The parties, candy and overall fun make Halloween worthwhile, but it’s the costumes that a collegiette looks forward to most about this holiday. The novelty of dressing up will always be the most enjoyable aspect of Halloween, but some costumes have overstayed their welcome. Whether they are too cliché or politically incorrect, here are a few costumes that you should keep on the shelves this year.
1. An Animal
A cat, a mouse, a bunny—you name it, it’s been done countless times before. This is definitely the easy way out when choosing a Halloween costume. Put on something black, tight and short; find some animal ears or wings and you’ve got a classic last-minute costume. But where is the originality? This has been the cop-out costume forever, so it’s time to get creative and ditch the cheetah ears for something a little more hip and a lot less ho-hum. Why not show off your creativity instead?
2. A Cop
“You have the right to…” pick a more original costume! Chances are, you’ll go to a party where there are several other cops, and the lack of originality will be completely evident. This overdone costume may have been cute in high school, but it’s time to change it up.
3. A Nurse
Halloween is the one day when you can dress up as whatever you’d like, but this costume has become almost predictable. This costume used to be more shocking, but now whoever dresses up as a nurse seems to blend in.
This year, to avoid cliché costumes like the typical nurse or cop, you should try to wow everyone at your party with an original or funny get up. Even better—get a group of some of your best friends together and go as a group. This offers a lot more flexibility and more fun!
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4. A Nun
This particular costume that can rub a lot of people the wrong way, no matter how you spin it. For all those “sexy nuns” out there: nuns are not supposed to be viewed as sex symbols; these women are virginal for life by choice. Being dressed as a nun for Halloween with a short skirt, a plunging neckline and a cross is not only contradictory, but offensive as well. However, even if you do choose a legitimate nun costume, it could also be considered politically incorrect since you’d be making light of someone’s religious views. This costume is a lose-lose scenario!
5. A Native American
Put down the “sexy Pocahontas” costume this year. When traditional Native American attire is utilized in a way that makes the person who wears it look like a sexual object, it’s offensive to Native Americans. This can definitely read as disrespectful to the Native American culture by taking their traditional attire and turning it into something light-hearted. We’re not saying that all sexy costumes are bad—in fact, you could say that sexy costumes are empowering for women —but don’t turn your sexual empowerment into something disrespectful to another culture!
So what should you wear this year? Well, who says you can’t make a Halloween costume from scratch? As collegiettes, money can sometimes be hard to come by. Creating your own costume with some items you may already own can be fun, save tons of cash and save you from these Halloween costume no-no’s! Or, if you have a little extra cash to spend, try out one of these costume ideas!
If we as collegiettes can stray away from costumes that are overdone and if we aren’t overly offensive this Halloween, we can all have fun with our friends and look great while enjoying this wonderful time of year.