What makes for a great Halloween costume? There are four categories of greatness:
- cultural references
- creative
- funny
- sexy
Cultural reference costumes:
These costumes need to be timely. Don’t dig out that Dougie Houser costume from 1980 if you want to score points in this category. And no one wants to see your leggings and knee socks circa 1982 that have been living in the bottom of your closet for longer than millennials have been alive.
With politics as crazy as they are currently, you have lots of public figures to choose from. Just make sure that you know the crowd you’ll engage with so as not to offend anyone. With that caveat, we reccomend: Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Kim Jong-un, Vladmir Putin, or Pope Francies.
Checkout these rankings for other ideas of world leaders to copy:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/204073/5-most-popular-politicians-facebook-pages/
Want to stay away from politics? Don’t worry, some days we prefer to bury our heads in the sand too. It’s probably safer in regards to maintaining your friendships. Instead of leveraging the political realm you can reference current shows and media icons. Some of our favorites from 2018 include:
- Bjorn Lothbrok — “Vikings”
- Handmades Tale
- Black Panther
- DeadPool
- Han Solo Star Wars
The biggest drawback from creating a cultural reference Halloween costume is that by next season your costume will be passe, but don’t let that hold you back. If you’re the type to make your own costume, your going to be itching to create something new in a year anyway. Let’s move on to the next category.
Creative
Anything goes in the creative category. Each year we are ceaselessly amazed at the bounds of the human imagination. Sometimes the best way to find creativity is through constriction: I’ve got some fabric, a newborn, a baby carrier, and I love Austin Powers – Voila an amazing costume finds it’s way.
Have a large group and everybody wants in on the action? What about a giant Tetris simulation, or characters from your favorite sitcom. Perhaps you could try micro-dosing and let your imagination run wild coming up with ideas like mimicking a Roy Lichentstien painting or enhancing the eyebrows on your child for a Frida Kahlo costume.
There is no secret sauce to coming up with an amazing creative costume. Some of the best are the ones that have a great story. Who knows, maybe you’ll meet that someone special because you came up with a costume that requires explanation – what the hell is that?
Funny
Next in our series of amazing Halloween costume ideas is the funny category. Anything that gets someone else laughing is sure to be a success. If you have a pet you can endlessly amuse yourself and your friends by dressing it up in a ridiculous costume. I dare ask – what isn’t funny about a dog-pirate or scuba-cat?
When we are bored we dress up our MJTrends mascot Taco, a half Pomerian and half Chihuahua seven-pound dog, in a variety of costumes. She loves the attention and we love the laughs.
Gender-bender costumes are always a riot. Can you tell me why a large size macho man dressed as a woman is so funny? We won’t go into our own warped psychology other than to say that this always generates chuckles. However, we will offer one piece of advice – if you’re a guy and you’re going to cross sides, make sure you don’t do too good of a job. The humor is in the fail – guys who dress up as a girl but look nothing like one. Consider our hairy chested mermaid below:
Sexy:
Sorry guys, but this is for women only. It’s that time of year, when a woman can experiment with showing some skin and let her hair down without judgement. Enjoy telling others what to do? Perhaps a vinyl clad dominatrix would be a good fit. But maybe you’re more on the passive side. Maid’s costumes are a dime a dozen this time of year.
Take a walk on the wild side with latex or leather. Do you have pent up resentment at your Catholic upbringing? A custom nun’s habit could be your redemption. Just don’t forget Psalm 51 for the morning after.
If you have a partner you can ask him/her what their fantasy is and then cater your outfit to their tastes. I always had this weird crush on a female version of Where’s Waldo… but I digress. If you buy an off-the-shelf sexy halloween costume, be ready with a needle and thread. Unless you are the 10% of the population that is the perfect height and shape, you may end up with less than perfection.
We would advise making a costume yourself, or checking the fit of an off-the-rack item prior to buying it. It is possible to alter an existing outfit to fit as long as you understand the possibilities.
Halloween is the one time of the year when you can indulge in dress up play, whether it is funny or fantasy. Don’t let the holiday pass you by. And if we can be of help in any way, please be sure to contact us (sales@MJTrends.com). We would love to help you with your costume whether it is in selecting a fabric or assisting with a custom pattern.
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I like how you broke it into four categories, especially the reminder that cultural references need to be current, not some dusty Doogie Howser throwback nobody recognizes anymore.
Ending with the idea that Halloween is the one time to fully indulge in dress-up really ties together all four categories nicely.
The point about knowing your crowd before going political with costumes like Trump or Bernie is spot on, since not every party wants that kind of energy.
Your suggestion to ask a partner about their fantasy adds a personal angle that a lot of costume guides skip entirely.
Dressing up pets like your dog Taco as a pirate or scuba diver sounds like half the fun of Halloween, not just something for kids or adults.
The reminder that cultural reference costumes expire quickly makes me feel better about not reusing last year’s TV-inspired outfit.
Your examples from 2018 like Black Panther and Handmaid’s Tale really show how fast pop culture cycles, making last year’s costume feel outdated almost instantly.
That micro-dosing joke in the creative section caught me off guard, but it fits with the idea of letting imagination run wild.
It’s refreshing that you acknowledged political costumes can damage friendships, which a lot of Halloween articles completely ignore.
I appreciated the honest note that sexy costumes often need tailoring unless you’re in that small percentage that fits off-the-rack perfectly.
I never thought about constraints boosting creativity, but the Tetris group costume example really proves that limitations can spark better ideas than endless options.
That line about costumes with a story helping you meet someone made me laugh, but it’s true that people gravitate toward things they don’t immediately understand.
The hairy chested mermaid example perfectly captures your point about humor coming from the obvious mismatch rather than realism.
The advice on gender-bender costumes being funniest when they’re intentionally imperfect is interesting, since trying too hard can actually kill the joke.
The creative section with the Austin Powers baby carrier idea was hilarious and actually inspiring for anyone trying to build something memorable from random materials.