Psst: If you’re still looking for a Halloween costume idea, you might enjoy this article from the BQ archives…

Halloween is just around the corner and if you’ve been into a costume shop recently, you know that store bought costumes do not come cheap.

Most costumes are only worn once or twice, giving them a very high cost-per-wear — and assuming that you get into the holiday spirit, you can expect to wear a different costume each year. That really adds up over time!

Fortunately, there are plenty of great costumes that you can put together using stuff you already have — and without much prep work. Here are some tips to help you (or your kids) look fabulous this Halloween without spending too much time or money.

Raid your closet for costume ideas

The most obvious place to look for ideas is in your closet. Clothes are an essential part of your costume, even if they’re just the foundation.

Don’t forget to check any clothes you have in storage, as well as your regular closet.

Here are some costume ideas:

Overdo a trend for a frightening Halloween look!

Normally, you want to avoid overdoing a trend because it looks too obvious and ridiculous. Not so with costumes!

The 80s revival is a current trend that makes a truly frightening costume if you overdo it. If you or a relative still have clothes from the 80s — or you bought a few too many of the 80’s inspired pieces that have been popular recently — you can pile them all on, tease and hairspray your hair and you’re ready to go.

While this isn’t frightening in the horror movie sense, you can expect everyone who lived through the 80s to shudder when they see your costume, as the memories of fashion crimes past come flooding back to them.

Boho is another recent trend that makes a great costume. Wear it top-to-toe, stick a flower in your hair and you’re a hippie.

Uniforms make perfect Halloween costumes

No, we’re not just talking about the standard ‘naughty nurse’ outfits here!

In our daily life, we all have different roles to play — like student, housewife, mother or lawyer — and each has its own uniform. To turn it into a great Halloween costume, simply put yourself in someone else’s uniform or even take your own to a ridiculous level.

For example, Halloween is Here gives this example of a “frazzled housewife” costume:

Wear your hair in rollers, put on a green facial mask or green face paint, wear pajamas, black socks, ratty slippers and a dirty bathrobe tied cock-eyed. Put a TV Guide and a remote in your pocket, carry a crusty spatula, optional cigarette hanging out of mouth, use brown eye shadow under your eyes to make bags.

Sounds like a scary look to me!

Wear a ’stereotype’ costume

Dressing as a stereotype can make a hilarious Halloween costume.

For example, you could go as a school girl. Just wear white knee-highs, a mini-skirt (especially if it’s plaid or pleated), a button up cotton shirt and a blazer reminiscent of a school uniform. Put your hairs up in pig tails with some ribbon and wear some flashy jewelry.

Or go as a tourist. Here’s how from Robin’s FYI:

Guys loud Hawaii shirt, shorts (if weather permits), Large straw hat. Gals bright loud dress, flats, big sun hat, straw bag. Don’t forget to have a camera, and maps hanging out, and that look of being lost. Guys can use a tourist bag, (like you get from travel agents), and gals can use the straw bag for their treats.

Just steer clear of politically incorrect stereotypes if you care what your neighbors say about you afterwards!

Resurrect your formal wear this Halloween

Halloween could be the opportunity to get some more use out of those formal wear pieces that you’ve been keeping. The undead are snappy dressers!

Make your complexion pale by covering your face in pale foundation and not using any blush.

Then to become a vampire, add deep red lipstick to your lips and either dripping from or smudged around them. Do up your eyes with eye liner, eye shadow and mascara for a sexy, hypnotic look.

To be a zombie, use foundation over your lips to make them super pale, then use eye shadow all around your eyes. Many common colors work well, including plum, gray, and brown.

Use solid colors as a base for your costume

Solid colors can be the base for a lot of different costumes where you just add one or two pieces that you may already have, or that you could make easily.

For example, start with an all black outfit. Here’s how to turn it into a costume:

• Add some cryptic looking jewelry, a shawl, a magic wand (a stick will work just fine) and an old-fashioned broom if you have one, to become a wicked witch.
• Attach some paper kitty ears to a headband, pin a long black sock to your tush, and you can go as a kitty cat.
• Paint your face with white grease paint, add a black cap and you’re a mime.
• Take a blue shirt and pin cotton balls to it and you’re the sky.

You can do similar things with outfits of other colors too. For example, with the right accessories (think: a flower in your hair and some mini cymbals) a red skirt and top becomes a flamenco dancer costume.

Explore your stuff for suitable props

Why buy a plastic imitation of something that you might already have? Items around your house or garage can be great props for your costume.

Turn your hobby into a costume

Do you have painting supplies? Throw on some paint splattered clothes, bring your supplies, and go as an artist.

Do you knit? Use your knitting as part of a granny costume.

And remember, you can add “undead” to your costume with the zombie makeup mentioned above. A golfer might not be too interesting, but an undead golfer is.

Become a household item this Halloweeen

Instead of using an item as a prop, why not become the item?

• Tape spice bottles to your shirt to be a spice rack.
• Use a box to make yourself into a television — just cut a hole in the side so that people can see your head as the program, and then draw buttons along the bottom.
• My husband, a techie through and through, went as a wiring closet by wrapping himself in computer networking cables.

The pen is mightier than the sword

Sometimes all you need is a pen and paper — or a shirt that you don’t mind writing on (you might want to use a washable marker).

The black-eyed pea is a costume classic. Draw a big “P” on your shirt, then darken the area around one eye with dark eye shadow.

And don’t underestimate simply carrying a sign. At the Costume Idea Zone, one person submitted this idea:

Dress in normal clothes and carry a sign that says “Nudist on Strike.”

An idea like this would certainly get some laughs this Halloween!

Have a fun and safe Halloween

Whatever costume you decide on, make sure that it’s safe. Make sure that you can see clearly and that you can be clearly seen, and that you aren’t likely to trip over your own costume.

After all, the only blood spilt should be fake blood. Happy Halloween!

Photo: Cindy / wxmom