Halloween is upon us and for us poor buggers existing in a never-ending recession and economic crisis it’s time to get creative with a Halloween costume on a budget!
No matter where you are in the world, you must be aware of the October celebration that involves spooky fun, parties, and of course, dressing up in creative costumes. It’s a time of year when we try to bring a bit of hilarity into the shortening days and let our creativity fly.
And for those of us, who are short on cash, creativity is definitely what’s needed. Halloween costumes, like anything else these days, are very expensive. Especially considering that most people only wear them once.
Thankfully we have spent our entire lives in capitalism, which means we own plenty of things for building a costume from scratch with no money spent. Don’t believe me? Read on, please!
Where does Halloween originate from?
When we hear the word ‘Halloween’ our thoughts immediately turn to the United States of America. They have truly created Halloween as we know it in the 21st century. But because a comprehensive education is the base of any life worth living, I wanted to delve a bit deeper into what Halloween actually is.
Because it sure doesn’t originate from the States! Instead,
- the tradition has its roots in Ireland and was known as All Hallows Eve before Christianity washed up on their shores.
- The Autumn fest, which always occurred on October 31st, was called Shamhain and it involved lighting bonfires and dressing in costumes to frighten away ghosts.
- In the 8th century the church declared the 1st of November as the day to remember all the saints.
This is still how most European countries see Halloween. They bring candles to cemeteries and remember their loved ones instead of burning bonfires. And to be honest, the sight of the sea of candles in the evening is pure magic.
The Irish and English immigrants with Celtic roots that flooded to the United States later on, brought this tradition with them to the new world. Nowadays it’s diverted quite far from the original Halloween.
Halloween Costume on a Budget – 6 Ideas
At the end of the day Halloween can be a very expensive holiday. Especially when you put together the costs for all the decorations, food and drink, and of course, the costumes. And it’s not just the cost for us humans, but the cost for the planet is even greater.
For example, in the US alone Halloween creates over 5,4 kilograms of textile waste. And that’s just the textile waste! That number doesn’t include all the plastic decorations, single-use plates and cutlery, etc.
So, opting for a Halloween costume on a budget isn’t just friendlier to your wallet, but for our world as well. Here’s how you can pull together affordable Halloween outfits without spending a dime.
- Classic characters: repurpose everyday clothing
Let’s start with what’s closest to us: our own wardrobe. You know you’ve got much more stuff in there than you ever actually wear. Well, Halloween is your opportunity to get some usage out of those pieces in your closet. Build a Halloween costume on a budget like this:
Shop your wardrobe, as in, go through everything that you know you don’t wear much.
When you find something that peaks your interest, think what character you could build around it. Think about characters in pop culture, TV shows, movies, or literature.
Focus on recognizable characteristics, for example a striped T-shirt of Waldo from “Where’s Waldo” or a black dress with a white collar shirt underneath for Wednesday Addams.
Like very often in life, also with Halloween costumes the solution for creating one is closer than we think. We’ve all bought pieces of clothing because we wanted to while knowing that we will not wear them much. This is your opportunity to make the most of those pieces!
- DIY animal costumes with simple accessories
Now, to make it a little more challenging, you could also create an animal Halloween costume on a budget. Instead of spending money on animal costumes, you can repurpose those animal print clothes and accessories you already own.
Here’s how you can pull off a few classic animal costumes using items you likely already have:
Black cat
It’s a classic, and before you go “Oh, how boring”, hear me out! While the black cat is the mainstream option for Halloween, you can spice this one up with different colour leggings, a turtleneck, or a dress. On the accessories front, you may already own a headband with cat ears, and if not, it’s easy to make:
- Start with construction paper or cardboard
- attach them to a headband, and voila!
- Then do your makeup and draw whiskers with eyeliner or face paint.
Bunny rabbit
For another animal-themed Halloween costume on a budget, a bunny rabbit is an easy one to execute. Just cut 2 bunny ear shaped pieces of cardboard and colour the inner side pink. Attach them to a headband and dress up in white or gray clothing. Add a cotton ball or a pompom for the tail.
Exotic animals
Similar to the previous two ideas, find the wildest animal prints in your closet, make appropriate ears out of cardboard, and attach them to a headband. Do your makeup accordingly focusing on the nose, whiskers and lips.
