Halloween 2012 has come and gone. Along with it, parades of girls sporting some sort of animal ears, or dressed as this or that uniformed official could be seen meandering the streets of Hopkins and Fell’s Point. Of course, you also had your classic celebs, political figures or iconic movie characters making an appearance (or several). The high incidences of multiple identical costumes that can generally be found during the Halloween season are a testament to the fact that thinking up and carrying out a distinct and brilliant original costume, while admirable and desirable, very often proves pointless and near impossible. However, just because you can’t be unique in your costume choice doesn’t mean that whatever you put together can’t be hilarious or well done. After all, the abundance of Mitt Romneys did not detract from those particularly spot-on Romney renditions that made sure to have their life-sized cardboard binder full of woman (singular — it turns out binders can’t actually hold that many women, Mitt). It’s not so much how you dress up, but rather how you arrive. Costumes need not be unprecedented or unparalleled in uniqueness, but whatever else they are, they should be executed well.
Let’s be real. Especially with regards to costumes in college, slutty is most definitely acceptable and even encouraged for the ladies. I’ll admit that I, for one, subscribe to this principle. Halloween can and does serve as a valid excuse for many to get a little risqué and not be looked down upon or be given the stink eye by their peers. That does not excuse, however, flagrant nudity or dressing slutty just for the sake of dressing slutty, all things that, ironically, a one Ms. Nicki Minaj would describe as downright “ratchet-ness.” There has to be some classiness to it and, as mentioned before, brilliant execution. Therefore, if you’re going to dress up as something, then dress up as something. Don’t just throw on some bunny ears, strip down to your skimpiest and tightest and then try to pass that off as a costume. Go for the made-on whiskers and nose, the flouncy tail and maybe that form-fitting velvet skirt in the tradition of the Velveteen Rabbit. Ideally, the most successful costumes will blend slutty, perhaps better put as “sexy”, and “creative” seamlessly. One girl dressed as a bottle of Sriracha sauce, and she met this balance quite well — several simple elements came together to form her makeshift costume. She drew the Sriracha logo by hand onto a body hugging bright red American Apparel U-back dress and wore a green cap for the spout of the bottle. Simple, clever, well put together and still hot (pun intended).
For those women that feel they can’t fashion a costume that emulates both the creative and the sexy, then choose the one you can actualize with the greatest flair. Boxes may not ooze sex appeal, but they certainly lend themselves to clever creations. A box that is fiddled with properly can be a quirky salute to an animated Pixar favorite in the form of the house from “Up.” A box can also be flattened, its flaps glued with Solo cups and ping pong balls. It can then be strapped on to serve as the spare beer pong table in the event that the tables at your local party venue (with its particularly “brotherly” vibe) get overcrowded and backed up, as they often do. Whatever your costume choice may be, make it good and make it memorable. The greatest costumes came from those who committed to an idea and then were unapologetic about getting hallo-weird. If you were disappointed with how yours turned out this year, don’t fret — there’s always next year...
