It's a way homer. You only get it on the way home.

October 21, 2008 8:14 AM

Suggest good Halloween costumes that illustrate a funny play on words!

To give you an example of the kind of things I'm looking for:

Hold up signs that say "Go Satan!" and you're a Devil's Advocate

Wear a cardboard "table" around your waist and a lampshade on your head and you're One Nightstand

I like costumes that make me chuckle once I get it, so what are some other good ideas? For special bonus points, I have a lot of fake flowers and gauzy curtains with leaves on them that I could wear kind of toga-style. What could I do with these other than "Earth Angel" or "Flower Child"?

posted by MsMolly to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (41 answers total)

Arrange the flowers in a parabola and go as Flower Power?
posted by thirteenkiller at 8:19 AM on October 21, 2008 [1 favorite]

A friend of mine did this one Halloween and went through several costume changes throught the night:

He wore a hand muff and scuba gear to be a "Muff Diver"
Later, he put carpet remnants all over his clothes with bites taken out to be a "Carpet Muncher"
The last one I remember was wearing scholarly glasses, neatly pressed clothing, and a stack of foreign language books to be a "Cunning Linguist"

Clearly, this was a theme night for him.
posted by coryinabox at 8:21 AM on October 21, 2008 [2 favorites]

Somebody told me an idea about mortgage backed securities.

Wear a black t-shirt that says "Security" on it.
Put some checks and write "mortgage" on it, and place on your back.
posted by sandmanwv at 8:23 AM on October 21, 2008 [1 favorite]

I had a friend once wear a slip (over her clothes) with a picture of Freud pinned to it--she was, of course, a Freudian slip.
posted by leesh at 8:32 AM on October 21, 2008 [1 favorite]

I knew a girl who did this for a grad school party: she wore a Picasso-themed t-shirt, and then unwrapped tampons and dipped the ends in a solution of water and blue food coloring. She pinned the tampon strings to her shirt.

She was Picasso's Blue Period.

I have a male friend whose go-to last-minute punny costume is to wear hospital scrubs, under a brown hooded cloak, carrying a light saber in one hand and a speculum in the other. He's "OB-GYN Kenobi."

My own go-to last-minute punny costume is black pants with flames of red and orange satin attached from the bottom hem to the knee, and a shirt that says "Liar, liar."

Love your page title!
posted by pineapple at 8:40 AM on October 21, 2008 [1 favorite]

Saw a woman at a party that had the whole bondage PVC Catwoman suit thing going, and Borg implants. I finally had to ask.

She was, of course, 7 of 69.
posted by cjorgensen at 8:42 AM on October 21, 2008 [1 favorite]

simple: you could be a ceiling fan by holding a sign that says 'go ceilings'
posted by bradly at 8:47 AM on October 21, 2008 [8 favorites]

A friend once wore a dyed toga and laurel wreath and was orange julius.

Another friend wore a giant box with a tag on it that said 'from god, to women'
posted by Large Marge at 8:51 AM on October 21, 2008 [1 favorite]

One friend of mine had a white sweater and it had a yellow circle in the front. She carried a pitchfork, wore red horns, and a tail. She was a deviled egg.

Then one year she wore a Cubs uniform and had leathery wings on her back. She was a baseball bat.
posted by arniec at 9:00 AM on October 21, 2008 [1 favorite]

back in college, i knew a couple who dressed in all black and carried around a large piece of cardboard colored bright yellow. when asked about their costume, they would freeze up in a walking pose in front of the cardboard. they were peg & ted xing.
posted by deejay jaydee at 9:00 AM on October 21, 2008 [2 favorites]

Two years ago when I was lazy I was a Quarter Pounder. I just carried a hammer and a quarter around, and whenever someone asked me what i was I'd pound the quarter with the hammer.
posted by azarbayejani at 9:14 AM on October 21, 2008 [1 favorite]

A guy in my office last year wore cammo fatigues and dark makeup under his eyes. When I asked him what he was?

"Fatigued worker."

