What should I be for Halloween?

October 24, 2005 7:12 AM

HalloweenCostumeFilter: I know that people have come here looking for ideas before, but I have specific criteria for a costume. Help me enjoy a Halloween party, for once

I am 25 year old male in decent shape.

This is what I demand out of a costume:
1. I want it to be kind of attractive, suave, cool, and comfortable.
2. It must be warm so that I can go outside comfortably without having to worry about a jacket. I can wear a thermal undershirt to help with this.
3. I'd like it to be relatively simple, perhaps consisting of real clothes that don't require a whole heck of a lot of alterations.
4. CHEAP
5. A little bit funny wouldn't hurt

Any ideas?

posted by TurkishGolds to grab bag (21 comments total)

How about anything with a suit? You could try being a slimy lawyer or a clueless weatherman or Al Capone (that might require a hat purchase). There is also the standard presidental mask paired with a grey suit.

I'm also fond of dressing up like friends or relatives, although the joke will be lost on anyone who doesn't know you. It's easy espcially if you can borrow clothes. I'm toying with the idea of borrowing a pair of cat's eye glasses and a blue sweater and dressing up like my aunt Cathy c. 1968.
posted by Alison at 7:22 AM on October 24, 2005

I like the idea of a suit, but I don't own one. I'd have to find one cheap somewhere, and that might not look so good.
posted by TurkishGolds at 7:35 AM on October 24, 2005

If you'd like to impress the ladies...go as the John Cusack character from "Say Anything." Jeans, high-top shoes, a Clash t-shirt, and an overcoat. Oh, and a boombox (someone you know owns one!) playing that song from the movie ("In Your Eyes"). I've seen this done before, and it gets the girls everytime...
posted by elquien at 7:42 AM on October 24, 2005

Spider Jerusalem.
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:48 AM on October 24, 2005

Abu Ghraib Prisoner Jumpsuit with longjohns underneath for warmth. Accessorize with slogans, beards, turbans, Korans, Cabinet Member masks, etc. to suit.
posted by By The Grace of God at 7:55 AM on October 24, 2005

im going as kip from napoleon dynamite, and my friends are captain steve zissou [life aquatic] and ron burgundy [anchor man]
posted by chuckforthought.com at 8:00 AM on October 24, 2005

Last year someone was Clark Kent: superman costume (just shirt) underneath a suit + tie. Add glasses and you're done. Rip open the shirt halfway through the evening, after people have been trying to guess who you are for a while. (Or carefully unbutton if you want to wear the suit again, but that's not very superman-like!)
posted by easternblot at 8:18 AM on October 24, 2005 [1 favorite]

It's like TurkishGold asked the question for me. This is gold. Drunk superman, I like.
posted by slapshot57 at 8:21 AM on October 24, 2005

One of my friends suggested Hugh Hefner. Not bad, but I still don't think that I've found the perfect costume yet.
posted by TurkishGolds at 8:26 AM on October 24, 2005

Here is your perfect costume: jeans, warm flannel shirt, trucker hat. Make a small crown of maple leaves (wear it over the hat), clutch another bunch of leaves. Wear a big sash over your shoulder that says "Miss Canada" (or "Miss Alaska" if you don't want to offend the northerly neighbors). Hilarity ensues!
posted by blindcarboncopy at 10:12 AM on October 24, 2005 [1 favorite]

Andy Warhol?

I can't think of a scarier human being.
posted by essexjan at 10:22 AM on October 24, 2005

I have a friend who did the Clark Kent-Superman thing one year. If you take some cheap quartz pieces, you can hotglue them together around a small green glowstick and create some pretty nifty-looking Kryptonite.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 10:46 AM on October 24, 2005

If you do find a suit that works, "Satan as a lawyer" is pretty easy. Add some horns, red facepaint, and a briefcase full of guns/liquor bottles/drugs/contracts to buy a person's soul, and you're good to go.
posted by Vervain at 10:52 AM on October 24, 2005

Regarding the Clark Kent-Superman costume, last year saw a guy dressed as a journalist - he went around asking everyone questions and writing down their answers on a little notepad.

He didn't tell anyone he was Clark Kent and when he switched into his superman costume halfway through the party everyone thought it was hilarious.
posted by curbstop at 11:12 AM on October 24, 2005

Chairman Mao hat + Chairman Mao jacket + cat mask="Chairman Meow"
posted by halcyon_daze at 11:33 AM on October 24, 2005

James Bond is what popped into my brain with your list of requirements. Rent a Tux. Not sure what else would make it Bond-ish.
posted by deborah at 11:50 AM on October 24, 2005

From 'The Office', you can be a three-hole punched version of yourself. Wear your normal work attire, and then add three black circles along your right side, representing three hole punches.

From the show Jim explains, "There's normal, white Jim, and then there's three-hole punch Jim."

It would help if you work at a paper supply office like Jim does.
posted by RobbyB at 11:51 AM on October 24, 2005

I remember reading Drew Carey's book, he went as "Guy Without Pants" once - wear what you normally wear every day. But just without pants! It cracks me up every time!
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 11:57 AM on October 24, 2005

Find a hospital gown/shirt thing, get a jello brain mold, and be a brain donor (someone suggested this for me due to a major head wound I just got).
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 12:02 PM on October 24, 2005

Get a big giant cardboard box, cut out a 'display' window, and go as a 'Kissing Booth'. You can get as creative as you want as far as decorating it and promoting it at the party. You can make it mobile, i.e you inside of it, and when you walk around, it goes with you, or you can just make it standalone. A great way to meet girls and make every guy in the party wish he was you.

I also saw a guy pull 'The Shower' from the Karate Kid last year. It was classic.
posted by jasondigitized at 12:27 PM on October 24, 2005 [1 favorite]

I went as Bob Packwood back in 1996. I hit on all hte ladies in the most offensive manner possible - all in character, of course - and wrote down phone numbers in my "diary."

After the party I went bar hopping with the Pope and a pirate. Hilarity ensued.
posted by mikewas at 7:26 PM on October 24, 2005