7 Popular Halloween Costume Ideas

With Halloween just around the corner, I thought it would be a great idea to discuss some costume ideas and tips. It’s not just an excuse for kids to dress up but for you too, so go for it!

• Make Your Own

Halloween costumes can be expensive and you may not be interested in spending hundreds of dollars on a costume. You could always make one at home. What you do would really depend on how creative you can get with your resources but some common ones are celebrity impersonations, wear your old school uniform, a cat with an eyeliner nose and whiskers, cowboy, costumes from the past decades of the 60s or 70s (or any decade of your choice!) etc.

• The Halloween Scare

It’s meant to be the scariest day of the year so the most commonly seen costumes would be witches, vampires, and Frankenstein and anything just as scary. You could even go as a mummy, a corpse bride, Freddie from Friday the 13th. The mask from the ‘Scream’ movies is really popular too. Basic Rule – if it’s scary, it’s a good costume!

• Hey Mr. President

Costume shops say that apparently the most popular costumes this year are masks of American presidential candidates Barrack Obama and John McCain, but the quickest selling ones are, hold your breath, Sarah Palin costumes! Ever since Tina Fey’s dead-on impersonation of the Republican Vice-Presidential candidate on Saturday Night Live, Palin, with her updo and rimless glasses, is now a symbol of popular culture. You could get one of those fantasy Sarah Palin costumes or just a moderately fashionable jacket, red pumps, a flag pin (definitely) and glasses should do just fine!

• Just Like the Movies (or Books)

Common yes, but very popular too. There’ so much to choose from! Superheroes (and heroines) are on top of the list with Wonder Woman, Catwoman, Super Girl, Spider Man, Super Man, Bat Man etc appearing on every corner on October 31st. But other popular movie and book characters are also those from Pirates of the Caribbean, Heath Ledger’s Joker, the Harry Potter characters, Alice in Wonderland, Dorothy and other Wizard of Oz stars…and the list goes on! You could even be a cartoon character!

• Celebrity Style

Some celebrities have unique style so dressing up as them could be fun. Michael Jackson in his gold and black costume and black dancing shoes; Elvis in his bell-bottoms; Axl Rose with his bandanna, blonde hair and blue jeans; Pink in her grunge rock style, Paris Hilton (blonde hair in braids with anything pink or shiny should do!); Madonna’s Material Girl look; Marilyn Monroe’s blond hair and famous white dress; Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s and basically anyone who stands out.

• Go Back in Time

This is also a quick fix you know. If you’ve left your costume decision to the last minute, you could always dress up like you’re back in the 60s, 70s or 80s. These decades had distinctive fashion styles so you’ll definitely stand out in your costume. It should be especially easy to find an 80s style neon costume, what with 80s fashion being so in now. You could even go back to the 20s and impersonate Great Gatsby-like characters.

• Pairing it Up

If you’re going out with a group of friends, it might be great to pick a theme and all of you could dress accordingly. You don’t have to be identical but say you could all be superheroes or celebrities or cartoon characters. Couple costumes are cute too. I once went out as Princess Amidala and my date was Darth Vader (from Star Wars). Other ideas could be Angel and Devil, Romeo and Juliet, Fred and Wilma Flintstone, Doctor and Nurse, Adam and Eve, Shrek and Fiona etc.

Get creative and use a little imagination, and I’m sure you’ll come up with a great costume for yourself. Being plus size is not a problem because most costume shops stock various sizes of all costumes. In fact, I found some retailers that sell only plus size costumes. But like I said, if you’re inclined towards creativity, make your own – not only will it fit you just right, it will also be unique!

Happy Halloween Everyone! Hope it’s evil, spooky and scary!

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