Halloween costume ideas

October 2, 2006 9:21 AM

I've been invited to a costume party - the theme is "come as your favorite dead TV, film or rockstar."

My creativity is failing me - does anyone have any ideas for a costume that I can make easily out of what's in my closet and/or a trip to the thrift store? I don't have alot of cash to spend on this.

Janis Joplin is the first person that came to mind, but I would like some more options. The field is wide open, as long as it's a female celeb - I don't feel like crossdressing!

Thanks!

posted by lawhound to grab bag (29 comments total)

One of Shirley MacLaine's past lives?
posted by matty at 9:27 AM on October 2, 2006 [1 favorite]

Is there anyone you already sort of look like? Maybe if you give us an idea of your age, body type, and hair length and color it would enable us to narrow things down a bit. I've found that it's convenient and cost-effective to already look a bit like whoever I'm dressing up as in situations like these.
posted by amro at 9:31 AM on October 2, 2006

Have you considered Mama Cass? Pretty much the only prop you need is a ham sandwich. (Sure, it's an urban legend, but a recognizable one that should lead to the proper Halloween mix of repulsion and laughter.)

Alternatively you could go for Natalie Wood--just amke sure your hair looks wet and there's some seaweed attached to your dress.
posted by donovan at 9:32 AM on October 2, 2006

We did this in college. One of the best nights I remember. Here's some of the best costumes I recall:

Pablo Escobar - former drug czar, now dead. polyester, tight pants, my friend had on a leisure suit, it was hilarious. fake facial hair and sideburns...

Albert Einstein - great scientist, now dead. Teased hair, white talc pounder and hairspray to go 'grey', yellow V-neck (or whatever), crazy stripped tie. Painted on mustache.

Virginia Woolfe - great author, now dead. Pulled back hair, long, baggy mousey colored dress with bad knee-highs, forlone expression.

Anonymous Suicidal Jumper Guy - former Joe-everyone, now dead. This was actually my favorite costume. Some guy put on jeans, a sports coat and used wire to fix his tie up into the air like it would if he was falling, then hair jelled his hair up and was 'some guy who jumped from a building.' Classic.

Nichole
posted by eatdonuts at 9:32 AM on October 2, 2006

I'm 5'4", on the thin side, with shoulder length dark, wavy hair.
posted by lawhound at 9:46 AM on October 2, 2006

Gem is truly outrageous and her cartoon has long ago died. (She was a rockstar, a TV "star," and an ad exec)
posted by Eringatang at 9:46 AM on October 2, 2006

Steve Irwin. No contest.
posted by craven_morhead at 9:48 AM on October 2, 2006

Since you're going to a dead celebrity party you're shooting for the most tasteless costume possible. Just carry around an open window frame and tell everyone you're Eric Clapton's son.*

It's simple and cheap, just make the window out of cardboard. Once you tell people what you are they'll be too shocked to care about your sex and how you're dressed.

Disclaimer: If this offends anyone then they have no business attending a dead celebrity party or reading a thread about one. Dead children aren't funny. Dressing up as one could be.
posted by bondcliff at 9:51 AM on October 2, 2006

That's nicely sick, bondcliff, but I'd be all Halloweeny and go with Elizabeth Montgomery, the lady who played Samantha on Bewitched. Awesome outfits, plus you get to be a witch.
posted by DenOfSizer at 9:55 AM on October 2, 2006

Audrey Hepburn? She's currently experiencing quite the post-death resurgence in popularity (see, e.g., any recent Gap ad).
posted by amro at 9:58 AM on October 2, 2006

How about Jayne Mansfield? You could somehow stuff your whole upper half making big boobs and pad your shoulders way up high, wrap a scarf around the "neck" and carry a head under your arm.

(I know, it's an urban legend, but if the ham sandwich works, this does too.)

For bonus tasteless points, carry a lifeless stuffed dog under the other arm, or attach it to your person somehow so you have a free hand to hold your drink.
posted by bink at 9:58 AM on October 2, 2006

Nancy Spungen. I went to a "Dead Stars" party the first week at college as Sid Vicious, and the guys there called me "Sid" for the rest of my college days.
posted by MrMoonPie at 10:01 AM on October 2, 2006

I don't feel like crossdressing!

