Once the clock strikes midnight and it’s officially October, many fall enthusiasts jump right into planning their Halloween costumes. For some people, this is a task that takes months as they need to figure out what’s in their budget, what’s popular for that season, and whether or not they can pull it off. For most college students, it’s agreed that costumes tend to fall more on the side of DIY than store-bought.
Couples at the University of Maryland have it the same way. When it comes to planning what to wear for a night out with friends, deciding on a costume that both people can agree on is not easy work. How do couples decide on a costume they both like? How will they be able to afford it? I interviewed three couples to find out their opinions on couples costumes and get an inside look on what goes into the planning for some spooky duo looks.
For juniors Brennan Holloway and Madison Burinsky, couples costumes are a fun way to be crafty and express their funny sides. Burinsky, a junior multiplatform journalism major; and Holloway, a junior information sciences and history double major; have been dating for five months- making this Halloween their first for which they plan to do a couples costume.
Madison Burinsky and Brennan Holloway (Courtesy of Holloway)
Burinsky and Holloway both agree that couples costumes can be funny when people take the time to come up with good ideas. As Holloway expressed, “You can do them right and you could pull off costumes you can’t pull off by yourself.” Burinsky agreed, adding that “If you put in the effort, they could be funny.” When asked if they would be planning a couples costume for this year, Holloway and Burinsky responded enthusiastically, sharing their plans to be Flo from Progressive and Jake from State Farm.
“Jake from State Farm is not a particularly intricate one,” Holloway said when asked how they planned to create their costumes on a college budget. “Madi already bought the name tags. So now it’s up to me in the next twenty days to find a red polo t-shirt.”
Juniors Kate Deblasis and Nick Thomson are no first-timers when it comes to creating DIY costumes. Deblasis, a broadcast journalism major, and Thomson, an architecture major, have been together for two years, making this their second Halloween where they plan on wearing a couples costume.
Kate Deblasis and Nicholas Thomson (Courtesy of Deblasis)
Deblasis shared that couples’ costumes “…don’t necessarily have to be a romantic relationship. They could be with a friend. But it’s always a fun way to connect.” Thomson added, “I don’t really have a specific preference towards them, but they’re fun because I know Kate likes to do them.”
When asked if they dressed up last year, Thomson replied with a resounding, “Oh hell yeah…coolest couples costume you’ve ever seen in your life.” The couple shared a photo of their DIY Hans Solo and Princess Leia costume. Deblasis, who learned how to put her hair up with sock buns, also shared how her costume was made entirely of clothes from her closet and handmade belt accessories. Thomson explained that he and Deblasis went thrift shopping to complete the look, purchasing a Hanes T-shirt for two dollars and cutting it to create the iconic vest. How do they go about figuring out their costumes? Deblasis shared it’s about “Going into your own closet and seeing what you can make of it.”
Junior bioengineering major Natasha Kodgi shared a similar sentiment when it came to planning a couples costume with her boyfriend of one and a half years. “Our choice depends a lot on what we can pull off,” she said, explaining that most of her costume from last year was from items already in her closet.
Natasha Kodgi and Owen Roy (Courtesy of Kodgi)
Kodgi shared that Halloween is a way for people to be “extra” in a funny and cute way. Owen Roy, a junior Bioengineering major has an appreciation for people who can coordinate their costumes for the holiday. Roy shared, “If you can put together something that is clever and with someone else that’s a lot of effort.”
When asked how they came up with the idea for their costume, Roy said Kodgi has already wanted to be a playboy bunny. To complete his costume, the couple went to the thrift store to find a Hugh Hefner-esque bathrobe. Owen shared, “It’s a nice bathrobe. I kept that one.”
Designing their own costumes is nothing new for this couple. Both Roy and Kodgi shared that they spent past Halloweens putting their own costumes together. Kodgi said she was “…encouraged to make my own Halloween costumes from my parents.” When it comes to planning for this upcoming Halloween, they expressed their desire to do another couple’s costume, agreeing that to do it right they would need to put in a collaborative effort.
Creating a Halloween costume on a college budget is hard, especially if you have a significant other you want to share the fun with. For these three college couples, they can agree that while creating a costume can be a difficult and often a hands-on task, the end result is something that expresses their own personalities with someone they care for.