This time of the year poses a constant problem for college women. As Halloween approaches and we start to consider what to dress up as, we hit a fork in the road. The road more traveled is the Ricky’s road. This is a road where you will fight through the masses of girls looking for the new “sexy undertaker” outfit (what does that even mean??) or the old standby Nurse uniform (actually I was a cop freshman year, but let’s not talk about that). As I’ve gotten older and more creative (or just more jaded and lazy) I’ve tried to walk the road less traveled with a Halloween costume that is cute and clever without either showing most the wearer’s ASSets or having to put in too much effort. Here are 5 costume ideas to help you fight the temptation to give in and go to Ricky’s.
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Lana Del Rey: This shapely vixen has burst onto the scene with her first album Born To Die. She has many looks from old Hollywood glamour to a new kind of hipster-chic. To fins inspiration look at any of her music videos, or just gather together all the stuff you and your friends have bought from Urban recently. Wear a white dress and a crown of fake flowers to emulate her hot, regal look in Born to Die (bonus: get two friends to dress up as tigers and you will have an easy group costume). Or, if you really want to show how current you are on the music scene dress in some fringed, short cowboy boots and a leather jacket like she did in her most recent video, Ride. Just don’t forget that you’ll need to find 50-year-old biker men to make out with all night to look as realistic as possible. GS students do count.
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Big Bird: Whether you’re on the side of Romney or Obama, Romney’s scathing statement about cutting PBS funding was a moment no one will ever forget. It launched a debate about Public Television’s relevancy and used the face of Sesame Street as an example. There are multiple takes on this political moment and how you can use it for a costume idea. You can be a homeless Big Bird, who talks about the woes of his life if Romney is elected or you can be an angry Big Bird indignant about being threatened (perhaps carry a protest sign, think “Occupy Sesame Street” style). Just grab some pink tights from American Apparel or Urban Outfitters, and dress in yellow with a makeshift beak. To make this into a group costume, find friends to be homeless/angry Elmo and Kermit.
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Fifty Shades of Gray: The kinky, romance novel topped bestseller lists and sold 40 million copies. It’s about the fantasy life of a college student so I think we can all relate—at least in our fantasy life we can (nothing that exciting ever happens around Columbia). You could dress up as the characters, perhaps carry around some rope to bind yourself or others in (this might come in handy later in the night). However, if you’re looking for a somewhat more abstract take on the book, just dress in as much gray as you can find. You don’t have to layer yourself all over, instead put necklaces on, wear knee socks that are gray, rock gray eye shadow, a gray bra and underwear. Gray is in this season so I’m sure amongst you and your fashionista friends you can find enough pieces to make a fifty shade ensemble.
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Woman in a Binder: Not to pick on Romney too much this Halloween season, but his comments do lend themself nicely to costume ideas. One of his most recent and recognizable sound bites from last week’s intense presidential debates, was about having “binders of women” that he considered when hiring employees. Since Halloween costumes can both show off how politically informed we are, as well as how cute we are, we think you can get creative with Romney’s comment. In order to accomplish the “binder” look, go to the Barnard mail room, find an unused semi-large box and cut it so it will fold over. Paint the box red, or another common binder color and staple or tape on side together so it’s in a triangle around you. Add straps if it won’t stay up with rubber bands or strips of cloth you cut off an old t-shirt. Wear a cute tight strapless dress to look like there’s nothing under that binder. Then, when the time is right (or you’re just tired of wearing a binder around) take it off and dance—show the world that people might try to put you in a binder, but it will never last long.
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Olympic Gymnast: Relive this summer’s glory days of watching the Olympics with friends and family. The U.S. rocked the gymnastic stadium with style and grace. so take a move out of these ladies’ routines and wear a leotard in public. If you can find one with rhinestones or sparkles, all the better. The best part of this costume is playing with hair and make up: add ribbons, jewels, sparkles and lots of hairspray to keep that ponytail sleek and controlled. If you want to be extra sassy make a gold meal using some ribbon and gold foil around a round piece of cardboard. If the weather is cold grab a tracksuit and a pair of sneakers as your warm- up outfit. Feel free to show off your moves all night! As Aly Raisman and Elsa Blancas showed us, gymnasts can move to any type of music from a techno version of Hava Nagila to the Zelda theme song.
P.S. check out this tumblr for more reasons not to go to Ricky’s….as if you need them.