Spooky Chic: Arcade’s favorite costumes for 2015

Taylor DeMulling, Associate Arcade Editor

What better time to embrace the age-old adage, “dressed up to get messed up,” than Halloweekend? There are endless opportunities to show off your DIY savviness and inclination for pop culture during Halloween, as well as the days leading up to it. How many costumes are necessary for various festivities is up to the discretion of the wearer, but each one should definitively say, “just because I’m not walking door to door to beg strangers for candy does not mean I’m not going to eat a painfully unhealthy number of Snickers tonight.”

For the person who wants to proclaim their pop culture awareness (or just cannot get “Hotline Bling” out of their head), wear a red puffy coat and Timberlands and go as Drake from the “Hotline Bling” video. Complete the look with sick dance moves, or people might just think you’re dressed as a Southerner when the weather gets below 80 degrees.

In anticipation of “Finding Dory” coming out next year, being Darla, the dentist’s fish-murdering niece, would be totally killer. All this look requires is a purple sweater with a white, collared button down underneath, a plaid skirt, pigtails and a plastic bag with a picture of a fish on it. To really go the extra mile, use wire to give the appearance of old-school braces and headgear.

The Addams Family is basically Halloween royalty, so Wednesday Addams, the origin of the “perma-bitch face” is the perfect costume for the perpetually grumpy, the minimalists or the morbid. To get into the sullen role, style hair into two braids with a middle part and wear a black long-sleeve dress with a white, collared button down underneath, white knee-high socks and black Mary Janes.

Let’s be honest for a second, though. How many people truly think well ahead with their costumes? And how dare they have their lives so together? While most of these costumes can be scraped together fairly last-minute, there’s still hope for the major procrastinators out there.

Major thanks to “The Walking Dead” for making the quintessential last-minute Halloween costume cool again. (For everyone’s emotional sanity, the topic of this week’s episode won’t be breached. Too soon.) Going as a zombie is as easy as ripping and dirtying up an old T-shirt, applying extra-dark eye makeup and artfully smearing on red lipstick. Added bonus of going as a walker: you don’t have to cover up the dark circles under your eyes. You’re welcome.

If your idea of the apocalypse includes a little less gore and little more star-crossed romance with a little child gladiator flair, go as Katniss or Peeta from “The Hunger Games.” Black pants, a black long-sleeve shirt, brown or black riding boots, and a mockingjay pinned to your shirt are all that are necessary to complete the look. Bows and arrows are neither necessary nor recommended. Major points if you carry a mound of ashes in your pocket and introduce it to people as “my sister, Prim.”

If you’re looking for a low-effort way to show your school spirit this year, go as a pillar of the Tulane community, a campus legend, the Academic Quad-infamous: Cow Cat. Borrow a pair of cat ears from that friend that went as a “slutty cat” three years in a row, and wear black and white clothing. Use eyeliner or paint to draw on whiskers and a nose, and lay in front of Richardson waiting for people to shower you with adoration.

Whether your Halloweekend will be spent show-hopping at Voodoo Fest, venturing down Frenchmen Street or binge-watching horror movies on Netflix, trick-or-treat yo’ self with costumes like these.

Leave a Comment