Last-Minute Costume Shopping

by:  John Norkus

As I’m sure most of you know, Halloween is rapidly approaching.  And if you didn’t know that then you must be one of those religious fanatics who doesn’t believe in celebrating goblins and ghouls.  Either that or an over-zealous, over-panicked 1L who hasn’t taken a breath since mid-September.  And if you are the latter then let me be the first to tell you, you REALLY need to enjoy this Halloween.

Of course, the reason I bring up this topic is because with Halloween comes the all-important need to figure out your Halloween costume.  And the Halloween costume is an important statement.  Not to mention that, if you are going to Halloween at the Hangge Uppe, everyone will be there with their judging eyes on.  So you can see the importance of your costume and the thought you put into it.  What’s that you say?  You haven’t even considered your costume yet?  Well, this is your warning:  HALLOWEEN IS IN DAYS!  PANIC!  AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

OK. That was an overreaction.  You still have plenty of time to figure out a great good serviceable costume.  I mean, if you stop whatever it is you are doing right now (after you finish reading this of course) and go to your nearest pop-up Halloween shop, you can wind up with a pretty good costume.

At first, these stores can be a bit overwhelming, but you just have to simplify the store.  I usually imagine that I’m on some secret mission and I have to find the target – but I do that when I enter any store, so maybe it’s not Halloween-specific…or the best advice.  But here’s a secret I will let you all in on.  Ready?  My go-to section at these stores:  Hats.  Everyone can do something with hats.  Hats are the perfect costume and you can take it in literally any direction.  The possibilities are endless.

I’m also a fan of combining items to make an awesome and original costume.  This could be very basic or elaborate and I really don’t care to elaborate any more on this idea, so figure out something that works for you and rock it out.  As my friend Seth Knocke and I discovered last year, being regular cops for Halloween is decent, but being the Hottie Police for Halloween is AWESOME.  So see there?  A little creativity can go a long way.

Now let’s say you can’t find something in that store.  Then what?  I mean, really that would be like a guy going into the Bentley dealer and saying he “wanted to buy one, but I just couldn’t pick one I really liked.”  Now, some of you may be saying, “But the selection was just not that good,” or, “It looked cheap,” or whatever.  Listen.  This is Halloween.  You aren’t looking for your outfit for brunch at the Signature Room, you are going to the Hangge Uppe.  Have you been there?  Do I need to go on?  Just put some minimal effort into it and you’ll be fine.

But if you truly, truly cannot find a costume at said pop-up shops, then it’s time to really get down to business and scour your own, as well as your friend’s clothing (with or without approval).  Surely anyone (not really though, as I’m just trying to offer some encouragement for those of you who are currently scouring the closet) can find a few items they already own and make a costume from that with a little thought.  Just throw on something and call yourself something different.  For the love of God.  Oh wait…yeah not for the love of God with this holiday, but you get the idea.

At the end of the day with a little effort you can still be fine for a Halloween costume, just be creative.  It may not turn out to be what you want, but seriously – you have no one to blame but yourself for that.  I mean you have had TONS of time to figure this out and you should have used it.  Did I miss something?  Halloween is always on October 31st.  It’s not one of those wacky roving holidays.  Come on now, people.

Okay.

Now that I got that rant out, if you’d excuse me, I have to go figure out my costume.