By Ianna Banfield
Halloweekend has to be one of the best parts of the college experience. Rather than just one day of dressing up, the fun could last anytime from Thursday through Saturday. There are not merely one, but three, opportunities to sport stunning Halloween costumes.
This Halloween, it was not merely assembling my own costume that made this spooky season so fun, but it was also admiring the bold, creative choices of others. I saw an eclectic range of outfits: from group costumes (like the three pigs and the big bad wolf) to one girl who decided to dress up as the Duolingo owl.
My inspiration is impossible to suppress. While I sit in my room drowning in school work (and an excruciating, post-Halloweekend ailment), I catch myself ruminating over ideas of who to dress up as next year.
After all, the countdown has officially begun. Though Halloween is almost a year away from now, the spooky season will be rearing its head sooner than you realize.
While the months were suspensefully inching towards October 31st, people would dismiss their fast approaching deadline and reassure themselves by saying, “we have time.” But then, when they finally take another look at the calendar, the true horror sets in.
Before you know it, there will be less than two weeks left and none of the costumes will arrive before Halloweekend. It happens every year.
Everything becomes a war zone, with everyone scrambling to get their hands on clothes in hopes to spin them into a last-minute masterpiece. Some people have not even decided who they want to dress up as yet. Many hope to buy costumes. Others want to DIY theirs.
Sadly, Ithaca is not necessarily the fashion capital of the world. In fact, many non-Ithacans complain that Ithaca is in the “middle of nowhere.”
My friends and I usually fall into this unfortunate category of people who did not plan their costumes ahead of time and now only have two weeks or less to conjure a masterpiece. We would quickly sift through the options of Amazon Prime, SHEIN, Fashion Nova, and every online store that we could think of. Still, we could barely find anything on time.
Luckily, as a professional procrastinator, I gained a lot of experience after years of pulling something together within a one-week notice. Turning clothes into costumes has become a specialty of mine especially when it comes to last-minute shopping.
Last year, I had seven days to curate the perfect costume. And with a flamingo headband from Amazon prime (it was a risk, but with my luck, it arrived on time), a petticoat tutu from Amazon, and a hot pink tube top that I already had in my wardrobe, I DIYed the perfect flamingo costume.
The main dilemma is… where does one find costumes – or at least costume inspiration – in Ithaca? Or, more specifically, where does one find unique, show stopping costumes when online sites are not delivering the best options on time?
Two weeks before Halloween, — after endless text exchanges and mini panic attacks — my friends and I arranged an impromptu venture off of Cornell’s campus to hunt for both a costume and an answer to these inquiries.
First, we went to the obvious choice: Spirit Halloween at Ithaca Mall. They had a lot of packaged costumes, yet they also had a lot of stuff for a DIY costume. (For instance, a bedazzled grim reaper gettup so that you can retrieve dead bodies in style!)
However, besides Spirit, there are so many other options that could add the extra pizazz to your costume. After all, we were aiming to cross boundaries and explore designing beyond the ordinary options.
If one wanted to get extra crafty, Micheal’s had a few interesting accessories (or at least, knickknacks that could be turned into accessories…). They had a wide assortment of things, from snakes, loose feathers, and unpainted masks (which one could paint themselves if they were up for it).
For example, if someone were to wrap this snake around their arm, wear a black dress, and put on some striking red lipstick, they could dress up as a witch or sorceress of some sort. (or perhaps, as my friend proposed, Taylor Swift in her reputation era.)
After combing through Ithaca Mall’s most popular venues, we ventured deeper into downtown. We stumbled upon Plato’s Closet, a local thrift store and we’re pleasantly surprised at the eclectic range of clothing they had. From a cute skirt with a built-in devil tail, to a blue flower bustier, this thrift hot-spot had it all. Plato’s Closet had every unique article of clothing necessary to make a costume. This inspired us to visit other thrift stores, such as the Salvation Army.
Not only did second-hand stores have awesome costume accessories and clothes, but the practice of thrifting encouraged sustainability. This beats ordering a makeshift costume on SHEIN. Why not be stylish and sustainable?
All in all, the myth that there is nothing in Ithaca is far from the truth. There are so many wonderful possibilities that exist here/ Other good places to shop in Ithaca are Walmart, Target, Dollar Tree, and maybe even Home Goods if you decide that you want to dress up as a lamp for Halloween.
With the right attitude and creativity, one could definitely steal the spotlight with their costume. But beware… There are only less than 365 days till next Halloween, so plan early this time!
Ianna Banfield is a sophomore in the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences. She can be reached at [email protected].