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I’m sorry, but I’m tired of seeing it. The same revolving door of costumes for college girls that plague the overcrowded frat houses and bustling streets on Halloween night every year. The cat ears, devil horns and baseball jerseys need to go because we definitely have more creativity than that ladies. Below is a cohesive list of genuinely creative costume ideas that can be put together with mostly pre-owned items and some last-minute shopping sprees with friends. Let’s shoot for the stars this year and make it our goal to stand out rather than blend in with the fifty other Squid Game players and guards! We got this!
- Your Inner aesthetic
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Cottagecore, dark academic, grunge? Find your inner aesthetic and create a costume based on it! If you’re cottagecore, wear a loose floral dress with pastel colors, a dainty flower crown, and carry around flowers and paintbrushes. If you’re more dark academia, wear vintage or traditional clothing pieces while carrying around the collected works of famous writers like Emerson and Thoreau. Own your super creative take on the look and get other people to join in too so you can cover all of the currently popular aesthetics!
- Taylor Swift Eras
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The woman, the myth, the legend. Miss Taylor Swift. Iconic as hell and gracing our music libraries for fifteen years now, Swift has embodied many different aesthetics of her own throughout the years with the release of each new album. From the country girl days of Fearless to the edgy look of Reputation and the more recent soft-folk aesthetic of folklore and evermore, there are truly so many eras to choose from.
- Country versus country club
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While more than one person is necessary for this costume to work, it is super simple and easy to create with items you (most likely) have already lying in the bottom of your closet. Face off with country versus country club, having some of your group dress up in Western-themed outfits (flannels, cowgirl boots & hat, bandanas), while the other group members go preppy and rich (sweaters tied around their necks, pearls, tennis skirts). Put those sweater-vests to good use, I know you have them!
- Album Covers
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There are plenty of iconic album covers (and even movie posters if you wanted to broaden your scope further!) that you could recreate as a super cute and unique Halloween look. From The Beatles’ famed Abbey Road to Olivia Rodrigo’s record-breaking Sour album, there are plenty of easy costumes that draw inspiration from musical covers. Even easier, go for albums with artists in an interesting makeup look that will give you the chance to show off your artistic abilities (such as Halsey’s Manic album!).
- Everyday People Doing Everyday Things
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A viral trend on Twitter, take a humorous route for your costume this year and dress up as a regular person doing everyday activities. Note: the more people that join in with this plan, the funnier it gets. An example of this could be “carrying in groceries when Mom gets home,” and you dress in loungewear with high heels, because naturally all of your shoes go missing when it’s time to help unload the car. Another idea could be “person about to win Uno!” and you carry around a single Uno card while plastering a devious smile across your face. These kinds of costumes are all about creativity and having a good sense of humor, plus they are absolutely hilarious, so give it a try!
- Your Friends
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To make costume picking even more fun, get together with your group of friends and pick one another’s names out of hat. Then, as I’m sure you can guess, dress up as the friend whose name you pulled! Even more fun, have a competition to guess which person everyone is dressed as. The person with the most accuracy wins!
- Astrology/zodiac
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Adding a twist to the typical sun and moon goddess costumes seen every year, take those gold tights and bicep bangles to the next level by becoming your own zodiac sign! Embody your sign fully by taking on the main personality traits (if you don’t already have them, of course), repping your zodiac symbol, and adding any other astrology related pieces to your outfit. I’d love to see some fellow Geminis represent!
While just a few of the infinite possibilities of costumes that break out of the confines of mediocrity established in the past, we think these could really spice up your Halloween night this year. Tag Her Campus at UCLA in your pictures on social media so we can see your takes on these costumes! And remember: stay safe, have fun, and Happy Halloween! <3