Costumes! Costumes! Costumes!

How to Get Great Ideas For Your Halloween Costume

You’ve been invited to a Halloween party?  Do you need a Halloween costume? Dilemma, dilemma.   Where do you begin and where do you look for ideas? It might depend on your personality and your interests. 

As a starting point, do you want to be you or do you want to be someone, something else?

Perhaps you are an Type A personality or are you a Type B personality?  With a change of costume, a mask, a dab of makeup; you can be you, or you can be your alter ego.

If you are outgoing and bubbly, you might consider something that will make you the life of the party  (which you probably already are).  A little cleavage, a rose between your teeth and you might be a spicy Salsa dancer or a Saloon girl. 

Quiet, shy, reticent? 

Sister Rose Marie with rosary and prayer book in hand, and in her colorful combination of white and black would be a quite chic costume.  Marian the Librarian (remember ‘Music Man’?) with her long black skirt and high necked, long sleeved blouse?  Don’t forget  Puritanical  Hester Pritt (‘Scarlet Letter’), although her character was suspect by some.

Or be the opposite of your personality type.  Simply reverse the types of costumes and characters as previously discussed.

Couples costumes are always fun, too. Pairing with your significant other, you might go to your Halloween costume party as in a pair of jailbirds; or Rag Dolls like ‘Raggedy Ann and Andy’.  Or opposites as in Satan and a beautiful Angel?  Laurel and Hardy make a great comedic team.

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Where to start getting Halloween costume ideas?

You might start with the front page of your local newspaper, and the rest of the newspaper as well.  Sometimes the newspaper will spark an idea, and some of the best costume ideas originate with your own creativity.

Today’s front page renders little, other than political issues.  On the political front (as it relates to Halloween), there is an Obama mask on the market as well as most of the past presidents going as far back as the ever Richard Nixon mask. More recently there are the First Lady masks to compliment the presidents.  

In the business section is a story about the growing need for blue collar workers.  This might open the possibility of occupational and career costumes such as policemen, firemen, doctors, nurses, construction workers, soldiers and sailors.

Of course, the economy is always in the business news.  If you can fashion a rain barrel out of cardboard, you have a perfect  costume for someone who is ‘broke’. 

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The Arts and Entertainment section is replete with stories and photos of actors and actresses.  Do you want to spoof Paris Hilton or Lindsey Lohan?  Willie Nelson or Nelson Mandela?  Johnny Depp or Brad Pitt or perhaps a role they played? Greta Garbo?  Pretty far back in movie history, but a trip to a thrift shop might help you find a dress that might be ‘fashioned’ to fit ‘Garbo’ ; or maybe Dorothy of the Wizard of Oz

And of course, the comic strips.  Do you want to be Blondie, the cartoon character?  Do you want to be Blondie, the singer?  Perhaps a soldier like Beetle Bailey or a Viking like Hagar the Horrible? 

And what’s in the next section of the paper?

Our third section is the Sports pages and the classifieds.  Frankly, because of the proliferation of athletic shirts and caps, it should be easy to become your favorite player.  But is a costume a costume if it is everyday wear?

Hmmm… Nope.  Can’t find anything in today’s paper that seems to be a good Halloween costume idea.  As for me, I’ll wait and see what tomorrows news will bring.

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