Colgate Couture: Halloween Advice

It’s almost Halloween, which means that underlying your midterm stress is the nagging question of what you will dress up as. In college, there are many opportunities to dress up throughout the year. And while this does mean we are more experienced in putting together a last-minute costume, it also means that there is an added stress to make your costume not only average-party passable but Halloween-epic. To help guide you through your costume panic, here are a couple approaches you can take next week. 

The first approach is clearly explained by “Mean Girls”:  “Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like total sluts and no other girls can say anything about it.” While wearing some form of animal ears with lingerie might sound appealing to some, I feel like the appeal was lost the moment I saw Regina George prancing around as her dad watched in horror. But if you do feel the urge to be extremely sexy this Halloween, I’m not here to judge. In many ways, this is one of the most cost-effective costumes you can wear this Halloween season. Just some cheap animal ears and some lingerie you can save for a later, less public date. But keep in mind that Campus Safety will stop you if they don’t think you are wearing real clothing (I know from experience with an incident involving a nude bodysuit).

If you decide that being a sexy animal is not your thing, there are some other options. The next is to be punny. Being punny and clever has gotten more and more popular as we have gotten older. Some do punny well, but most do it as a cop-out. If you are going to be clever for Halloween, go all out for it. Don’t just write “Go Ceilings” on a white T-shirt and expect anyone to think you dressed up. You better get those pompoms, pleated skirt, foam finger and every other absurd accessory to be a “Ceiling Fan.” The bottom line: to be appropriately punny, accessories are your friends. Lame pun costumes are only acceptable in class.

Recently, my favorite option has been cultural references.While most people will choose a clich?e for this, aka anything having to do with “Star Wars,” this Halloween I urge you to think outside of the box. For example, art history students, dress up as your favorite artist or painting. The tough part for this approach is that it can get kind of expensive, with a price tag usually around $80 for pre made costumes.

However, for those who have a generous ‘Gate Card endowment, I have good news! The bookstore now has a Halloween pop-up shop, which makes buying costumes not only convenient but also payable with ‘Gate Cash. Unfortunately, even the most na??ve of parents will probably have a hard time believing that your laundry costs that much, especially if it’s already paying for your Slices addiction. So, I suggest you just be creative with the clothes you and your friends already have. I’m sure if you throw enough of those clothes you never wear together and cut up some of those free shirts you’ve collected, you can be anything you want.

If this article has only made you even more stressed out because you can’t even choose an approach, take a deep breath. There is a minimum of three days of Halloween, so you can use every single approach I have outlined. And, if you still have no clue what you are going to be, you better hop to it. You’ve only got a week to go! Good luck everyone – I can’t wait to see all your beautiful costumes downtown next week.