Life Kit - Can't decide on a Halloween costume? These 5 questions can help
Episode Date: October 17, 2023It's hard to nail down a costume idea. You could be anything from an alien to Taylor Swift! Here's how to pick a getup without spending big bucks, or buying a prepackaged 'fit from the Halloween store....Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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You're listening to Life Kit from NPR.
Hey everybody, it's Marielle.
October is hands down my favorite month
because I love spooky season.
Just feels like there's a little sparkle
floating through the air.
My one neighbor put out this giant
dancing animatronic pumpkin.
Another neighbor always does a theme.
This year seems to be creepy dolls.
Picture a lot of dolls and then double that.
We're talking porcelain dolls,
Barbies, Cabbage Patch Kids,
sitting on the stoop, keeping watch
over a glowing cauldron,
and staring. Always staring.
October is a time
for mischief and make-believe.
And not just for kids.
We adults also get the chance to dress
up in character as anyone or anything. It's really fun. And being an adult isn't that fun.
Don't I know it. That said, it is totally normal to get to this part of October and not have a
costume idea. Because yeah, the options are limitless, but that's kind of overwhelming,
right? If you can be
anything, how do you narrow it down? Also, maybe you're busy. You haven't had the time to think
about it. Well, today is your chance, ghouls or pumpkins. I don't know. I'm still workshopping
some things. On this episode of Life Kit, we are going to help you find and put together a costume.
And by we, I mean me and Sophie Strauss, who you just heard.
I am a stylist for regular people.
I help normal people from all walks of life get dressed.
And I try to do that with a focus on inclusivity and sustainability and make it feel accessible.
Sophie also happens to be a Halloween enthusiast.
And we are going to talk about how to choose a character or maybe an object or a concept,
how to make your costume recognizable, and how to do all of this sustainably and without
spending a lot of money.
Let's fly, witches!
Okay, so do you know what you're going to be this year? I do know what I you're gonna be this year i do know what i'm gonna be this year
i've been through the pandemic doing a big like slew of watching like classic tv shows that i
somehow missed when they like originally aired and then one of the big ones that we did was
friday night lights so i am gonna be Tim Riggins from Friday Night
Lights. Okay. I have not seen Friday Night Lights. Can you explain this character to me?
Yes. Yes. Tim Riggins is like America's number one heartthrob. Just big himbo energy,
starts off kind of dark and brooding and then becomes sort of lovable, is the bad boy with a heart of gold. And I think his way of dressing is so
specific and kind of like takes on its own. It's subtle, but kind of a consistent, like Southern,
you know, guy who could fix your car, but his guns are always out like his arms. I mean, not,
not actual guns.
And so I'm really excited to be able to embody that.
Okay, so how are you going to do it?
What are the elements of the costume that you're putting together?
Well, I was really thinking a lot about what's a costume I could do that would feel really fun for me,
that would give me that sort of thing that I love about a costume,
which is permission
to like lose yourself a little bit into a character but also is something I could put together
with clothes that I already own and if I do need to purchase something is it a something I can
purchase used and b is it something that I could see myself getting wear out of even if it wasn't Halloween. And so I have some like boot cut jeans. I'll wear
those with cowboy boots, like a brown leather belt. I'm going to carry a football. And then
my one purchase for this was a used Dylan Panthers, like gray t-shirt that has the sleeves cut off.
So that, which is like a classic Tim Riggins t-shirt to wear.
Well, okay.
So this gets me to like, I feel like for a Halloween costume,
really it's the accessories.
Like a few accessories go a long way when it comes to signaling who you are.
Oh, absolutely.
Because this comes up not just for Halloween in my work, but also
like, I don't know if anybody's been invited to like a themed party or there's, um, a sort of an
uptick in like really specific themed weddings, like dress codes that are like space cowboy or,
you know, ranch chic or something like that. And I think it's really tempting to like try to run out and
buy something like that's like a full outfit head to toe. And accessories do a lot of heavy lifting
and are more versatile, cheaper, tend to be like easy to find secondhand or maybe are something
you can borrow. So same thing with Halloween costumes is like, I'm just wearing
jeans. But if I bring in like a football and a belt with like a Western buckle, I think that's
going to do a lot to make me go from just a lady in jeans to America's heartthrob, Tim Riggins.
Okay, well, let's say you don't know where to start. You don't already have just like dress up and be like,
lose myself to this costume. I'm so thrilled by the idea of that. Like, are you that kind of person
or are you somebody who's really like, are you, you know, Jim from the office, three hold paper?
