do, the hair and make up can make or break this this costume. With that being said, curl your hair and tease, tease, tease, tease, TEASE your hair until it looks like you’ve risen from the dead. Also, don’t be afraid to rock the Zombie makeup; the crazier the better, because this final touch completes the costume.
- Make-up tutorial: If you don’t want to put the heavy Halloween make-up on your face, find a cheap and light foundation and mix it with matte eye shadows (purple, blue, green, brown). By mixing these things together, you are making the perfect concoction to create ‘bruises’ on your face and dark bags under your eyes.
In addition to the hair and make-up, don’t forget to pick up a plain white t-shirt. When you get this t-shirt, rip, tear, cut, and stain it to make it look tarnished. Remember, you are supposed to look like you were dead! To add a more gory effect, splatter red paint or fake blood all over it. While keeping it dramatic, consider getting a pair of black tights that you don’t mind ruining. Rip those bad boys up, as pictured below, and your costume is complete! Follow these simple tips and you could pass as an official member of the Walking Dead.
5. Skeleton:
This Halloween costume hack might bring back high school memories for those of us who thought we could rock the cut-up t-shirts to football games. This Skelton costume requires some killer cutting skills, makeup, a black tank top, and a white t-shirt (vice versa). This is a creative, cute, and cheap costume that will leave those you encounter feeling scared to the bone this Halloween! To achieve this look you will have to cut either a white or black t-shirt, giving the illusion of skeleton ribs, throw on whatever pants you desire (I suggest black), and implement the make-up techniques similar to those discussed above!