Halloween Costumes - Scare Up Some Creativity

Misty Rogers
pOke staff

There are many costumes ideas if you put your mind to it, here are some examples. Photo by Misty Rogers

If you didn't spend your summer working on your Ironman costume or putting the final touches on your Queen Amidala costume you just might not be ready for Halloween.

Well, never fear, pOke is here! We have some tricks up our sleeves to help you be the bell of the ball or the monster hiding in the closet.

JUST GO TO THE STORE!

The easiest solution is to go to a costume store or rental place. This isn't the most cost efficient but it's your best bet if you have more money than time.

Gina's Costume Rentals, at 1936 S. Combee Road in Lakeland has great costumes to choose from. You can look as if you spent time creating the best costume, but really all you had you to do was swipe your card.

The Spirit store at 3629 S. Florida Ave. in Lakeland is a great place to get into the Halloween spirit (pun intended). Not only to they have costume, but they have life-size scary displays. The store has packaged costumes ready for the picking. This way you don't have to do much but open a package. If you have no clue what to dress up as, you can come up with something by strolling the many aisles of the store. These are also the best places for final touches such as wigs and even shoes.

RAID SOMEONE'S CLOSET

Your friend was a flapper two years ago and she still has the costume in her closet. She can't wear it ever again, but you can! Ask to borrow it and fashion yourself a cute headband or do something a little different with it so no one will ever know you are wearing your friend's old costume.

A Marilyn Monroe costume. Photo by Misty Rogers

Most everyone has the makings of a pirate costume, a hippie, a cowboy, or punk rocker in their closet. All you need is a little imagination and a scarf; it's just a matter of how you use it.

If you and all of your friends have boring closets try going to the community closets - thrift stores. Some thrift stores are nice enough to set aside costumes or items that can be made into costumes. We found a lot of options at Secondhand Chic, a consignment shop in downtown Winter Haven. A belly dancing costume, a Marilyn Monroe dress, and a classic school girl resembling a young Brittany Spears costume was discovered at Secondhand Chic. There are many treasures to be found, all you have to do is look.

If you're lacking in ideas - here are some:

MAKE IT UNDEAD

Think a generic costume is too lame for you? Take a basic idea and zombie it out. You've found a costume but you think it's too boring? Take that Marilyn Monroe, pirate, or gangster costume and splash some blood and add a couple of flesh wounds. You're an instant zombie. How clever.

STAIGHT FROM THE TABLOIDS

Sid and Nancy costumes. Photo by Misty Rogers

Take a tabloid headline and turn it into a costume everyone will be talking about. Celebrities on the verge of a breakdown, having too many babies, are too fat or too skinny can make a great costume. The biggest baby in the world or the real wolf man is not only a good for checkout aisles, but they are also a good source for great costume ideas.

LET HOLLYWOOD BE YOUR GUIDE

The movies and TV can give us a plethora of ideas to use for Halloween. You could be a pregnant teen with a runner boy friend or the disturbed madman that goes by the name the Joker. You could always dig up the classics and be Sid and Nancy.

MAKE IT A GROUP EFFORT

Go in a group. Make your Native American, cop, Army personnel, construction worker, biker, cowboy costume into a group effort and be the Village People. A nerd, a jock, a princess, a basket case, and a criminal are better as the Breakfast Club. Be the whole gang and be an instant hit. It's more fun that way.

Whatever you become for the night, make a your own, and have a blast.