Halloween Costumes - Being Different

Halloween parties are popular and give many people an excuse to have fun. They are one of the few high profile social events throughout the year where dressing up is part of the fun and the main attraction. But it can be slightly frustrating choosing what to wear to a Halloween party.

Typically there will be several types of costumes that keep repeating themselves. You can be assured that any Halloween party will have several Count Dracula's along with some gothic friends, a number of witches, a Casper the Friendly Ghost and a few other normally popular costumes. Is there that much of a limited imagination or is that these are the costumes that are the easiest to find?

To be distinctive, you could design and make a completely different costume from scratch. However, most people don't have the time, money, imagination or inclination to go to that trouble. Some find the best way to stand out in the crowd is to do something radically different, even outrageous, by showing up in a costume that has little if anything to do with Halloween. If the costume is topical, witty, controversial or daring they will be noticed. But that approach can take more courage and judgement to pull off successfully than most of us feel comfortable with.

There is another simpler but equally effective approach to making your costume distinctive. All you need is something unexpected to act as a conversation starter. You are looking for a twist and a brief story about it that you can use to attract some attention, and maybe get a few laughs, or at least looks.

Let's take an example. Instead of going as a ghost, go as one of the Ghost Buster movie characters, and work the room meeting all the ghosts with the line you are there to bust them. Soon everyone will know you are there at the party.

If you go as a group, coordinate your costumes and show up, for example, as the Adams Family. It gives you an excuse to ham it up with each other. You won't be the first to use that costume, but people will notice all of you and want to talk about your distinctive united approach.

Suppose the only costume left at the rental company by the time you get there is yet another Count Dracula costume. To be different you could wear the tuxedo top half of the costume, but replace the trousers with your golfing pants and carry a golf club, or with tennis shorts and shoes and carry a tennis racket. Your story would be that you are wearing what Dracula would wear when playing the sport. You would soon discover someone at the party who shared your interest in your favorite sport.

If you can't be bothered with going to too much trouble, focus mainly on your story with a few simple props. For example, cover a hat with cotton wool and hang a few fluffy cotton bundles from the brim, and go as a Dreamer, with your head in the clouds.

With a little imagination and not too much expense you can quickly turn a mundane choice of costume into something distinctive that gets other people interested in you. Your costume and characterization of it can become a conversation piece. Best of all it adds to the fun and the laughs you can share with other party guests. That is what Halloween costume parties are all about.

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