Ba-dum-bump.
posted by scarabic at 9:20 AM on October 21, 2008 [1 favorite]

Last year my boyfriend cut out one side of the seat of an old pair of jeans and was a "half-assed costume"
posted by radioamy at 9:25 AM on October 21, 2008 [3 favorites]

Friend of mine sewed these all over her jeans and went as a smarty pants.
posted by range at 9:28 AM on October 21, 2008 [1 favorite]

I think you need to be a couple for this to work most effectively:

Get your hands on some army fatigues, and one half of the couple wears the shirt, and the other half wears the pants. When inquired about your costume, you reply that you are the digestive tract (upper and lower GI).
posted by msali at 9:30 AM on October 21, 2008 [2 favorites]

I saw someone dressed all in silver with naked barbie dolls attached to his clothes. I asked him what he was and he said, "Isn't it obvious? Babe magnet."

Another one I like for a 2 person costume is one person wears rubber waders (like for fishing) and the other carries an oar, and they physically fight a lot. Roe vs. Wade.
posted by np312 at 9:36 AM on October 21, 2008 [7 favorites]

I've seen "serial killer" portrayed with beat up/bloodied boxes of Lucky Charms and such attached to clothing.
posted by simplethings at 9:44 AM on October 21, 2008

Two things come to mind:
1) Wear nerdy glasses, a toga, and a pocket protector: A Geek Goddess.
2) One year I wore a rainbow hoodie and knee socks, a camo skirt, combat boots, and a bandolier. I was Rambo Bright.
posted by alpha_betty at 9:46 AM on October 21, 2008

(I should add that if you go with 2), you will have to explain it. A lot. Most people thought my costume was "Gays in the military.")
posted by alpha_betty at 9:48 AM on October 21, 2008

This is my favorite sort of costume. I'm having a devil of a time coming up with this year's outfit, though...

Here are three I've done:

-Pin socks all over my normal clothes and SMILE. When people ask, flash and manic grin and say you're "Ecstatic Cling." I loved this costume SO MUCH.
-Cut out many pictures of porpoises. Fan them out around your face with a headscarf. What are you? "All Porpoise Flower." (You could use your gauzy curtains for this!)
-Tape a giant flattened cat onto your shirt. You're a "Platypus." Hyuck, hyuck, hyuck...

If you google "pun costume," you'll see a ton of ideas that might help to spark some further ideas of your own.

Here and here and here and here should help get you started.

Frankly, though, as much as I love pun costumes, I get a much better reaction if I wear my Jedi outfit or my Hogwarts robe. Alas.
posted by ElectricBlue at 10:06 AM on October 21, 2008

*-Pin socks over your normal clothes and SMILE. [...]flash a manic grin[...]

Yeesh. Posting on AskMeFi while you're sick is bad...
posted by ElectricBlue at 10:09 AM on October 21, 2008

Another link for "lazy costumes", as my friend calls them.
posted by pised at 10:11 AM on October 21, 2008

My friend put some eggs in a basket on her head and dressed skankily and went as "Eggs Over Easy." This is a good costume if you are hoping to pick up.
posted by metaname at 10:14 AM on October 21, 2008 [1 favorite]

I saw a girl wearing a slip with various Freudian terms glued on it. You guess it, she was a Freudian slip.
posted by damn dirty ape at 10:29 AM on October 21, 2008

A couple of years ago, I induced my (male) roommate to dress in cowgirl gear, except with all his clothes on backwards. You Cosmo readers know where this is going... he was "reverse cowgirl".

The best part of the costume was explaining it to people: we were either met with a blank stare or an enthusiastic high five most of the time.
posted by non sum qualis eram at 10:41 AM on October 21, 2008 [1 favorite]

I took an old suit jacket, taped a bunch of birthday cards, streamers, candles ect. to it...there I am, at the party, in my BIRTHDAY SUIT! ha ha ...uh..ha
posted by BozoBurgerBonanza at 10:41 AM on October 21, 2008

I had a buddy that walked around with a chair on his head.

He was a piece of gum.
posted by Bonzai at 11:11 AM on October 21, 2008 [3 favorites]

Wear a giant stamped and addressed envelope, and a rubber baby bottle nipple (giant) on your head, that sticks out of the top of the envelope.

YOU ARE A FORMULA LETTER.