Like, are you listen, this is not really for me, but I don't want to be the biggest party pooper
ever. So I'm going to wear somewhat of a costume. I think you have to be honest with yourself because there's
no right or wrong. And if you're one and you're trying to do the other, I think you're going to
be sad. So that's where I would start. And then once you identify that, I tend to gravitate towards
thinking about recent pop culture, thinking about shows, movies, celebrities,
you know, trending news stories or topics or phrases or memes. Like that can always be a
fun place to start. Or I love like a random household object. I think that's always unexpected
and sort of a fun craft is like, I'm bottle of Windex I you know who there's no
wrong answer the classic baked potato baked potato it's so great so I think Instagram has
definitely lent itself to the era of like the pop culture reference you know the I'm this really
niche outfit from a really niche episode of a television show this one character wore one time
and I'm gonna like take one photo and then use the screen. Like that's tempting, but also like you can be an
apple, like who cares, you know? But I think I would sort of start by throwing out like directional,
like does being a fruit excite you or does being like somebody from a tabloid excite you?
See what, what makes your heart sing a little bit and follow that
down the rabbit hole I think that for me getting to wear a costume is an opportunity to
embrace some part of yourself that's like deep within or that maybe people don't normally see
or embrace a character that you really admire for some reason. Sometimes you admire someone just because they're really good at, you know,
throwing a football or they're really good at parallel parking
or they just have a lot of swagger and you kind of like that
and you want to bring a little bit of that into your life.
Or it sounds like there's like a gender bendy thing too,
which I think can be really fun.
Oh, for sure.
I think that's like a huge part of the Timmergens thing for me is like as somebody who like
I identify, I guess, as bisexual.
So like there's something really fun being in like an otherwise straight relationship
in my life and like moving through the world as a cis woman that like
getting to be that sort of like embody that like super bro-y energy feels like affirming for a part
of myself that I think doesn't get as much airtime and not that I feel like I'm pushing it down like
I think I dress however I want to dress on any given day. But I think being able to go and turn that up to
11 feels like it excites a part of me. Um, yeah, there is definitely something I think that people
are really drawn to. Um, I think about this with somebody like Cruella de Vil a lot, which is like
a really common Halloween costume. And I don't necessarily know until like the recent reboot
and that she's somebody that anybody really admired but there's also a sort of delicious wickedness that the spooky season gives us the right to like tap into
without actually needing to be like a bad person and also Cruella de Vil I think is a great example
of an of of a good Halloween costume because it doesn't take very much effort to nail that costume like if you get a little bit of black and white hairspray and a
fake fur jacket you like that you're you're more than halfway there yeah i think it sounds like
when people are thinking about a costume and a character that they want to be, it's an opportunity, possibly to say, who would I really be
excited to, to play pretend as it could be someone you admire, but it could also be someone who's
just kind of bad. And you just want to feel kind of bad today and let let yourself or maybe you go,
you know, maybe you go with that person, just someone who has an element that you're seeking i i love that i love that so okay if you don't have a character in mind or like somebody's not
it's just not happening for you yeah i mean it sounds like you could consider an apple or a baked
potato food objects household items but then there are also like classic costumes you know ghost witch
vampire pumpkin and i imagine there are some fun little variations on that too that you could do
totally like i mean you know there's lots of good pun costumes you know you can be a witch but you
can cover yourself in sandwich bags and you can be like a sandwich. I do think if you're like really at a loss, look at what you already have. And remember,
you don't need to be like a character from a thing. Like you can be a teacher. You can be,
I don't know, like a cowgirl, cowgirl. Like, you know it everybody's closet has different things that lend themselves
to certain costumes but like each item of clothing says a little something and it it arose in a
cultural context right is it something that's masculine or feminine on that sort of spectrum
is it something that's fancy or casual is it does it is it part of a uniform? Is it professional? Is it athletic? We instinctively
recognize all of these traits in our clothes, whether or not we articulate that to ourselves.
And I think Halloween is a really good opportunity to go, oh, well, if I have a bunch of workout
clothes, then maybe I make a little headset out of tinfoil and I'm, I don't know, like a
soul cycle instructor.
If that's what you have, that's fine.
I actually was thinking this year in terms of like something you already have.
I was walking past my closet.
I had this lavender jumpsuit that's really flowy.
And I was like, what if I was a one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater?
Yes. Yes.
