“I’m a mouse, duh!”

Halloween is a dearly beloved day, where anyone can be whoever they want for an entire night.. Last year, media influenced costumes were scarce. There was a lack of movie and television releases in the year 2020, but this year, there is finally something to work with. Rest assured, there will be some Wanda’s, Cruella’s, and Squid Game players walking the streets this October 31st.  Some costumes should be left behind, some are on the rise and being interpreted in new exciting ways, and some are simply timeless. 

As a society, people can finally move away from the Suicide Squad Harley Quinn costume and shift towards her new look. Birds of Prey and the new Suicide Squad have inspired brand-new costumes and some more variety from her comic costume and 2016 attire. Several costumes, just like the 2016 Harley outfit, are too overused according to both social media and students. Some things should be left pre-pandemic, like space cowboys and purge costumes. Halloween should be for creativity and expressing adoration for favorite characters, so why put on a ghostface mask when it can be way more exciting? Another costume people don’t want to see is COVID related costumes. People are tired of the toilet paper and kleenex jokes, they don’t want a reminder of the hard times that COVID brought. 

Some costumes we expect to see this year are cute, but people should be aware that they are going to be unoriginal. Costumes like Squid Games, Wanda, and Olivia Rodrigo are going to be flooding the streets. Find a way to put a twist on the costumes! Do 1950’s Wanda instead of her more mainstream Scarlet Witch outfit. Another exciting costume expected is Beth Harmon from The Queen’s Gambit. Beth has many different outfits throughout the limited series, all featuring geometric shapes that resemble chess. Most notable, her final outfit: a white coat and hat that cause her to resemble a white queen chess piece. Group costumes, such as Bratz or Monster High dolls, the Cheetah Girls, and Greek deities, are all compelling ideas as well. Don’t be afraid to be imaginative and clever. 

For those who don’t want to hop on a trend, but still want a good costume, there’s no need for a brand new concept for costumes when there’s timeless costumes such as The Corpse Bride, Mean Girls, Ghostbusters and many more. Mean Girls is an iconic staple movie in the early 2000’s era and still is alive today. Mean Girls cultivated the many Halloween costumes we still see today like Karen’s mouse, Damian’s hoodie moment, and obviously Regina George with her burn book. Embracing as the one and only Marilyn Monroe in her well-known dresses such as, The Seven Year Itch white dress and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes pink dress. It’s never too old to dress up as pop culture moments. 

Every Halloween, there’s a standard to top your past year’s costume. No one is surprised when they see the same witch, vampire, cat costumes that are created last minute. Having the perfect, cutest costume to post on your social media shouldn’t overrule what you want your costume to be.  Adding your own flair to original costumes can put your costume to #1. Other people’s opinions and the media shouldn’t dictate what you wear on October 31st, have fun!