10 Easy Last-Minute Halloween Costumes From Your Closet
Halloween has a way of sneaking up on perfectly responsible people. One minute you’ve got all the time in the world. The next, somebody needs a costume for school tomorrow, or you remember that party you said yes to is a costume party. So there you are in the store, staring at a $40 polyester getup that looked a whole lot better online. Put it down. Go home and open the closet.
A good last-minute Halloween costume doesn’t require a sewing machine, a glue gun or a level of craftiness you simply do not possess at 9 p.m. What it needs is something you already own, plus one detail that makes the whole thing click.
Jeans and a plaid shirt? That’s a costume waiting to happen. All black? You’re halfway to several. A scarf, an old hat, sunglasses or a cardboard box headed for recycling might be all that stands between you and Halloween glory.
Here are 10 you can pull together right now.
1. The classic bedsheet ghost
What you need: An old white sheet and scissors.
Sometimes the obvious answer is the best one. Cut two eye holes, drape it over your head, and congratulations. You’re a ghost. Not a complicated ghost. Not a historically accurate ghost. A ghost.
And somehow, after all these years, it’s still funny. Especially on an adult who commits to it completely.
No white sheet? Any light-colored one will do. This is Halloween, not a ghost certification exam.
2. Cowboy or cowgirl
What you need: Jeans, a plaid or denim shirt, belt and boots or sturdy shoes.
Chances are most of this is already hanging in your closet. Tuck in the shirt, cinch the belt, roll up the sleeves. Done.
A bandana or cowboy hat makes the idea obvious, but you don’t need either. A scarf tied around your neck works just fine.
Want to turn your cowboy into an outlaw? Darken a little stubble with makeup or eyebrow pencil and give your best “this town ain’t big enough for the both of us” stare.
3. Tourist
What you need: Shorts, loud shirt, sunglasses, sneakers or sandals and every travel accessory you can scrounge up.
This one gets better the more ridiculous you make it. Add a camera, fanny pack, floppy hat, backpack, folded map or sunscreen on your nose. Pull your socks up higher than good judgment would normally allow.
Then spend the evening asking people where the nearest gift shop is.
4. Scarecrow
What you need: Jeans, plaid shirt, boots or sneakers and a floppy or straw hat if you have one.
This may be one of the easiest costumes in the entire Halloween universe. Roll up your jeans, leave your shirt untucked and use eyeliner or an eyebrow pencil to draw a few stitches across your cheeks and nose.
No straw hat? Skip it. No actual straw? Even better. I don’t want you shedding hay all over someone’s living room anyway.
5. Cat burglar
What you need: Black clothes, dark beanie or stocking cap and a pillowcase.
Dress in black from head to toe. Draw a simple mask around your eyes with eyeliner. Then grab an old pillowcase and draw a giant dollar sign on it. That’s your loot bag.
If this is for a school event, keep it firmly in cartoon territory and skip anything that looks like a weapon. The pillowcase gets the joke across just fine.
6. Rosie the Riveter
What you need: Jeans or work pants, blue or denim button-up shirt and a red scarf or bandana.
Roll up those sleeves, tie the scarf around your head and flex. Rosie is instantly recognizable, comfortable and about as easy as it gets.
No red bandana? Check the scarf drawer. Any strip of red fabric will do. We’re going for Rosie, not a museum reproduction.
7. Mime
What you need: Black pants, a black-and-white striped shirt if you have one, dark shoes and a little makeup.
A striped shirt makes this costume nearly instant, but a plain black or white shirt works in a pinch.
Use makeup you already own to add dark eyebrows and a few simple eye details. Suspenders, a scarf or a black hat are nice extras if they’re lying around.
The best accessory is free. Don’t talk. Depending on your household, that alone may qualify as a Halloween miracle.
8. Athlete or coach
What you need: Team jersey or T-shirt, athletic pants or shorts, sneakers and whatever sports gear is hiding in the garage.
Got a jersey? You’re practically finished.
Add a baseball cap, whistle, clipboard, ball, glove or gym bag. No jersey? Wear sweats and go as the coach instead.
This is an especially great emergency costume for kids because there’s a good chance you already own every single piece.
9. Artist
What you need: Colorful outfit, scarf and something that can pass for a paint palette.
Wear something bright, tie the scarf around your neck and cut a palette out of cardboard. Add a paintbrush if you have one.
A few smudges of washable paint on an old shirt sell it even faster, but please don’t sacrifice a perfectly good shirt in the name of Halloween.
Bonus points for carrying a sketchbook and gazing thoughtfully at everyone as though you’re deciding whether to paint their portrait.
10. Cat, mouse or other assorted household animal
What you need: Black, brown or gray clothes, eyeliner and homemade ears.
This costume has rescued generations of people who remembered Halloween approximately 45 minutes before they had to leave the house.
Dress in one color. Draw on a nose and whiskers with eyeliner. Cut ears from cardboard and attach them to a headband, hair clips or even a hat. For a tail, use an old pair of tights, a long sock or a strip of fabric.
Cat? Mouse? Dog? Some previously undiscovered woodland creature? Your call.
Need a group costume? Start with what everyone owns
Group costumes don’t have to mean ordering matching outfits and praying everyone’s package shows up on time.
Pick a theme built from things everybody already has.
