Last-minute Halloween costume ideas you will easily assemble at home!

It’s the same old story every year. You promise yourself that this time you will put actual effort into your Halloween costume. In August you happily go through Instagram posts to get some inspiration, thinking about all the great things you can come up with. You are on the verge of ordering a pricey wig and a set of ghoulish contacts, but you tell yourself that you should wait for October.

However, in October it seems like everything is working against you – deadlines chase you like crazy, you spend a week with the worst cold in the century and the shorter and shorter days pull you to bed by ten o’clock. A few days before Halloween you realise that you are left empty-handed again. What do you do now?

Oh, it’s very simple – you visit your friendly Booksy blog and get inspiration for a fantastic last-minute Halloween outfit that won’t give your secret away!

“Squid game”-inspired ensemble

If you spent the last days binging the famous South Korean survival drama that took Netflix by storm, then you may be tempted to dress like one of its characters for Halloween. It is actually a brilliant idea, for a few reasons – firstly, because the gruesome tone of the mini-series is more than fitting to the holiday, and secondly, because costumes in “Squid game” are very characteristic, yet easy to replicate at home. Of course, you could order a ready-to-go costume off Amazon and call it a day, but we recommend visiting local thrift stores instead.

If you want to dress up as one of the unfortunate players, look for a dark green tracksuit. If you have sweatpants and a hoodie in a similar colour at home, you can simply embellish them with an iron-on white decal with a three-digit number of your choice. To finish the look, you need a plain white t-shirt and a pair of sneakers. If you want to add a gruesome twist to your outfit, you can add traces of fake blood here and there, or even a fake gun wound, indicating you have already been eliminated from the games!

If you want to be more malicious and dress up as one of the guards, look for pink or red jumpsuits with a hood. Similarly to the previous point, an all-colour sweatpants + hoodie combo will do, as soon as the colour is close enough to the original. Then you will need a black belt and black boots, both as plain as possible. To replicate the characteristic masks you will need to DIY a little bit – depending on your manual skills you can either buy a simple Halloween all-black mask or even cut a basic mask shape out of black cardboard and attach it to a piece of elastic. Then all that is left to do is to decide whether you want to be a worker, a supervisor or a manager and draw a white triangle, circle or square on it. To make your look even more sinister, get a comically oversized fake gun and carry it around throughout the entire party!

Finally, you may terrify everyone dressing up as the creepy “red light, green light” robot from the first episode. All you need to do is get a yellow t-shirt and orange pinafore dress, a pair of long white socks and basic black flat shoes. Finish the outfit by tying your hair into two ponytails at the back of your head. For a finishing touch, add a purple hairclip and beads of the same colour to the hairstyle. For the makeup, you may want to use translucent white powder with a touch of lowly placed blush to make your complexion more doll-like, apply a soft, blurry layer of red lipstick and make your eyebrows as invisible as possible. You can bet on unsettling the entire room with just your entrance!

Perfect costume for two: Mr & Mrs Smith

The 2005 action comedy film “Mr & Mrs Smith” received quite a lukewarm reception from both critics and audiences, but no one can deny that some of the scenes involving the famous ex-couple become iconic. As this year some rumours emerged regarding a possible Amazon reboot, many people decided to embrace the original movie and pay tribute to Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s characters by dressing up as them for Halloween.

A costume inspired by “Mr & Mrs Smith” will obviously be a great choice for couples – no matter if you are romantically involved or best friends wanting to have some fun, becoming a pair of sexy secret agents is a universally acknowledged script for the best Halloween night ever! Moreover, you can replicate the outfits of both Mr and Mrs Smith very easily, using clothes you probably already have at home.

If you want to go for the look from the sensual Tango scene, then both parties will be wearing evening attire. For Mrs Smith prepare a floor-length high cut black dress – preferably it should be a slip dress, in a classic early 2000s style. You absolutely need a thigh holster (where else would you wear your secret weapons?!) and a pair of stiletto heels. For Mr Smith’s, you will need a black three-piece suit with a classic white shirt and a pair of black oxfords. Don’t forget a fake gun!

If you prefer to dress up for the “Oh well, it was nice to have a home” scene, your task will be even easier. For Mrs Smith, you’ll need an oversized white shirt and a pair of red-brown rain boots. For Mr Smith, you’ll need a white crew t-shirt, white boxers and a pair of boots, preferably brown. Make sure to make yourself look slightly “wear and tear” for some much-needed authenticity!

A tad of Britney Spears-inspired realness

Britney Spears stage (and music video) costumes are a gift that keeps on giving! They are absolutely iconic, instantly recognizable and their “fun factor” is through the roof. The latest return to the fashion of the early 2000s is the perfect excuse to wrap yourself in an outfit straight from “Oops! I Did It Again” or “…Baby one more time”.

The easiest of Britney’s famous attires to replicate is definitely the one from the aforementioned “…Baby one more time” music video. All you’ll need is a black miniskirt (preferably pleated, but any will do), white shirt, grey cardigan, knee-high black stockings and fuzzy pink hair ties. For something more difficult, you can try to recreate the “Oops! I Did It Again” if you are able to get your hands on a red catsuit (or at least a shiny red jumpsuit). If you are brave enough to pull this look off, you can also go for an all-nude mesh suit (or nude top/leggings combo, for more modest apparel) and cover yourself in fake diamonds (“Toxic”, anyone?). Finally, for a perfect couple costume, remind everyone of the time that Britney and Justin Timberlake invented denim. If you are able to find a denim corset top + long skirt for her and denim jeans + jacket for him then it will be perfect, but honestly, as long as you go over the top with denim and wear a blonde wig everyone will be able to recognize who you are!

Black Widow for the win

In 2021 we finally got the long-anticipated Marvel Studios movie focusing on the character of Natasha Romanow, the highly trained former-KGB assassin and basically a superspy, running under the alias of Black Widow. If you are looking for a Halloween costume that is very feminine but also makes you look and feel like a 10-star badass, then it’s just the character for you!

Although in her own movie Black Widows wears a mostly white costume, her most iconic outfit is pitch black. You can go with either of these, but recreating the black one will definitely be easier. If you have a leathery black jumpsuit just casually lying around your house then you are winning this one, but in case you do not, you can always go with simple black leggings, a skin-tight black blouse and a leathery jacket combo. What you really need to focus on is the accessories – it’s vital to add a pair of heavy boots, a copper-red wig, fingerless gloves, gun holders and two fake guns. Don’t forget the fierce attitude!

A classic Halloween witch… with a twist

If pop culture-inspired Halloween costumes just don’t do it for you, you can always go with something very classic, like a witch or a vampire. However, “classic” does not have to mean “typical”, as you can add a little twist to the costume. Maybe your witch is a sophisticated Victorian lady who likes her potions to come in teacups? A lace blouse with puff sleeves, a long skirt, a corset-like overlayer and a big hat with some witchy elements, like little bats, will easily transform you into a completely different person. Maybe you are an eco-cautious witch who loves plants and casts nasty spells on people who hurt animals? Green apparel, broomstick covered in fake vines and a pointed hat covered in flowers and fake mushrooms will do the trick. The best Halloween costumes do not have to be pricey, especially faithful to the original or historically accurate – they need to have a character. This is where the true magic lies! Good luck and have a terrifically fun night!