Halloween is fun for everyone: kids, teens, adults and even the elderly. Everyone loves candy and spreading some good ole’ fashioned fear. But the best part of Halloween, by far, is dressing up, costuming and putting on a mask.
Dressing up for Halloween is critical for the celebration. It honors tradition, lends itself to aesthetics, and most importantly it’s fun. There is nothing like donning a good costume and getting complimented on it. But, are you maybe a little uncreative or prone to putting off costumes till the last possible moment? Fear not, I have compiled the best and most chic costumes for this Halloween season that will surely receive compliments.
To preface, some of these are already popular and for good reason, but I’m going to attempt to add a hidden element to them that will make you stand out in a crowd. If we’re being honest, you’re not gonna trick or treat this Halloween; you’re gonna paint the town red (or orange).
The first costume up to bat is the striking lead of “American Psycho”, Patrick Bateman. This costume consists of a suit and tie with a clear plastic poncho laid overtop. You’ll need fake blood for splattering and perhaps an axe if you want to really commit to the bit. It should be noted that this costume will go up in chicness if you’re feminine presenting and wear it. A good touch would be a bit of acting, smile a lot, act like the character and really commit.
Next up is a costume going viral on TikTok, big cat makeup. Influencers and pretty people alike are putting their makeup skills to the test with this look. You, in essence, create the illusion of a sexy human with leopard spots and dark nose contour to closely resemble an anthropomorphic cat person. You then pair this with trendy brown and tan outfits, featuring leopard spots and gold jewelry. However, I believe you could do this with several types of animals.
You and a group of friends could go as different kinds of big cats, featuring different animal prints, or you could go as a peacock with a different style of makeup. This is basically a more elevated version of the low effort animal costume. I presume this will be very popular this Halloween season.
Following our animal costume is more of a catchall for the real creatives out there, those that want to be the epitome of sex and scare. The costume is you as a Cenobite from the “Hellraiser” franchise. These horrifying pleasure demon freaks are scary. But their avid use of leather, latex, chains and whips make them monarchs for the hyper-sexualized archetypes of the BDSM community.
Scary, though they may be, these alien-esque hellspawn are meant to be a little sexy, and that translates well to the average dream costume for a college student. Pair this outfit with black leather and latex with silver spikes and hoops, use lots of light and dark elements for your makeup, and either go crazy with the blush or completely ignore it.
Maybe you’re craving to be dramatic in a more camp way, then maybe you should do a Chappell Roan inspired costume. Get some makeup and have fun, think white base and bold colors on top. Sparkly costume pieces or go for more of a Midwest princess vibe, use camo and cheap gimmicky princess crowns from Walmart.
Or you could always dress up as a mega-fan of LSU, meaning purple and gold body paint, tiger striped pants, LSU themed shoes. Go the whole nine yards.
Regardless of who you choose to dress as, just make sure that you are dressed. Celebrating Halloween is a lot of fun and getting into costume only enhances that feeling.
Garrett McEntee is a 19-year-old English sophomore from Benton.
