As an intense lover of Halloween, nothing bothers me more than when people slack off on their costumes. You’ve got the girl who’ll wear a little black dress and then throw on a pair of cat ears, or the guy who thinks he can get away with a pair of sunglasses and a suit and go as one of the Men in Black. Halloween is such an amazing opportunity to be creative and be someone you’re not and people choose to just throw on any old thing and pass that off as a costume??
Not anymore! As a Halloween addict, I will say that these classic costumes do have their good sides, there’s a reason they’re classics, but the best part of Halloween is getting the chance to stand out and be creative and you can’t do that if you’re just any old witch or vampire. Never fear (at least no more than expected), I’m going to give you a list of ways to take your boring classics and give them a unique twist.
1. Take your favorite costume and put it in your favorite time period.
Say you want to be a devil, but literally everyone you know is wearing devil horns and their favorite red dress. So the best way to stand out from this crowd is fluffing out your hair, covering yourself in red sequins and being a disco devil. Maybe you prefer the ’20s and the flapper look, in this case take your classic witch and slap on a witches’ hat and a fringe black dress and grab your broomstick and you’ve got yourself a costume different from all others.
2. Take the darker costumes and mix them with a cliché lighter one.
Think bloodsucking mermaid or maybe a zombie fairy. You’ll end up with a romantic spooky sort of look that is a direct contradiction of itself.
3. Go as a character dressed as demon of the night.
One of my favorite movies to watch come October is “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” and one of the best most classic scenes is when Charlie Brown is dressed as a ghost and all he got trick or treating was a rock. Instead of your usual ghost, all you need is a yellow and black striped shirt and maybe a sign reading “I got a rock” and you’re an instant hit.
4. Go as your younger self dressed as one of the classics.
When I was a kid, I worked extra hard in making my ghost costume, and last year I found a tulle dress that would be the perfect costume to give myself a nostalgic throwback. Make sure to put each picture side by side on your next #throwbackthursday or better yet, carry the old picture around with you.
5. Think specifics.
Instead of being a princess, put in the extra effort and be Princess Peach. Or if you want a creepier look, you could dress as a Sanderson Sister of the “Hocus Pocus” instead of just being any old witch and go with two of your besties. The possibilities are endless.
6. Take your fairytale creature a step further into the land of myth.
Everyone’s going to be a mermaid; you however are going to be a different creature of the sea, the badass siren, ready to break a million hearts. Some people want to be a black cat, you take it to Egyptian mythology, being the animal that was worshipped an d considered sacred throughout the country.
Happy haunting collegiettes, don’t take my advice lightly. Stand out from the crowd Halloween night and take the streets by storm!