Last Halloween, I decided to purchase three Halloween costumes. I’m not sure where my sudden desire to dress up came from (probably because I had attended my first cosplay convention the previous August), but I had this irresistible urge to have more than one Halloween costume. All of this happened during my senior year of high school. I hadn’t dressed up for Halloween since middle school, and it was my favorite holiday of the year. So, to make up for lost opportunities and to cap off senior year with a bang, I planned on dressing up in three Halloween costumes.
Starfire from Teen Titans, Version 2015 was my least favorite. The second was Danny Phantom from the 2004 animated series Danny Phantom. This costume was fantastic. Finally, Princess Peach from The Super Mario Bros was my third choice. She was magical. I dressed up as both Danny Phantom and Princess Peach for school. Everyone seemed to have loved it, and it has since inspired me to display more costumes. So, ever since then, I’ve thought that one costume isn’t enough for Halloween and that I’ll have at least three costumes every year from now on.
So, are you a Halloween enthusiast or fan? Do you enjoy dressing up, being creative, spending money and making a spectacle at parties? Do you enjoy being a little out of the ordinary? If so, here’s how you can satisfy those desires this Halloween or in the future. I call it “The Hallow(tri)ween.” You don’t have to have three Halloween costumes, but I hope this article can help you decide what you’ll wear this year. I’ll go over various groups of how you can categorize your costumes. These will be enjoyable, common and distinct themes.
“Halloween is not only about putting on a costume, but it’s about finding the imgination and costume within ourselves.”
– Elvis Duran
The Three Personas
(Cute, Funny, Sexy)
Have you ever heard the expression “__ by day, __ by night”? Clark Kent, for example, is a journalist by day and a superhero by night. You can express different aspects of yourself through your costumes. So, wear something cute and modest that you can wear around your family or any children you’ll be around. You can show your parents how much of a good girl you are by sending them a cute picture of your Halloween costume, but you know how you truly are ;)
Then you can dress up in something funny. Wear it around your friends or in public, and you’ll get a lot of laughs and giggles. Finally, at the end of the night, show everyone your bad girl by wearing something hot and fierce. Show off your wild, flirtatious, party animal side.
This is the simplest and easiest approach, in my opinion. Cute is appropriate, funny is entertaining and sexy is thrilling.
The Relationship Trio
(Family, Friends, Lover)
Don’t like going solo? You don’t have to! I’ve attempted to plan costumes with both my friends and family, and both attempts have failed… However, if the people you know are as excited about Halloween as you are, this is an excellent opportunity to impress everyone with a group of killer costumes. There are numerous popular family and friend dynamics to choose from in the media. They don’t even have to be friends or family; they can just be characters from the same series or costumes with the same theme, and it will all come together quite well!
For the fortunate… those who have lovers, couples… Duos are extremely popular Halloween Costumes. It could be as simple as Ketchup and Mustard, or as unique as The President and The First Lady. Not in a relationship but want to dress up as a famous duo? No big deal, find a furry friend, parent, sibling, close cousin, or your #1 Bestie to join you in a costume instead.
The Male, The Female, and the What?
(Male Character, Female Character, Gender Bend a Character)
Gender does not have to be a problem for Halloween. It can also be something enjoyable, novel, and exciting to explore. Perhaps there is a character of a different gender that you admire and believe you can do a fantastic costume and impression of. Then, of course, there’s that one person or character who is your gender. But is there a way to really shake things up? Yes! A gender-bent version of someone or something. Danny Phantom was transformed into a female by me. Lil Nas X was Nicki Minaj in her “Superbass” music video in 2020. The possibilities are endless.
Easy, Medium, Hard Difficulty
(Simple DIY, Budget Friendly Bought, Budget Splurge)
Perhaps you prefer to imagine this as a video game with varying levels of difficulty. Going from something really simple and easy to make to something medianly difficult to buy to something difficult and time-consuming to make yourself or spend money on. I believe that the more time, effort and FUNDS invested in a costume, the better it will turn out. Perhaps you’re reusing clothes from your closet, or you’re going to the store to purchase fabric. Maybe you’re thrifting for different parts of your costume or composing it on Amazon. Each option you choose has a different level of difficulty.
Putting it on, doing your makeup, and other details contribute to how time-consuming it is for the finale. Personally, I prefer the medium difficulty level, purchasing ready-to-wear costumes and props. I don’t know how to do makeup, so I avoid it, but I have to make sure my wig looks decent, right?
Dressed For The Occassion
(Trick-or-treating, Pumpkin Patch, Party)
Is your Halloween schedule jam-packed with exciting events and plans? How about wearing a costume to each event you attend—if you’re into that, of course. I mean, I wouldn’t want to put on the same costume twice… but that’s just me. There are various levels of appropriation for each event. If you’re going trick-or-treating, you’ll want a costume that is both warm and family-friendly. Are you going to a pumpkin patch or an amusement park? Warm, but with a festive, fun or scary theme. Going to a party, hopefully indoors, so I can show a little more skin. If it’s full of adults or people your age, let your freak out. I wouldn’t want to wear my skimpy Starfire outfit outside, and you shouldn’t either.
By The People, For The People, To The People
(Popular Movie, Popular Show, Famous Celebrity)
The biggest problem I have when choosing costumes is that I want something recognizable and distinct. I don’t want to do anything that no one has ever heard of or that no one will understand. I mostly dress up to impress others. I had a lot of students wanting to take photos of me or with me when I wore Princess Peach to school, I could hear their snarky remarks as I passed through the hallways, and my friends hyped me up the entire time. I’d avoid the awkwardness of “What’s the occasion?” or “Who are you supposed to be?” if everyone knew who I was. Instead, I can be something that everyone can relate to and enjoy.
So, if you enjoy receiving attention or praise, I recommend dressing up as something that is currently trendy, relevant, or popular in the media. You can break this up with a popular movie, TV show, or a currently popular celebrity or musician. Anything relevant, and make it a theme.
Your Three Favorite Things
(Favorite Food, Favorite Animal, Favorite Color)
I wasn’t going to write about this, but I thought it was pretty funny and it might be something I try next year. Having three costumes based on three of your favorite things. I definitely want to do a Red Themed Costume next year, and I should have done it this year because my hair is literally red right now… In any case, dressing up as three of your favorite things can help you come up with a costume idea.
For instance, I’d probably dress up as a sunny-side-up egg, then Ariel from The Little Mermaid with her iconic red hair and finally a butterfly because eggs are my favorite food, red is my favorite color (it’s actually pink) and butterflies are my favorite animals. Isn’t it cute? Now you try!
Now that I’ve given you some ideas for making your Halloween the best one yet, I hope you can use all of these lovely ideas for yourself this year. It makes no difference whether you have one costume or several costumes. All that matters is that you are having fun and are pleased with your results. I know my costumes for Halloween aren’t exactly what I expected, but I’m excited to wear them wherever I go. Thank you for reading and have a spooky October!