By Lexus Yamashiro | Staff Writer

Halloween is here, and that means crazy last-minute shopping sprees for costume ideas. Many people will probably look at Party City or other well-known shopping places to purchase a Halloween costume, but for some money can be an issue.

Thankfully, there is an alternative to dressing up on Halloween: DIY costumes.

These types of costumes have saved the lives of many people when they’re looking forward to dressing up during this spooky time of the year. Especially for college students who may not be able to afford a costume from the store, they’ll be able to use materials from home and/or spend very little money for materials from a store.

Here are the Top 10 DIY costumes ideas that college students can try out for Halloween, and no, clowns are NOT a choice in this list.

#10: Giant Teddy Bear
Own a giant stuffed animal teddy bear from an ex that has no purpose anymore? Feel free to cut it open along the back, remove some of the fluff, and put yourself into it so that it looks like you’re a walking teddy bear. Quite a few people have posted videos online where they have done such a thing with their giant teddy bear, to which they have a ton of fun while parading around in it. For some it may get a bit hot and “stuffy” along with not being able to see too well from the inside, however, it can still work out as long as you’ve got a friend by your side.

#9: Cosplay
From cartoon to anime characters, cosplay is something that many people do themselves; sometimes they even take months to prepare their costume. You’ll see this common idea at Comic Cons and Kaua‘i Cons, but that doesn’t mean you can’t dress like this during Halloween time. There are several cosplays that people like to dress as: superheroes, anime characters, movie stars, video game characters, and so much more. Depending how far you decide to go in making your cosplay perfect, it can get a bit pricey. However, if cosplay is your passion or if you’ve always been yearning to try it, just go for it.

#8: Transformer
Seeing cars transform into autobots is fascinating for Transformer fanatics, but what makes it more cooler is getting to transform into one yourself. It may take awhile to create and will most likely require a lot of materials, but for some it is worth making and dressing up as. Typical the people who create these human wearable costumes use cardboard, paint, the Transformer face masks and chest armor, and of course, wheels to roll around on the streets. As long as you’ve got the time and money to put in, making this costume yourself will be easy and fun to make.

#7: Ninja
Dressing as a ninja is very simple and cheap; just simply find clothing that is all black and wrap them around your face and head. If you want to be simple and save money, the best way to put your costume together would be to wear black pants, a black long sleeved shirt (preferably turtle neck), black shoes, and another black shirt to use as your mask. With the extra black shirt, you simply pull it over your head to where your face is peeking through the collar and tie the sleeves behind your head. Don’t want to buy fake shurikens or swords? There’s always the option of making your own, afterall, it’s not like anyone will be able to tell the difference under the moonlight.

#6: Food
Everyone loves food, so why not dress as your favorite or funniest one? Spam musubi’s, condiment jars, and drinks are some of the many food DIY’s the people enjoy making and dressing as. Some simply use various colored articles of clothing while others use extra materials such as cardboard boxes and pillows to make their costumes three dimensional. Whatever the case, this DIY costume idea is a “piece of cake.”

#5: Roman or Spartan
“Brace yourselves, the costume ideas are still coming…” Not all the time do we think about the history of Ancient Greece and Rome and who ruled them, but it’s fun to dress as a Spartan or Roman and pretend you’ve got the main role for Meet the Spartans. If you’re leaning more towards a Spartan, it’s all about the leather skirt, armor, and ankle strapped sandals. The Romans however just require a large white sheet to serve as a toga. And of course, what more better way than to top off that toga than to wear some brown Jesus slippers that everyone in Hawaiʻi seems to be wearing nowadays.

#4: “Superhero”
Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and many more are waiting for you to save the world. However, instead of parading around in a superhero suit with a cape on your back, why not be simple and at the same time cute with a friend or significant other? The basic way that this costume can be put together is by buying a shirt with a superhero logo on it and matching someone else or simply just go solo. Either this or you can create the actual superhero’s costume of your choice completely from scratch.

#3: Zombie
Have a ton a of makeup that you’ve been meaning to use? Why not put all of them to use by creating that perfect zombie look? One way of creating this look would be to make a simple mask that looks like you haven’t slept for hours because you were studying for an exam. The other mask that others enjoy making are the ones that have gory, bloody face wounds that basically represent how you look after you believe you bombed your exam. To go beyond this, you can even attempt to make the perfect look of a zombie from The Walking Dead. Remember, it’s okay to be a zombie on Halloween, but don’t let it take over you for the rest of the school year.

#2: Mannequin girls
“Walked in this party and these girls lookin’ at me…” If you want to dance your way around Waikīkī, dress as the girls from their viral video of their Juju on that Beat rendition. It’s really easy and inexpensive to put together; all you need is a white mannequin head, hoodie, and shorts. It’s really all about making that mannequin head fit within your hoodie well, that way you’ll be able to look like the girls and scare people as well if they aren’t familiar with it.

#1: Trump or Hillary?
Alright, let’s just cut to the chase; who are you voting for? Although there are other candidates running for president, we’re constantly hearing “Trump this…” and “Hillary that…” all over the news. In stores you’ll find Trump and Hillary masks hanging out with Obama’s occasionally, so why not put on your best political suit and debate on Halloween night? Just kidding, don’t debate or else you’ll start a riot, but this DIY would be a great way to get parents to cringe while their children are asking you for candy at your door.

Lexus Yamashiro can be reached at lexusyam@hawaii.edu. To read all of Lexus’ stories, please click here.