This week’s newsletter is brought to you by Life Kit host Marielle Segarra
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October is hands down my favorite month. It’s a time for mischief and make-believe. And not just for kids. We adults also get to dress up in character as anyone or anything.
That said, it’s totally normal to get to this part of October and not have a costume idea. The options are limitless — and that’s kind of overwhelming. If you can be anything, how do you narrow it down? Also, maybe you’re busy and haven’t had time to think about it.
👗 Decide how much you actually care about dressing up. When choosing a Halloween costume, think about what kind of “Halloween person” you are and be honest with yourself. Are you really going to go all-out with your costume, or do you just want to wear a pair of cat ears and call it a day?
📺 To spark ideas, think about recent pop culture trends (or not). That includes TV shows, movies, memes and trending topics. Instagram culture has popularized the concept of taking a photo of yourself dressed up in a “really niche outfit from a really niche episode of a television show that this one character wore one time,” says Strauss. If that’s not for you, try going the opposite direction. Dress up as something fun and unexpected … like a baked potato or even “a bottle of Windex,” she adds.
😈 Lean into your dark side. “There’s a sort of delicious wickedness that the spooky season gives us the right to tap into without actually needing to be a bad person,” says Strauss. So think of someone kind of dangerous, someone whose energy you’d like to embrace for the evening — like Cruella de Vil. “It doesn't take very much effort to nail that costume,” she adds. “Get a little bit of black and white hairspray and a fake fur jacket and you're more than halfway there.”
👚 Look through your closet (and a friend’s closet too). Do you have any items of clothing that might lend themselves to a costume? One year, I wore my denim jumpsuit with a red bandana and red lipstick and I was Rosie the Riveter. Or dig through your friends’ closets and see what jumps out at you. They might even have old costumes or accessories that they can lend you.
This week, we want to know what you’re dressing up as for Halloween. Send us a photo of your best Halloween costume from years past or tell us about your creative plan for this year, and we may feature you in an upcoming newsletter. Email us here.
As for me? I plan to dress up as a one-eyed, one-horned Purple People … Pleaser. I’ll wear the lavender jumpsuit in my closet, make a fake horn, draw an eye on my forehead and tape pieces of paper to myself that say things like “Oh, no problem!” “Sure, I don’t mind!” and “Can do!” Can’t wait to hear what you’ll be.
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