International relations senior Ethan Guy made from cardboard the symbol that once represented the musician Prince for his Halloween costume.
—As the ghouls and goblins come out of the woodwork Friday, most everyone will be looking to dress up and make their way to parties.
Whether you’re going to be a sexy nurse, vampire or something entirely new, Halloween can be as original and inexpensive as you make it.
Cliché? No way
The sexy nurse. The naughty schoolgirl. The cheerleader.
Sound familiar?
At any given Halloween college party, you’ll likely find multiple versions of the aforementioned costumes, as well as dozens of other walking clichés that say one thing: I couldn’t think of something better.
Dressing up doesn’t mean everyone has to look the same, said interior design senior Megan Fasel, who’s planning a costume party Thursday for members of the School of Planning, Design & Construction at Dublin Square Irish Pub, 327 Abbot Road.
“Last year, I know a (costume) winner came as the Energizer Bunny, and they had the whole drum that they actually wore, and you could put candy in the drum,” Fasel said. “But dressing kind of trashy? It’s expected somehow, and it’s kind of fun to do it once a year.”
Interior design senior Brooke Arciniega said originality is tough for college students. Budget and time can be issues, but the key is to spice up your theme, she said.
“For a vampire costume, let’s say, I feel I would just, obviously, do certain things you have to do, like vampire teeth,” Arciniega said. “To make it your own, I’d make sure I found certain articles of clothing that are really different and unique, then the way I would wear my makeup and hair.”
“Add different things to go the extra mile and make it scarier or more creative — not the generic Halloween costume in a plastic bag.”
In with the new
Every year brings new costumes. Some are pop-culture phenomena, others happen to pop up in the news.
This year, costumes related to the election, which is four days later, likely will be popular. The costumes are fairly simply to pull together – just grab a shirt and tie.
According to the Halloween USA corporate offices, The Joker from “The Dark Night,” “High School Musical” and new “Star Wars” costumes are most popular this year for all ages.
Other likely costumes to be seen will be from popular movies this summer that can be thrown together fairly easily.
“In a crunch it would be easy to find some army fatigues and pull off ‘Tropic Thunder,’” criminal justice freshman Sam Holton said. “Pull on some pajamas for ‘Pineapple Express’ or go for the Commissioner Gordon (from ‘The Dark Knight’) look with a suit and tie.”
Halloween, round 2
Children throughout the country dress up for trick-or-treating. College students dress up for parties.
“Kids are definitely the main focus of Halloween nowadays,” Gajda said. “They take more time planning their costumes.”
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According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 36 million children ages 5-13, trick-or-treated in 2007. Numbers for teenagers were not available.
Although children are fueled by the sweetness of candy and the fact some houses will hand out better candy for cooler costumes, high schoolers might grow out of trick-or-treating.
“There for sure is a large gap in age for dressing up,” Gajda said. “It might just be because teens don’t want to be the norm, so they make their own costumes and configure funny things on their own.
For college students, dressing up is more of a novelty and usually done purely for good times.
“I haven’t dressed up in probably 5 years, but I’m probably going to this year, just because everyone else is,” mechanical engineering freshman O.J. Agari said.
Less green on Halloween
Money is always an issue for a college student, but there are ways to come up with something original without going broke.
Fasel said the best accessories she’s found for her costumes have been buried deep in the closet or around the house.
But when you do need to make a purchase, craft stores are perfect for the college budget, she said.
“If you’re on an extremely small budget I’d look at (The Salvation Army) or at (Goodwill Industries International),” Fasel said. “Get something retro and do the hippie, the ’80s businesswoman, an aerobics instructor.”
If you aren’t into building a costume from scratch, thrift stores offer an array of full costumes, wigs and combinations of ’60s and ’70s clothing that easily can be put together.
Danielle Merckling, co-owner of Scavenger Hunt, 503 E. Grand River Ave., said retro costumes work well because they’re stylish and easy to wear.
“You get to go out in something that’s comfortable. You get to wear real clothes instead of costumes from a bag that may or may not fit,” he said.
