Halloween always seems to creep up on us (pardon the pun) and I don’t know about you, but a £25 Latex Zombie Mask isn’t exactly an essential for my wardrobe… If you’re on a budget and can’t face being that party-pooper without a costume, here are 3 ideas you can whip up in a flash without spending a single penny.
1. The Frightful Family Member
There’s got to be at least one person in your family who has a distinctive quality – be it the classic grey perm of a Grandma or the pretty pink hair ribbons of a little sister… basically, just pinch someone else’s clothes for the evening. You could go all-out and buy a wig if you were feeling fancy, but dressing as a parent, grandparent or sibling simply by using what’s available is guaranteed to cause hilarity (unless of course you didn’t ask for the items first). To add a cheap Halloween twist, apply ketchup/diluted red food colouring/tomato puree around your mouth, keeping it agape whilst walking slowly with your arms outstretched. Sorted.
2. The Ghost of Christmas Present
The classic solution for costume dilemmas is, of course, the white bedsheet with holes for the eyes. Fetching, but why ruin a perfectly good sheet when you’ve got bin bags lying around ladies and gentlemen?! That’s right, simply rip a hole in the bottom for your head and you’ve got a beautiful dress. Give yourself a couple of arm holes too if you’re feeling restricted. White bin bags are, evidently, ideal, but black ones will also do because ghosts can do whatever they want as far as I know. (Or – ‘because why shouldn’t ghosts be racially diverse?’ didn’t know if that was politically correct enough…) You could leave it at that, but if you’re looking for more of a theme, wrapping yourself in tinsel, ribbons, and battery operated fairy lights can give you an immediate resemblance to The Ghost of Christmas Present from Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”. Some may argue that it has absolutely nothing to do with Halloween, but if they confront you about it, just make a ghostly noise and flounce away in your bin bag as if your dignity is still intact.
3. The Fortune Teller of Terror
This one’s pretty easy, especially for us ladies – take every piece of jewellery you own and cover yourself in it, focussing on your hands and wrists. You could even draw some symbols on your arms with an eyeliner pencil or tie some beads into your hair. Oh, and by adding fake blood (or something similar) to your hands your costume will become 10 times creepier. Round, thick rimmed glasses are perfect, but if you don’t have those just go heavy on the eye make up for a dramatic effect – add a dark colour under the eyes and around your cheekbones if you’re going for a more zombified Fortune Teller. Maybe backcomb your hair too so you look a bit wild. A white/purple balloon taped into a flower pot makes a smashing crystal ball, and for clothes anything with a bit of colour will do the trick. To really make this costume work for Halloween, you have to play the part! Think Harry Potter’s Professor Trelawney meets some kind of horror movie villain.
So if you’ve found yourself walking around in a bin bag, your mother’s clothes, or generally looking like some sort of alien accident, fear not! Take solace in the fact that somebody, somewhere, will probably be wearing a costume even worse than yours.
(Although, it’s unlikely.)