Dress as a Klingon and DO NOT MOVE AT ALL, ALL NIGHT.

YOU ARE STATIC KLING-ON.

Dress in simple robes. Blush and smile demurely, like you have a lovely secret, whenever anyone mentions Jesus.

YOU ARE THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST.
posted by Darth Fedor at 11:16 AM on October 21, 2008

i did the freudian slip thing too. only i just wore a slip and bought those sticky felt letters and spelled out "freudian" on my chest.

and people still didn't get it.

go figure. :)
posted by dithmer at 11:19 AM on October 21, 2008

Last year I made a shirt with Scott Baio's picture on it and wore a wolf hat, I was of course Beowulf.
posted by yodelingisfun at 12:14 PM on October 21, 2008 [2 favorites]

Wear a cardboard or foam cutout shaped like Iraq.

-What are you?
-(Possibly singing) I am Iraq (sounds like I am a rock)
posted by gauchodaspampas at 12:45 PM on October 21, 2008

My idea, that I have yet to get ANYONE to go with, is to get a bee costume, and then all sorts of ghoulish makeup for the face. You're a Zom-Bee!

I don't know why I'm the only one who thinks this is hilarious.
posted by FatherDagon at 1:00 PM on October 21, 2008 [2 favorites]

Not really a pun, but along the same lines, one year I sewed a buncha white cotton balls to a grey shirt, got a bright orange wig and carried around a squirt gun. If anyone asked I was Partly Sunny with a Chance of Rain and then squirted my gun in the air.*

*Trial and error taught me that people do not like to be squirted in the face when you tell them what you are. FYI.
posted by amanda at 2:33 PM on October 21, 2008 [1 favorite]

white trash
posted by andoatnp at 2:50 PM on October 21, 2008

This is my significant other's idea, he'd kill me for posting it on the internet.

Dude dressed in sexy maids costume - "the transjanitor"
posted by Acer_saccharum at 7:29 PM on October 21, 2008

One year my best friend and I dressed in normal clothes but we each had a long dowel rod (painted white with a red tip) and dark glasses. We walked around, one of us always with her hand on the other's shoulder, and made sure to bump into people and furniture.

Yes, the blind leading the blind.

People either laughed really hard or got offended.
posted by Brody's chum at 9:39 PM on October 21, 2008

2nd Amendment: Wear just the arms of a bear costume (right to bear arms).
posted by Kupo? at 10:32 AM on October 22, 2008

when i was little, my babysitter wore sunglasses and had a cane, and on her back were mini-blinds.

from the front, a blind venetian, and from the back, venetian blinds.

oh dear.

loving some of these ideas!

kupo? - wouldn't you have two right bear arms? wouldn't that be even better? right two bear arms? hmmm...
posted by pyjammy at 12:32 PM on October 22, 2008

I had a high school teacher who dressed as a pun every year.

My favorite? Cooking up a storm.

She had on all the chef's gear (apron, hat, clogs) and had an umbrella with strings of paper rain drops stuck on the inside.
posted by chan.caro at 1:55 PM on October 22, 2008

One of my high school teachers pinned fall leaves made of construction paper to his shirt. The had names written on them, e.g. "Bohr", "Mendeleev", etc. He was Chemis-Tree!

A friend and I wore dark clothes, and walked everywhere side by side with our arms over each other's shoulders. We each had 1 cup of a 44 DDD bra on our heads. We were "2 girls walking abreast".
posted by MissSquare at 4:32 PM on October 30, 2008

One of my co-workers wore a costume once where she dressed normally, except with little X-shaped pieces of paper pinned all over her clothes. She was a Cross Dresser.

To use your flowers and leaves, perhaps you could make a leaf and flower-studded outfit and then hide it underneath a robe or trenchcoat. When people ask what you are, you open your coat to show them: you are the Secret Garden. Or you could attach a picture of New Jersey to the same outfit and be the Garden State. Or you could stuff a pillow under your shirt and be Expectant Mother Nature. Or wear a halo and be Miracle Gro, but perhaps that's stretching it a bit.
posted by fermion at 11:35 AM on April 3, 2009