Nobody's ever that. No. and yet everybody knows what that is but the only
thing is with the one eye like do i just cover one of my eyes or like because i still need to
be able to see when i'm walking around like i gotta think about that maybe i could just put
like another eye in the middle of my forehead yeah that's what i was gonna say i think makeup is always overlooked as a huge and relatively um like non-wasteful way to access
you know a character and you could even take like little barbie dolls or something and like
tie them around you like you're uncover them in like red paint or something like
you're eating them yeah the way we're talking about doing this is very sustainable because
it's using stuff you have in your closet and then maybe some makeup and some construction paper
what about if you want to buy a costume or buy elements of a costume yeah where can you start I mean thrift stores
so yeah I feel like I have an order of operations for like if you're gonna buy stuff what's the
order that you try to buy stuff in so it's like the first and best option is like just using what
you have and getting a little crafty the second step that I think a lot of people forget about is borrowing stuff from friends, whether that's whole items of clothing or
accessories that we all have friends who have slightly different style than we do. We always
have that friend. I'm this friend as a stylist where people always come to me to borrow stuff
because I have a little of everything. And going to a friend and saying, Hey, do you have a cowboy hat I can borrow?
Do you have a bolo tie I can borrow? Do you have like silver disco earrings? Do you have a,
you know, sparkly top? Um, then I would say buying secondhand accessories,
buying secondhand clothes. So like regular clothes that you could see yourself wearing
and integrating into your wardrobe outside of Halloween, then I would say,
this is maybe controversial, but I would honestly say buy new real clothes before you buy a
secondhand costume, which is like those costumes you get at like Spirit Halloween
or on Amazon or whatever that are like,
come in a little plastic bag and it's like you put it on
and it's like a Snow White dress or whatever.
That's like, if you're gonna buy those at all,
those are very low on my list.
You really like, there are so many of those secondhand.
I cannot tell you how many are available secondhand
because nobody keeps them
because nobody wears them more than once.
And the absolute last, last, last thing you should do is buy a new packaged costume.
Okay, do you have any other thoughts, anything I forgot to ask you?
A lot of times sustainability and having fun are sort of positioned as diametrically opposed. I think that's sort of a myth.
And that if you can give yourself permission
to not necessarily do everything perfectly,
any of it, the sustainability perfectly,
the costume perfectly,
and like let it really be about the spirit of the thing,
which is like having fun,
getting outside of yourself,
connecting with your family,
connecting with like your inner child,
that doing things sustainably actually facilitates that fun because it, it gives you a little bit of
space to be creative, to be thrifty, to connect with the people around you when you're asking to
borrow something or you're making something and that doing things in that way is part of the
spirit. It's not antithetical to the spirit of Halloween.
Okay, last question.
Yeah.
What is your favorite Halloween candy?
Ooh, probably 100 Grand, which is like, is that a weird one?
Yeah, that one, I wasn't expecting it.
They're so good.
Sophie, thank you so much. This has been lovely.
Thanks for having me. This was so much fun. My favorite, by the way, is Twix. And then just
behind that, Mounds and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in a dead heat. With that, it's time for a recap.
When you're choosing a Halloween costume, think about what kind of Halloween person you are
and be honest with
yourself. Are you really going to go all out with your costume or are you on the opposite extreme
where you just want to wear a pair of cat ears and call it a day? To spark ideas, you could think
about recent pop culture trends, right? Shows, movies, trending topics. If none of that appeals,
think about a character who you admire or just think is kind of dangerous.
Someone whose energy you'd like to embrace for an evening.
You can also look through your closet.
Do you have any items of clothing that might lend themselves to a costume?
I have a denim jumpsuit, and one year I wore that with a red bandana and red lipstick, and I was Rosie the Riveter.
Consider being a random household object.
I saw a video on Instagram
of this really cute girl dressed up as a washing machine. If you're going to buy a costume, try
going to a thrift store first instead of buying something new, or see if your friends have any
old costumes or accessories that they can lend you. Lastly, remember to have fun and make a
little mischief. For more Life Kit, check out our other episodes. We have one on how
to throw a theme party and another on how to be a good host. You can find those at npr.org
slash life kit. And if you love Life Kit and want more, subscribe to our newsletter at npr.org
slash life kit newsletter. Also, we love hearing from you. So if you have episode ideas or feedback
you want to share, or just pictures of you in your Halloween costume, email us at lifekit at npr.org.
This episode of Life Kit was produced by Sylvie Douglas.
Our visuals editor is Beck Harlan and our visual producer is Kaz Fantoni.
Our digital editor is Malika Gribb.
Megan Cain is our supervising editor and Beth Donovan is our executive producer.
Our production team also includes Andy Tegel, Audrey Nguyen, Claire Marie Schneider and Margaret Serino.
Engineering support comes from Neil T. Vault, Sina Lefredo and Valentino Rodriguez-Sanchez.
I'm Mariel Seguera. Thanks for listening.