It’s Halloweens eve, you’re with your friends preparing for the night ahead, and you realize. You’ve got no costume. You don’t even have an idea of what to be! All your friends have already got all of their supplies and materials to either wear or make a costume, and you are completely empty-handed. What do you do?
You’re in luck because we have compiled a list of fast, easy and most importantly affordable costume ideas for any last-minute event. Especially Halloween!
1.Witch
When preparing for Halloween you might think to stray from tradition. Being different is fun, and in a pinch, you can still rock a traditional costume with your own flair.
Witches are an integral part of Halloween and the Halloween spirit, and we like to continue to pay homage to the ones who started it all.
A witch costume can be easy to prepare if you’ve got the right materials, but you could also just grab some things at the local store and be ready for the big night!
During October most stores with half a brain of sense will be carrying at least a witch hat, if not an entire outfit. Though to prepare a witch costume all you should need to buy is the hat if you don’t have something that will work already.
Being unique is a big part of Halloween, so customize it! You don’t need to do anything to be a witch, you just need to have the hat and look spooky-ish. You also don’t need to be haggard, you can be a trendy witch!
Adding an accessory and using your own items is a great way to whip together a Halloween costume, and you’re guaranteed to be the only one at the party dressed like that!
2.Zombie
Being a zombie for Halloween is undoubtedly one of the most fun costumes. You get to walk around creepily and scare everyone, and it’s extra funny when you’re not doing that and just walking and talking like normal. Everyone can appreciate a good zombie.
One of the beauties of being a zombie, however, is the creative freedom that comes with creating that character. It’s also a very cheap and easy way to get into the Halloween spirit! Because there is no ‘one zombie’ that everyone wants to copy it’s a great way to be the only one at the event with your look.
The zombie costume is quite easy to create. I know personally that I have lots of clothes that I’m waiting to donate but just haven’t gotten around to it, and if you’re the same then you don’t even need to buy anything! If you don’t have clothes you’re planning on getting rid of you can always go to the local second-hand store.
After getting your hands on some clothes, rip them up! Zombies are undead, right? You can add makeup if you’ve got it, or buy some cheap stuff at the drug-store. You could even just rub dirt on your clothes if you’re really in a pinch.
A zombie is a great way to whip up a costume. You’re just you, but dead!
3.Clown
Not many people aren’t afraid of clowns. Not knowing who is really under the makeup is definitely spooky to most people. If you plan on being spooky for Halloween, a clown is a great idea, but being a nice clown is, well, nice!
A clown costume might seem like a lot of work, but it doesn’t have to be. Like the zombie costume, you can wear your own clothes and just add makeup. If you don’t have any and don’t know anyone with any the drug-store is a great place to get cheap makeup, and party-supply stores will have makeup specifically for Halloween.
It’s really easy, and definitely cheap, to slather some makeup on your face and call yourself a clown, and that can and will work, but if you really want to go all out you can get a friend to put the makeup on you. If you’re not very good at applying makeup having assistance is a must. But putting the makeup on sloppy could make you a more scary clown... Make sure to use your discretion when deciding what to do!
Halloween isn’t about just being scary, so you can absolutely be a non-scary clown, it just might take some extra work!
4.Alien
Being an alien can be tricky if you’ve ever dove headfirst into real UFO research, but we think that just being a standard alien is great for Halloween, no need to replicate the real aliens, whatever you believe in!
The standard alien has an antenna and big, buggy eyes. The rest of them is usually human, and that’s where the creep factor comes in. We humans don’t like seeing something that looks mostly human, but with something wrong.
Because of the aliens' similarity to people, you can look like you but with some minor modifications. Temporary modifications! Really you just need to add antenna and eyes, and the rest is up to you.
Personally I would add the antenna and eyes and then paint my face silver and wear silver clothes. The accessories pictured above show a fancy looking alien, and I would definitely reflect that in my choice of clothes. If I were ambitious I would wear a silver suit, but only if I already had it! Or a nice silver dress could work, that would be fun! Looking like you’re about to enter a fancy cocktail party, only to have the head of an alien, would surely be a great costume.
Or you could choose the green set, and be a classic space-spook! Green makeup would complete the look, and you could still go with the fancy attire or create a look of your own. Beach alien, famer alien, business-person alien, the possibilities are endless!
Besides, aliens are supposed to be more advanced than us right?
5.Cat
One costume that will never go out of style is the cat. For some reason, we have decided that a black cat is a great Halloween costume, and I’m not going to argue!
Just like the alien, a cat costume needs only the head to be a great Halloween costume. Your own choice of clothes to wear alongside the face is completely up to you, and can be absolutely unique to you!