- Turn household items into fun props
The previous points were pretty common options for a Halloween costume on a budget. But if you want to go for something a bit more out-of-the-box, I suggest you look around the whole house, not just your wardrobe.
While using an old sheet to become a ghost is probably the quickest and the most cost-effective option, it may be a tad over-used. Instead, how about these two:
- Robot: To create a shiny metallic look, use aluminium foil or actual metal pieces you can find around the house. Incorporate buttons and knobs (you can use bottle caps, CDs, anything round or rectangular) and cover your arms with tubes made out of cardboard or foil.
- A person from Ancient Greece: Instead of the generic ghost, how about using that old sheet a bit more creatively? You can find ways to turn a simple sheet into an ancient Greek toga outfit online. Then create a wreath to top it all off by using leaves and twigs you find outdoors. Use nail polish to paint the leaves instead of buing paint.
- Create simple but effective costumes with clothing and makeup
If you want to get away with this Halloween as cheaply as possible, makeup and clothes you already own are your best bet. It’s easy to create a Halloween costume on a budget when you already own everything you need.
The point here is to focus on details and enhance them to the max. When your makeup and hair is 100% on point, the actual outfit becomes less important.
Probably the easiest way to create a Halloween costume focusing on makeup and clothes is to opt for a zombie. Gather some old clothes, tear them up and create a hollow look by using dark eyeshadow or eyeliner around your eyes. With gray and brown makeup you can also create hollow-looking cheeks, etc.
Another way to get creative is to opt to be a vampire. The outfit is the easy part here, but makeup can bring this costume to the next level. You don’t even necessarily need to buy a pair of fangs! Use pale foundation, dark eyes, and of course, bright red lipstick or fake blood dripping from the corners of your mouth.
One of my favourite things about Halloween makeup are the detailed, versatile and absolutely stunning skeleton makeup tutorials. Outfit-wise this is an easy option: paint a white skeleton on black leggings and a polo shirt. The focus should be on creating the most amazing makeup you can muster with what you already have.
- Play with themes: pun-based costumes
So far we’ve covered a selection of the easiest and most common options for a Halloween costume on a budget. But what if you want to do something a bit more extraordinary? Well, I got you covered!
Some of the best Halloween costumes aren’t necessarily elaborate at all. Instead, they’re creative takes on simple concepts. Such as:
- Error 404: Costume Not Found: In case you don’t have the time you could just grab a white t-shirt and a permanent marker. Write “Error 404: Costume Not Found” on it and you’re done. If you want to get a bit more nerdy about it, pay attention to how it feels when a website isn’t working and draw inspiration for hair and makeup from that state of frustration.
- Ceiling fan: I know what you’re thinking: an actual winged thing stuck in your bedroom roof. But no, this is not the “ceiling fan” I’m talking about. Instead, wear a cheerleader sort of an outfit and carry pom-poms or draw up a cardboard sign that says, “Go Ceilings!” You’re a literal fan of ceilings!
- Tourist: This is your opportunity to go wild with stereotypes! Tourists from different countries often dress very country-specifically, so this one could be a cultural education as much as a fun costume idea. A Hawaiian shirt, camera, sunglasses, and a sunhat are the easiest option. But by wearing beige shorts, tennis socks with sandals, a bucket hat, and of course a map or a guidebook you become a stereotypical tourist from Germany.
- Repurpose old costumes by mixing and matching
We all have old Halloween costumes and props tucked up somewhere in a closet, right? It’s time to pull them out and see how we could utilise them to create a Halloween costume on a budget.
Mix and match pieces and props to create a new look or something completely extraordinary. A Halloween costume doesn’t always need to make sense. Who knows what extraterrestrials look like, so you could portray your own vision of them.
This Halloween you should take on the challenge of getting extra creative! The best costumes are often created when we have a limited amount of props to work with in a tight time-frame.
Final thoughts on Halloween costume on a budget
There’s no need to spend money on expensive costumes to enjoy Halloween in a cost of living crisis. By using what’s already in your home, repurposing everyday clothing, and getting creative with accessories, you can easily put together a unique, memorable Halloween costume on a budget.
Also, DIY costumes often stand out at Halloween parties for their originality and effort. So, before you head to the store, take a look around your house. You might be surprised at how many potential costumes are hiding in plain sight.
