Halloween is the holiday most contingent on self-expression, specifically for fashion lovers: I view Halloweekend as a three-day period of fashion experimentation, indulging in a series of styles that we would not regularly commit to on a day-to-day basis. I absolutely love Halloween due to the creativity that it cultivates, allowing us to embody a fictional character, historical or cultural figure, or even an inanimate object that we are entirely detached from yet we can still manufacture resonance with. This act of artifice is complimented by the sheer exuberance of Halloween fashion, imbued with humor, camp, and sex appeal—I, for example, willingly dressed as sexy Abraham Lincoln on the final day of Halloweekend. My costume does not even tinge on the levels of absurdity of other Brown students, testing the bounds of fashion innovation through calculated, single-use outfits.

 

Alongside the excitement that accompanies the celebration of Halloween—with many college students selecting their costumes up to weeks in advance—it can be difficult to visualize the repercussions of the various fashion consumption choices that we make over the course of the month. The environmental group Hubbub carried out a study in 2019 showcasing that over 83% of Halloween costumes utilize non-recyclable-oil-based-plastics that will inevitably end up in landfills, taking up to 200 years to decompose. This is the equivalent to 2000 tons, or 83 million plastic bottles, of waste produced for the sake of a singular weekend. Additionally, in an attempt to produce a unique look each year, over 35 million Halloween costumes in the US are disposed of following the holiday, unable to be utilized repeatedly.

 

I do not intend to present dressing up for Halloween in an entirely disheartening manner, as textile waste, in a more general sense, is dependent upon ongoing cycles of fast fashion: while preparation for Halloween may cause us to purchase clothing more rapidly, it is not independent of the overarching issue of our rapid fashion consumption habits. However, I do believe that there can be a balance between indulging in the imaginative traditions surrounding Halloween and doing so in a way that prevents unnecessary and excessive consumption, focusing on purchasing pieces that we can continuously include in our everyday outfits.

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Build your costumes around items already hanging in your closet

 

I personally have a very difficult time configuring Halloween costumes to begin with, so I find it beneficial to center ideas around unique pieces that I have procured in the past. Especially with items that you may not wear as regularly—or intend to save for special occasions—you can more feasibly establish cultural associations that can lead to a solidified idea for a costume. I dressed up as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz on the day of Halloween simply as an excuse to wear a pair of red stilettos I previously had difficulty styling. Some full-length dresses that I had bought for my high school prom and college formals (oftentimes only wearing one or two instances) resemble female animated and film characters including Meg from Hercules or Jessica Rabbit from Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Instead of designing an outfit entirely from scratch, building a costume around one or two pieces in your closet can alleviate the amount of additional purchases necessary for Halloweekend.

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Try to second-hand shop (including searching on Depop and Ebay!)

 

Especially if you are someone that prioritizes convenience in searching for Halloween costumes, second-hand shopping can be a productive way to find complete costume sets without contributing to textile waste. Many thrift stores establish Halloween sections close to the holiday, offering previously worn costumes that you can wear without purchasing brand-new pieces. This can additionally be helpful for finding accessories (i.e. wings, headpieces) that you will likely never wear on a regular basis.

 

I am also a big fan of purchasing costumes from the early and mid 2000s on Depop and Ebay, which are generally higher quality and much less expensive than those sold by Halloween brands nowadays. If you prefer sexier costumes, many lingerie stores including Leg Avenue and Dreamgirl have a surplus of vintage costumes on these sites, making the selection process for a costume almost effortless. Additionally, I recently learned that Playboy and Victoria’s Secret used to sell Halloween costumes embedded with their brand logo, both able to be purchased online for a stylish yet culturally relevant Halloween outfit in the resurgence of y2k fashion.

 

Think about the viability of each purchase you make for your larger style

 

This is the most mundane of all of my tips, but I find I often overlook its necessity: the simple process of questioning whether or not we will ever wear an item again can save us from contributing to additional waste. If you are looking to purchase an outfit for Halloween, it can be beneficial to select items that are ultimately not hyperspecific to your costume: instead, you can use the holiday to justify buying higher-quality pieces that have remained on your wishlist for an extended period of time, rather than impulsively ordering from Amazon or SHEIN.

 

Considering sustainability in preparation for Halloween, therefore, is not overly complicated and can inevitably prevent you from wasting money on an outfit you may not frequently wear. There is a way to still celebrate Halloween to the fullest extent of its creative potential without sacrificing the health of the environment.