- Tourists: Loud shirts, sunglasses, hats, backpacks and cameras.
- Sports team: Jerseys, team colors or athletic clothes.
- Decade night: Pick the ’70s, ’80s or ’90s and let everyone raid their own closets. The interpretation is half the fun.
- Pajama party: Pajamas, robes, slippers and sleep masks. So comfortable you may never go back to regular costumes.
The goal isn’t perfect coordination. It’s getting everyone out the door without spending $200.
My 30-minute rule
Here’s where I draw the line. If your “last-minute costume” needs three craft-store aisles, an online tutorial and a glue gun heating up on the kitchen counter, we’ve wandered off the assignment.
Give yourself 30 minutes. Start with the clothes you own, then look for one or two things that tell the story. Sunglasses turn ordinary clothes into a tourist. Eyeliner makes a cat. A scarf and rolled sleeves give you Rosie. That’s usually all it takes.
And before you run out to buy the one accessory you’re sure you’re missing, give yourself five minutes to improvise. Cardboard becomes ears. An old scarf becomes a bandana. A pillowcase becomes a loot bag.
Halloween is one night. You don’t need another plastic thing taking up space in the closet for the other 364.
Besides, some of the best costumes I’ve ever seen weren’t the expensive ones. They were the ones that made me think, Why didn’t I think of that?
Question: What’s the best last-minute Halloween costume you’ve ever pulled together? Leave it in the comments. Your idea might rescue someone reading this at 4:30 on October 31.
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i already own white pants, shirt and a clear ‘dome’ umbrella. four dry cleaners bags [$1] taped around the edges of the umbrella, fringed. voila! a jellyfish.
My little boy was small for his age. When he was 5, everyone thought he was two. I dressed him in little jeans (had to roll the cuffs up), a flannel shirt, and a vest made out of orange crepe paper, a pole with a red handkerchief filled with cotton, and he made the cutest little hobo you ever saw. Wish I could have kept him at that age forever. He passed away at the age of 62 five years ago with covid and I miss him every day.
Growing up we had the choice of ghost or hobo. Addition of a pony to the family expanded our choices to cowboy/cowgirl. Teenage horseback trick or treating offered the headless horseman, jockey, or Paul Revere. All simple and used what we had.
My kids never had a store-bought costume when they were trick or treating int the 80’s. They put together their own costumes, with a bit of help when they were under age 10. My son’s favorite costume was dressing like Indiana Jones, complete with a battered fedora I’d picked up at a yard sale. Don’t remember what he put together to simulate a whip, but it looked like the real thing. My daughter’s most creative costume was when she was about 10 & went as dirty laundry-her idea, not mine. I had a plastic clothes basket that was falling apart, so we cut out the bottom; made rope straps out of clothesline to go over her shoulders; stuffed the basket with a variety of clean rags & a nearly empty laundry detergent bottle; and tied her pigtails with dryer sheets. It’s amazing what kids will come up with!
A slip with a paper banner reading “Freudian”.
Or all black attire with bits of popcorn, candy wrappers straws glued or pinned to it (movie theater floor)
A white slip with banner across it that reads “Freudian”.
Also…all black attire with pieces of popcorn, gum/candy wrappers, straw glued to it as a theater floor.
Halloween pumpkin: orange rain poncho, eyes/nose/mouth cut from black construction paper and taped to the poncho.
I have a few….dress all in grey, make a #1 sign outta cardboard, if you can find a trophy somewhere (even if it’s a kid’s participation trophy) carry it, if you have a 1 foam finger now’s the time to use it. Make some bunny ears in grey attached to head with bobby pins if necessary. You have just become everyone’s worst nightmare….the FIRST GREY HARE!! One that I did , inspired by a Coaster’s song….i went to dollar store bought some cheap ivy vines, used them to make a wreath for my head, and a belt for my green denim skirt, then i used the belt loops to run the ivy down the front of the skirt , i had a green crinkly shirt that looked like coffin lining i scored for a 1.00 at thrift store, and I sanitized two safety pins, put a ivy leaf on each as earrings, put some ivy leaves on my shoes,(wore flat mary jane types, ) Had a Friend may me a skull and crossbones sign on cardboard and I became POISION IVY!! I did use the Avon Pore Reducing mask that dried to green and let me tell you by the end of the day, I had the tightest pores on the planet!! I have dress in orange , got black electrical tape and made stripes on my legs ( I had on orange tights), I had a cheap orange dress (moment of insanity at Goodwill), put stripes on the sleeves and around the bottom of the dress, had a pair of tiger ears, and a tail, and painted my nose pink, gave myself some whiskers and went as TIGGER! Or as Tigger would say, T-I- DOUBLE GRRR! I have done a light green sheet, ugly sandals , a flashlight w/ orange construction paper flames taped to it, made a cardboard crown, painted face green, and was the statue of Liberty. i have seen someone black 1 eye, make a letter P necklace out of cardboard, dress all in green and go as a black eyed p.
Cute ideas!
Thanks for putting some sensibilities into the Halloween costume! When I was growing up, we never heard of purchasing a costume. Our family couldn’t afford it, but it also would’ve taken the fun out of improvising.
One thing you did not mention is becoming a gypsy. A long brightly colored skirt, any top, a kerchief around the head tied in the back, and lots of jewelry and beads. Can add any makeup desired.