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DIY last-minute Halloween costumes

Christina Laderoute
Connector Editor

It is that time of the semester to dress up and have some fun. Forgetting to acquire a costume can be stressful, but not the end of the world with this do-it-yourself (DIY) guide to last-minute costumes.

One option is to dress as a potato. This effortless look only requires a brown t-shirt. To make it more detailed, dots can be added to the shirt to portray the texture of a potato. Using make up to contour and bronze exposed skin can help achieve a more potato-like appearance.
To channel one’s inner Eleven from “Stranger Things,” the only items needed are a pink dress and a box of Eggo’s. Makeup-wise, a bit of darker eyeshadow around the face and a drip of red liquid lipstick under the nose will really bring this outfit to life.

For a more eccentric look, there is the alien. This look consists of a holographic or shiny shirt, dress, pants or skirt. Silver accents on the face can add to this look and really give off an otherworldly feeling. To go above and beyond, there are alien headbands available online.
A costume that has recently been on the rise is the pineapple-strawberry duo. This one includes a little bit of crafting. The pieces needed for these are a yellow and pink, or red, shirt, a sharpie, tape and green construction paper. The black sharpie is to draw the spiky texture on the pineapple and the tape is to create simple seeds on the strawberry. The green construction paper is to make the stem headpieces.

Sophomore mechanical engineering major Brianna Goerke has other ideas for her costume. She said, “I have a mermaid shirt and I’m getting mermaid scale leggings at Wal-Mart.”

Goerke also said that she saw a post online about how to make a DIY mermaid crown from dollar store items. To go with a mermaid costume, a simple but beautiful makeup look can be created with fish net tights and eyeshadow.

For people who want to do costumes together, a funny costume option is Bob Ross and a painting. This requires a bit more effort than others but could potentially be impressive. Things needed for this costume include an afro wig, painting tools and a painted shirt.

For something even simpler, there is the salt and pepper costume. One person wears a black shirt while the other wears a white shirt. Cut out an ‘S’ and ‘P’ from black and white paper, tape it to the shirts and this completes the duo ensemble.

Lastly, for those people that are not big on effort, there is one of the world’s easiest costumes: the cat. Black shirt, black pants, face paint to make whiskers and a nose, and cat ears.

Costumes complete the Halloween experience, but do not always have to be complicated or expensive.

Christina Laderoute

Music photojournalist. President of UML's student-run record label, Seven Six Records.

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