A Cheaper Halloween

To me, Halloween is a "holiday" of great burden. Although I love creating a costume and dressing up for an entire weekend, it is always a hassle to not only think of what to be, but also to purchase or make all of the items necessary for the ensemble. On top of all of this, costumes are expensive. The last thing college students should spend 60 dollars on is a poor quality costume that we'll wear once (and that doesn't even come with the accessories.) That's why my anti-halloween roommate and I decided to make dressing up more affordable by refusing to purchase the packaged, unoriginal costumes sold in stores and online.

Here's how to make it happen:
Obviously, the first step in this process is to decide what exactly you want to be. Last year, I  wanted to be a "gold digger," however the costume cost around 65 dollars. So, instead, I searched around at inexpensive online stores. I finally ended up at gojane.com (a store with many inexpensive options) and purchased the gold dress pictured below for just 20 dollars. Then, I bought a can of gold spray paint and painted my childhood toys (a shovel and a fireman hat.) My costume was complete, and it only cost about 25 dollars.

My version of the costume

 

The online version of the costume

I have yet to decide exactly what I'm going to be this year, though I've had a few ideas. I have a striped red and white dress from H&M that happens to perfectly resemble "Where's Waldo." I am considering pairing this dress with a hat and glasses just like Waldo, which will provide me with a virtually free costume. Try looking through online costume stores for inspiration and seeing what you can find in your closet or online that can substitute as an inexpensive alternative!