Every Halloween, I always struggle to figure out a costume. Ever since I got to high school, my costumes were usually a pop culture character that happened to dress like I do every day, or I decided that I was going to dress as a witch for the 50th time in a row. Now that I am in college, there is definitely more of a culture around dressing up and knowing what you want to be. Last year, I dressed as Freddy Kruger (not only did I not watch any of the films, but the most Freddy Kruger aspect of my outfit was a red sweater with some black stripes).
Now that I am actually prepared for Halloween, I decided on dressing up as Veronica Sawyer from Heathers: The Musical (a musical that I did watch, alongside the original movie). I do still remember the pain of having to figure out how to dress up, so I decided to make a list of costumes that I want to see and costumes that I don’t want to see.Â
Some of these costumes are costumes that I want to do in the future, and other costumes are costumes that I’ve seen other people do (shout out to my roommate, suitemate, and everyone that went out with me Halloweekend last year for providing some inspiration for this list). The costumes that I don’t want to see are partially inspired by myself and partially inspired by real costumes that I have seen people discuss wearing online (thankfully, I have never seen any of them).Â
Costumes I want to see.
- Celebrities: Try to find some merch from your favorite music artist, or try to remake a music video costume to replicate for the season. If you still have your outfit from a tour, you may even reuse it as a fun Halloween costume. If you need a very quick costume, you can recreate the Junior Jewels set from “You Belong With Me” and have people you meet sign your shirt!
- Heathers/Musicals: I am personally biased with this one since I am going to go as Veronica Sawyer from the Broadway show Heathers. As someone who loves musicals, I would love to see what creative ideas people will bring for specific musicals like Hamilton. If you are looking for some inspiration from the Wharton Center, you can dress as characters from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Notebook, and Antigone.Â
- Animals: I know it’s a classic, but animals are always a cute costume to see. The classic doe will always have my heart, along with cats. If you want to have some more niche but identifiable costumes, you can dress as a bee, dog, or dinosaur.
- Anything that fits under “Gay Halloween”: I, too, hate Gay Halloween (just kidding, I love Gay Halloween). All you need to do is find a niche pop culture reference and go all out on it. For this year, you can dress up as Channing Tatum’s burner account or Haaland and his raccoon.Â
- Victoria’s Secret Angels: Coming right in after the Victoria’s Secret fashion show, it can be fun to wear an outfit adjacent to the one that was worn by Kylie Jenner during the event or anything that merges angels and winter. Make sure you wear your wings while you strut in your costume.
Costumes I don’t want to see.
- Bear and Nikki (or any other toxic x victim pairing): If I see someone who dresses up as Bear and Nikki, I will be very concerned. While Nikki has some very good outfits, that does not mean that it is appropriate to dress as a victim of abuse and her abuser, and play it off as a cute costume. Instead of Bear and Nikki, you can take out Bear entirely, or dress up as Rory Gilmore and Logan Huntzberger (or another iconic duo).
- Real life violent criminals: A robber duo like Bonnie and Clyde can be a cute costume, but dressing up as a famous murderer is something that is off the table for a reason. I beg you to reconsider your costume if you go with this choice, because it can retraumatize the family of the victim. Instead, you can try for a pop culture villain, especially one that belongs in a Halloween movie.
- Siblings couples costume: Please don’t go as a sibling duo like Mabel and Dipper with your significant other. It can be a very cute outfit to go out with your best friend, but with a partner, the vibe of the costume can dramatically change. You can also decide to go as the parents of the siblings, or find a fun duo that isn’t related like Winnie the Pooh and Piglet.
- No costume: I mean it goes without saying, if you are going to go with no costume, I suggest saying you’re dressed up as a modern TV show character that you look like or have a similar aesthetic to. You can also base your costume off of “vibes,” such as a beachy 1989 costume or a country Applejack costume for a fun throwback.
Hopefully, this list will be helpful for you as you prepare your Halloween costume for this year and for many years after.