Guess that leaves out Steve Irwin

How about Nina Simone or Emilia Earhart?
posted by terrapin at 10:04 AM on October 2, 2006

Are you supposed to look like the star while they were alive or after they died? If the former, for Audrey Hepburn you just need a little black dress and a tiara. Judy Garland would need pigtails, red shoes, a gingham dress, and a bottle of stage-vodka with some pills in the bottom.
posted by cardboard at 10:04 AM on October 2, 2006

Go as Michael Hutchence all you need is to wear a belt around your neck.

On preview: crap, no cross dressing. How about Nancy Spungen then? You could wear a "I was junkie whore punk rock groupie and all i got was this lousy t-shirt (and murdered by Sid)" shirt. Of course you run the risk of being mistaken for Courtney Love.
posted by The Radish at 10:12 AM on October 2, 2006

Lisa "Left-eye" Lopes from TLC: hair in pig-tails, glasses with condom taped over the left eye or the black stripe under the eye

Dana Plato from Diffrent Strokes: if you can style your hair & find a shirt like this

Patsy Cline: 50's style dress & hair
posted by witchstone at 10:19 AM on October 2, 2006

Get wet and go as Natalie Wood
posted by stefanie at 10:34 AM on October 2, 2006

The party like this I attended in college was Suicide, Murdered or Assassinated, leaving out those who died of natural causes.

The Black Dahlia would be topical, if you have access to vintage clothes.

Sharon Tate would be in really bad taste.

Post-death Marilyn Monroe: white dress, blue face.

Sylvia Plath.
posted by Bookhouse at 10:49 AM on October 2, 2006 [1 favorite]

Oooh, Left-Eye's a really good one, 'cause the key is having something iconic that is easy/cheap but will tip people off right away as to who you are. And her death was untimely.

Pasty, Mama Cass, and Lucille Ball are my favorite dead ladies, but they don't have "that thing" (except the ham sandwich I guess--but Cass was fat). Lucy would be somewhat involved, as you'd need red hair and the perfect dress and makeup.

If you were willing to go drag, Jim Henson would be pretty easy--a fake gray beard and a Kermit doll would be all you'd need. But on that same vein you could always do Shari Lewis, if you had a Lambchop doll and either found a curly wig or did your hair in tight curls. But if you don't have a Lambchop, I'd imagine she'd be harder to find on short notice than Kermie. (Although presumably you have close to a month?)
posted by lampoil at 10:54 AM on October 2, 2006

If you're looking for a list of suicides, Wikipedia</A. is your friend.
posted by plinth at 11:14 AM on October 2, 2006

apron + curly wig + turkey baster + bottle of wine that you drink out of all night = Julia Child

straight blond wig + flannel nightgown + remote control = that little girl from Poltergeist
posted by 23skidoo at 11:42 AM on October 2, 2006

For Hallowe'en 2003, I wanted to get a flannel shirt, a touque, and a fake bloody knife, stick the knife in the middle of my chest, and go as Elliott Smith. Apparently it was too soon then, but maybe enough time has passed that you can get away with it now...
posted by Gortuk at 11:48 AM on October 2, 2006

Sorry, I totally read the question wrong and ended up giving a male example. But if you have short hair you could still pull it off.
posted by Gortuk at 11:49 AM on October 2, 2006

Yes. Do Sylvia Plath. You'll need an Easy Bake Oven.
posted by plinth at 12:17 PM on October 2, 2006

Following Gortuk's idea [and yes, yes, you don't want to do drag, but]: Kurt Cobain. A girl could pull this off pretty easily - longish hair, a flannel shirt and old jeans, and a bunch of fake blood and costume makeup to provide the gunshot wound [and maybe some needle marks.]
posted by ubersturm at 12:49 PM on October 2, 2006

How skinny are you?
Karen Carpenter?
posted by chococat at 2:50 PM on October 2, 2006

Isadora Duncan. 1920's outfit with a long scarf.
posted by pmurray63 at 8:53 PM on October 2, 2006 [1 favorite]

Okay, a bit too dated, in retrospect.
posted by pmurray63 at 8:53 PM on October 2, 2006

If you do go as Sylvia Plath, don't forget the oven-rack marks on your face.
posted by hermitosis at 8:36 PM on October 24, 2006