A headband and mask set is a great way to achieve the desired cat-look, with no need for makeup or additional items. If you’re really it a hurry, you can just put on the mask and ears and call yourself a cat! I really like the idea of wearing a suit or dress with the cat mask and ears because cats are considered elegant and sophisticated. This is a fast and cheap way to create a stunning costume with only one add-on to what you already own.
Being a black cat is great for a friend costume, and you can be the familiar to one of your friends dressed as a witch!
Just like the witch, a cat costume is a great Halloween tradition.
6.Angel and Devil
The friendship costume that always steals the show is the angel and devil pair. Two classic entities as friends are always fun to replicate and can be one of the cheapest and fastest costumes to create.
All you really need to create this duo is the headbands to create the devil horns and angel halo, after that the costume is completely yours to create. You can dress however you’d like under the headbands.
If you and a friend are really in a pinch, you can always go with a red and white shirt or dress, but to make it really fun you could be wearing ripped red clothes and then a perfectly pressed white blouse, just to show the contrast!
We offer these headbands as a set for you to wear as a duo, so you can affordably have the friendship costume at your hands!
Its always really fun to be the angel and devil at the party, the unlikely pair of best friends!
7.Fairy
Being a fairy for Halloween can seem like a daunting task, what with all of the clothes and accessories and such. However, a fairy can be one of the easiest costumes to create if you know what you’re doing.
Because there is no absolute definition of what a fairy looks like, you can use your discretion on what you look like.
A fairy can be anything from a small and sexy mystical being to a little troll who wanders around the forest. Really, a fairy is whoever you want it to be.
For Halloween, a fairy is usually the former, a sexy and mystical creature of the forest, and if that’s who you want to be that’s a very easy do-up, but for those of us who want to make our fellow party-goers say ‘huh?’, a fairy is the perfect disguise.
The first step is deciding which type of fairy you want to be. Again, this is totally up to you, and there are way too many versions of ‘fairy’ to describe. The next step is to get your outfit together. Like any Halloween costume on a budget, you can use your own clothes and accessories or support your local second-hand store. Apply makeup, or don’t, and you’re a fairy!
8.Mermaid Out of Water
I know exactly what you’re thinking. ‘How is being a mermaid going to be easy and fast’, but you underestimate the power of quick thinking.
A mermaid is a great costume to be completely unique. In this version, you, the mermaid, are an ‘out of water’ mermaid, where you came out of the water and your fish-tail went away like Ariel.
Depending on your fashion taste, this costume can be done with your everyday clothes and a bit of makeup.
The idea is to style a look that you would expect to see on a beach somewhere hot. Jean shorts, cropped top, and a light-flowing cardigan is what I personally would expect, but really the choice is yours depending on what you like to wear and how comfortable you feel.
Then you add to it. Using fishnet tights you can apply blue and green iridescent makeup to your face and body to make the appearance of watery-magic and when you remove the tights there is the illusion of scales.
In the end, you look like you’re going to the beach, but with the added makeup it looks like you just came from the water.
9. Choose Your Decade
9. Choose Your Decade
A blast from the past is always a fun way to dress up for Halloween. One of the easiest costumes to shop for at the second-hand store is a ‘choose your decade’ costume.
Many of us don’t have what we need for this costume available in our closet, although some of us might. But that isn’t a barrier, because the second-hand store is filled with ideas for a quick and easy costume.
Really any decade can work well, as long as you’re able to locate the clothes you want. Just snatch them up and all you need to do is research the makeup and hair trends of the era, that is if you don’t already know them.
Once you’ve got the hair and makeup down as well as the outfit, you’re ready to hit the party. A classic costume idea, the ‘choose your decade’ costume will always be in style.
But don’t get hung up on the 80s and 90s, the earlier decades can be lots of fun too! And in 2020, you can even do the early 2000s, they were 20 years ago after all!
10.The Career of Your Choice- Your current career or a different one
Your friends at the party all have jobs, and depending on how old you are, many of them may have done some serious school-time to get to where they needed and wanted to be. But, it’s Halloween, so you just have to look the part!
Many jobs carry with them stereotypical looks, but also many of them have actual dress-codes. You won’t be going to the construction site in business casual, and you won’t be running into the office in your safety vest and work boots.
Even if you dress up as the job you have, which is the absolute fastest Halloween costume to prepare, you will be the funny guy at the party.
If you’re friends with the people at the party and you know each other well, you can dress in a costume that is the direct opposite of your day job. Say you’re an accountant, so you dress up as a lumberjack! It’s fun to play with contrast in our everyday lives vs. Our party lives.
One of the fastest Halloween costumes, all you have to do is get a job!
Well, it’s Halloween night and you’ve got yourself a great costume. It didn’t cost too much money or time, and it’s certainly going to be a hit at the party. Even though you didn’t quite plan it out well, you’ve still had a great Halloween!
