Last-minute costume suggestions
Tomorrow is Halloween, and if you don’t already have your costume together, you’re probably freaking. Relax! We’re here with some de-freaking advice on how you can pull together a last-minute outfit:
If you have a sheet:
Come on, everybody has a sheet. As long as you have a sheet that doesn’t have Hello Kitty or something on it, you can go as Sappho, or pretty much any other woman from the Classical Greek or Hellenistic era.
A really great last-minute costume is Themistoclea. The only thing you need in addition to a sheet is a bowl. You don’t have to do a wreath on your head, but if you want to, just cut some leaves off a branch of something in your yard. If you want to drape something over your head while you’re staring into your bowl of water, a shawl or a sheer curtain panel will do.
Demeter is another possibility. Do you have some silk flowers or fake fruit in your house? Or how about real fruit? Or Halloween candy? Put it in a basket and carry it with you. You’re Demeter.
If you have a sheet plus a few costume accessories:
You can go as Athena. Athena is just a sheet plus fake armor: helmet, shield, spear.
Boudicca is just a couple of sheets plus a crown and armor. The sheets don’t have to be plaid.
Or Zenobia: all you need to add to your sheet is a crown and some fake chains.
You could also go as Persephone. A black sheet is ideal, but you could also do red or white. Skip the veil, or use a sheer curtain panel. Use some props from the costume store to enhance the death factor: a skull bouquet, that sort of thing.
If you have a long black skirt, plus a costume accessory or two:
Pick up a pair of pince-nez spectacles and go as Emma Goldman.
Grab a Gibson Girl hat and go as Lise Meitner.
Braid your hair, put flowers on your head, wrap a shawl around your shoulders, and voilà: you’re Frida Kahlo.
Or channel Lizzie Borden: just carry an axe with you (preferably a bloody one) and tell everybody you didn’t do it.
If you have a churidar kameez plus a few costume accessories:
Razia Sultan is just a churidar kameez plus a helmet and a “sultan” turban.
For Tomyris, you just need a forward-facing pointed cap and maybe a sword. A plastic skull is a bonus.
If you have a formal gown:
Check out our Glamour Grrls category. If you have a black strapless, go as Rita Hayworth; a white gown, Jean Harlow; etc.
