#TBT | Great Costumes of Halloweens Past
For some reason, I’ve always been inherently against buying my Halloween costume out of a bag. Don’t get me wrong - I love going to the Halloween store for inspiration. I just can’t seem to justify spending $60+ on a slutty witch costume that will probably have to be altered (petite sizes don’t exist at Halloween Adventure) and will ultimately wind up in the trash. I’d much rather tailor my costume to my own taste. I have my mom to thank for this attitude. My mom made all my Halloween costumes up until about second grade. Of course I wanted to be a princess/queen/some member of the royal family every year, and mom used her amazing sewing skills to put these dresses together. My favorite was a shiny black renaissance-style dress I wore for Halloween in Kindergarten. The dress made a comeback at some Alice in Wonderland-themed school event when my mom added some strategic red felt to make me the Queen of Hearts. I really don't give her enough credit for those dresses. Someday I’ll actually learn how to sew. For now, I can just arrange clothes into some semblance of a costume. Here are some of my Halloween costume highlights of the last few years.
Jazzercise Instructor (2007)
I may have retired from competitive swimming two years earlier, but I broke out one of my old practice suits for this costume my sophomore year of high school. I’m pretty sure this was entirely a “shop your closet” look - old swimsuit, old ballet tights and leg warmers, old sweatshirt cut into a crewneck. It was probably also one of my warmer Halloween looks. Work those layers, kids.
"Wonder Woman" (2009)
This was part of my first (and only) ever group costume my senior year of high school. My school held a costume parade every year specifically for the seniors, and group costumes were more or less required. My friends and I were “generic American Apparel superheroes,” but clearly I modeled my costume off of Wonder Woman. I mean, look at those hotpants. I spent way too much money on this costume.
Flo from Progressive (2010)
I used my newly-short hair as a jumping off point for my first Halloween costume of college. Pro-tip, Amazon has a plethora of Progressive aprons. With the awkward white pants and polo shirt, this definitely made me the least sexy attendee of the crappy Halloween frat party I attended. At least I was warm.
Original Mouseketeer (2013)
What do you do with a pair of personalized mouse ears and a 50s haircut? Join the Mouseketeers, of course! The real tragedy of this costume is that no one really saw it. As I was in the midst of a show, I didn’t really get to go hard that Halloween. However, I insisted on wearing my costume to class all day. Because I could.
Velma Dinkley (2014)
I went with another hair-friendly costume for my first Halloween in New York. Since I didn’t have any concrete plans leading up to the 31st, I didn’t want to spend too much energy on a costume. Still, I scoured Amazon/Ebay for the perfect sweater, glasses, and socks and came up with this. And people actually recognized me! Jinkies!This year I’m getting a little crafty with my costume. No spoilers here, but it does involve a flower crown. Tune in this weekend to see the full look.Of course, I want to hear about your favorite costumes of Halloweens past. Share your memories in the comments!