With Halloween right around the corner, everyone’s thinking about how to execute the best costume. But how do you come up with something original and still obvious to others? As a true Halloween geek, I take my costume planning very seriously, so I’ve come up with a few questions to consider when planning the perfect Halloween costume.
What characters do you resonate with?
Of course, the whole idea of Halloween is to dress up as someone else, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you should be someone totally untrue to you or your style. Personally, I love picking someone to dress up as that’s a childhood favorite or with whom I share some similar attribute. For example, as a redhead, I usually pick someone with red hair because I know people will be able to make the connection between my character and me more easily. I also like to pick someone whose personality matches mine so it’s effortless for me to get into the character.
What clothes do you already have that you can use for your costume?
Depending on how committed to the character you are, there can be a lot of very specific wardrobe pieces or props necessary to really sell it. And if you’re going out for more than one night of Halloween (as I will be), you’ll need more than one costume. But finding all those pieces can become complicated and expensive, and no one wants to drop hundreds of dollars on outfits they‘ll likely only wear once. My recommendation is to check out the clothes you already have to see what you can re-purpose for your costumes. Odds are you’ll have at least a couple pieces you can use, so you’ll ideally only need to buy a couple complementary pieces or props to complete your costumes.
What have other people dressed up as and how did they execute?
Although you want your costume to be original and stand out, if you’re really stumped while coming up with ideas, you can get inspiration by looking at what other people have dressed up as in the past. Asking friends to show you their old costumes or even just searching online can be great first steps for finding the right character for you. Also, once you’ve decided who you want to be, looking at others’ similar costumes can serve as advice on how to best create that character for you. You shouldn’t copy someone else, but take their ideas and combine them with your own in order to create a creative, convincing costume that’s still true to you.
Which friends can dress up with you?
There are some costumes that don’t need any further context, but others can be hard for people to figure out no matter how well you execute. No one wants to have to explain their costume all night, so if someone isn’t totally convinced by your costume, dressing up with a group can help make it more obvious to others who you are. You know what they say: strength comes in numbers! In my opinion, group costumes are also the most fun because you get to plan your outfits and go all out with your friends.
If you’ve already decided to be someone scary or another more involved costume, then my advice may not be as helpful for you. But if you’re usually not too excited about Halloween or are just really stumped in planning your costume, hopefully these tips can help you decide on the perfect character, execute it originally and get really excited about the holiday.
Images courtesy of abc and soniederhofer on Twitter