Halloween is fast approaching, and students at Grand Valley State University are absorbed in planning their costumes. Whether making holiday plans with friends and family, joining peers at campus events or going out for the night, getting creative with a unique costume is an important task for almost anyone celebrating. However, crafting the perfect ensemble isn’t always easy, especially for students on a budget.
Luckily, a good costume doesn’t need to break the bank. By utilizing local thrift stores, shopping online, searching the back of closets for hidden gems and even altering clothes, students are finding innovative ways to assemble costumes. These methods allow for costumes that are not only inexpensive but true to students’ visions for the characters they wish to represent.
Going as Dale Gribble from the popular show “King of the Hill,” film and video student Jackson Brandt broke down key fashion elements that make up the character, and sought out inexpensive items from a variety of places.
“I’m getting the pieces for the costume from a lot of sources,” said Brandt. “I bought the hat from Etsy, the shirt from Amazon, sunglasses from a gas station and the rest I got thrifting.”
Though compiling the perfect accessories and garments to make a costume can require some extra planning, the fun of dressing up as a beloved character can make the effort and time worth it. Some even anticipate the holiday all year, waiting for the opportunity to get creative and play a bit of dress up.
“I get excited to dress up for Halloween every year,” said Brandt. “It’s a fun excuse to express something you find interesting at the time. I also love the process of figuring out what I’m going to be, and then making it happen. It’s fun.”
Some students at GVSU are going above and beyond the Halloween spirit, arranging multiple costumes for different outings they have planned. First-year student Hannah Kempf has not one or two, but three costumes ready this year.
“I’m doing a group costume of Lock, Shock and Barrel from ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas,’ Lindsay from the show ‘Arrested Development’ and the album cover for ‘Party Rock Anthem,’” said Kempf.
Being Halloween is her favorite holiday, Kempf went all out preparing her costumes. Using sewing and accessorizing skills, she created DIY replicas of the characters she hoped to emulate.
“For my two solo costumes, I bedazzled a shirt for Lindsay, and for ‘Party Rock Anthem,’ I found an old zebra-print shirt and sewed a chunk of the shirt to the waistband of some purple leggings I bought online,” said Kempf. “I made a tube top (to match from) the material that was left.”
Whether you have artistic skills or not, there are plenty of ways to acquire the perfect pieces for a Halloween costume. Additionally, if you have costumes from past years taking up space in the closet, you can swap your gently used costumes for a new piece to take home at the Sustainability Office’s Costume Swap. The event will take place Wednesday, and can be another great option to refresh your Halloween style, creating a sustainable and affordable costume.
