I was always part of the create-your-own-costume crowd; it wasn’t until I was in college that I actually browsed through my first costume store and saw how much people were willing to pay for a costume.
My freshman year, I went to a friend’s dorm to help her get ready for a costume party. She decided on a slutty cop costume, and it didn’t come cheap. After spending a whopping 60 bucks for her outfit, she still wanted to get her nails done and buy a pair of black heels to go with it. Most likely she’d wear it for one night, which she probably wouldn’t remember much of, and be done with it. I was convinced it was not worth the money.
For a Halloween party last year I visited a costume store to see if I could find something classy, but still sexy and affordable. I left empty-handed because everything cost way more than what I was willing to pay. I ended up making my own costume, and buying just a few necessary accessories.
If you’re smart about it, and you plan at least a couple of days in advance (that means today!), you can make a costume at home that’s just as cute as the ones at the store and can be done on a much smaller budget. Stop paying 60-something bucks for an outfit you’ll wear at most once a year. Besides, after dressing as a slutty cop once, how many times are you going do it again? In the age of Facebook, it’s expected that you won’t wear the same costume twice.
By refusing to buy the prepackaged costumes at the costume store, you’re forced to get creative in either recreating or inventing your own homemade costume.
At my first college costume party, I dressed up as Audrey Hepburn à la Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Since I already had the dress, the major piece of the costume, I saved quite a bit of money. I did purchase a hair clip and a pair of gloves, and I still ended up spending about $25 on those. My roommates were the Fanta girls. They all bought a different colored fabric and made a toga out of it. They spent $7 total on their costume.
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