I love Halloween costumes. I love expensive luxury clothing from authentic clothing stores and also the DIY look cobbled together from things you already have. But most of all, I love finding a piece of clothing (like a cape or a pair of gold sunglasses) and building an entire outfit around it. This is how I was able to dress like Richard Simmons my senior year in high school: I found red and white striped shorts, and Prosperitythere was inspiration. I feel like in years past, Halloween has been all about these types of costumes, and usually at the last minute. But since many Halloween stores run out of costumes weeks before the big day, it can be difficult to improvise something—unless you’re frugal.
Honestly, heading to your local Goodwill is a great budget-conscious idea. According to the brand, people will spend up to $2 billion on adult clothing and $1.4 billion on children’s clothing in 2023. That’s…a lot of money. Not planning on getting back into a Greek goddess costume or a glittering circus ringleader? It might be worth heading to a local charity, finding an individual piece of clothing and combining it with other old items or things you already own to create an outfit.
This year, Goodwill is even helping you design your Halloween costume by using their costume generator. You can click and change tops, bottoms and shoes to create different looks, from The Rock to farmers and Steve Jobs. These items are either already in your closet—think plaid shirt, blue jeans, black miniskirt—or can be easily found at your local Goodwill.
The Goodwill website also has lots of DIY costume ideas, even if you or your child wants to be something specific, like Minions or Mirabell charm. So many Halloween costumes are essentially a throwaway item, but since all synthetic fabrics end up in landfills, heading to your local Goodwill Center and picking up a few to make can feel like a world of difference The best thing to watch.
If you’re still not sure what to do or what kind of costume to make, look for these key items in your goodwill and go from there:
- sunglasses: Depending on the color and style of the frame, you can be any style Linda Hamilton Terminator 2 Elton Strong (just add a feather boa).
- fedora hat: Indiana Jones is an obvious choice, but you can also choose a Rat Pack look or a 1940s Old Hollywood character.
- vest: These are at my local thrift store and there are so many things you can do with them. From making a vintage banker costume to adding it to something sparkly and becoming a ringleader or a cabaret performer, the options are endless.
- turtleneck sweater: Man, oh man. I just wanted all the turtlenecks to be my 90s sitcom mom dream, but you can use them too sesame streetBurt, Magneto comes from X-MenRon Burgundy from host– That’s all.
- Costume jewelry: A beautiful piece of costume jewelry can be the starting point for a vast array of characters. I’m already thinking about it saturday night liveLinda Richman (turtleneck also works great), but you can also go for Holly Golightly Tiffany’s breakfast If you find a crown and some big fake gems.
- scarf:Professor Trelawney, anyone? this harry potter The character is the queen of scarves, but don’t fall asleep in one of Lenny Kravitz’s or Steven Tyler’s fancy costumes.
You’re also bound to find some old Halloween costumes at Goodwill. They’ve most likely only been worn once or twice before, and even if they don’t come complete with accessories – like just a cape instead of a full Dracula costume – you can definitely make it work.
So which object are you most inspired by? I am closure Looking for some high waisted stretch jeans from my own charity so I can be Amy Poehler saturday night live Mom jeans sketch.
