Americans are estimated to spend 10 billion dollars on Halloween this year (costumes, candy, decorations, and dog costumes too). $3.32 billion of that will be going to costumes alone– 27% more than last year. The breakdown? The average person will spend about $102.74 on Halloween things. That’s A LOT of candy corn, carved pumpkins and Berries & Cream Little Lad costumes.
The problem? For one, costumes tend to be very culturally relevant and therefore very rarely get worn twice– are we really ever going to see another Ransom (Knives Out) white-knit sweater costume? (Even though we ALL know that Chris Evans absolutely killed that look). Secondly, Halloween costumes are almost always made from polyester and synthetic latex which have a high likelihood of shedding microfibers. If you don’t know why that’s bad, maybe check out our article here.
So what do you do?
It’s just so darn fun dressing up like a Squid Game player, Cruella de Vil, or maybe even the Zodiac Killer since we FINALLY know who it was. But in a few days that costume will be in the trash and all those halloween cocktails will ensure you barely even remember the costume you wore.
Maybe consider thrifting your look, using clothes you already have, or even recycling an old costume. There’s even a trend going around TikTok of a “costume countdown” where people show off a new look every day. Chloe dyed and re-designed clothing she already had for a pastel monochrome space cowboy. Carly had a Gilmore Halloween as Rory, and then flipped it around as Princess Mia Thermopolis (or for the real ones, Amelia Mignonette Thermopolis Grimaldi Renaldi). Or go even more simple and just add a baseball hat, a crooked smile, and a baby for a Joe Goldberg look.
There really are so many ways to get creative without the waste, and better yet, you will be infinitely more unique and not just another sexy this or brooding that.
