Costume Parade

Since I feel like I live much of my life in costumes, it should be of no surprise that Halloween has always been my favorite holiday.  Not only was I nearly a Halloween baby, but costumes and candy are two of the best things in the whole wide world.  I've never been one for seriously scary movies or haunted houses, but I adore decorating our house with all things spooky.  My mom instilled in me a love for this holiday, and at the core, that love has always been based in the joy that comes from creating the perfect costume.  I don't have any plans for Halloween this year, but that hasn't stopped me from coming up with a few spur-of-the-moment options, should I need them:

I adore this cute + easy Minnie costume!  I'd definitely have to add tights and a cardigan, though.

(Dress: Le Bomb Shop // purse: Jump From Paper // heels: similar // ears: Party City)

My novelty purses sure come in handy at a time like this!  I thought going as a sweet treat might be a fun idea.  The blue dress (which has a print of shells, seahorses and fish) would be great for a mermaid or even the ocean -- or if you're a redhead, you could be Miss Frizzle!  All the red dress needs is a blonde curly wig for a Goldilocks costume!

(Dresses: Bernie Dexter, ASOS, Yumi, Bodyline // Purses: New Look, ModCloth, ASOS, eBay //
Shoes: Mel by Melissa, BAIT Footwear, JC Penney, YesStyle)

I get so nostalgic for Halloweens past! The Halloween celebrations and costume parties we had in college were among my favorites.  All of our parties were themed costume parties, but Halloween was one of the major ones (second only to our end-of-the-year party, called The Waggies, which was kind of a hybrid of Halloween, the prom and the Tony Awards).  Our class always created costumes with one big theme for both Halloween and The Waggies, which was always really fun and allowed us to be really crafty and creative.  Here are some of my favorite costumes from a few years ago:

Our theme here was Myths & Monsters!  I decided to be Monster Energy Drink.  I loved my headband!

Our senior year Waggies theme was Drink of Choice - mine was the Mudslide (and again, my favorite part was the hat!).

We dressed up as Looney Toons/Hanna-Barbera cartoons one Halloween, and I chose Hong Kong Phooey.

We decided on "It's a Small World" for our senior year Halloween theme.  I was especially proud of my Union Jack dress, since the back featured tons of British pop culture references and landmarks, all in puffy paint.  I've never been especially gifted when it comes to visual art, but I always managed to do pretty decent work on my costumes, and I've loved making them.

Sophomore year Halloween was candy-themed.  These were all pieces I already had, and I think I even made the York logo out of a blue plastic binder cover and White-Out!  We were robbed in the costume competition!

Our Waggies theme was the United States one year, and my mom and I made this Declaration of Independence dress out of an old bed sheet.  I did all the lettering by hand, which was fun.  This was probably my favorite costume idea! 

I think that, unless you live near a lot of close friends, Halloween tends to be less of a big deal as you get older -- or at least, that's been the case for me.  I'm in sort of a weird limbo state when it comes to this time of year; not only do I not have many friends nearby, but Halloween was also my anniversary with my ex, so it's been sort of a solitary day these past couple of years.  In addition, I don't really drink, so that aspect of Halloween parties doesn't interest me.  I had a rehearsal on Halloween last year, so I didn't have much time to dwell on it.  I actually have to work on Halloween this year, and I'm not sure I'll even be dressing up.  I hope that I'll eventually be in a place where I'm able to celebrate Halloween again in the way I'd like -- but for now, I'll revel in the simple fact that this is a holiday allows me to dress in even kookier attire than I normally do!  Since I don't have a costume prepared right now (if I do dress up, it'll probably be something I came up with on the spot), here are the two costumes that I posted last year:

Original posts: Hey, Cupcake!  //  High school hellcat

What I liked about both of these costumes is that, like the ones at the beginning of this post, they used existing clothes in my closet and used them in a different way to create a costume look.  I wish I had had a little neck scarf (and better hair) for the sock hop look, but it'd work in a pinch!  I love this cupcake dress by Nishe, and I found a headband in a Storenvy shop that worked perfectly with it.  I already had the white tights and shoes as well.  I already spend a fairly substantial amount on my wardrobe, so it seems silly to me to spend a lot of money on a Halloween costume when I have a chance to use my wardrobe in a creative way!  Plus, I have a ton of quirky pieces that really lend themselves well to being part of a costume.

What about you?  Do you like to buy a new costume every year, or do you like to create one from pieces you already own?  Tell me what you're being for Halloween so I can live vicariously!

Have a great day & a spook-tacular Halloween!

xox Sammi

PS: Don't forget - there's still time to enter my Big Birthday Giveaway!  Saturday is your last full day to enter, and you don't want to miss this one!  Get all the details + enter here!