Halloween Costume Favorites from Career Experts

Our Career Experts have weighed in to share their favorite Halloween costumes with a brief explanation of how it all came together. Let us know what you’re planning to dress up as for Halloween! We’d love for you to post your costumes on our Facebook page!

Hermoine Granger and Harry Potter - by Erica Moss from Georgetown University. A few years ago, my now-husband and I decided to dress up as Hermione Granger and Harry Potter from the famed book series. I had never before been so proactive about putting together a costume, and went out of my way to order official Gryffindor ties, glasses and sweaters for the occasion. While nobody will be mistaking us for the actual actors anytime soon, we had fun putting it all together!

Napoleon Dynamite - by Charles Trapunski, Tutor. One of my favorite Halloween costumes was the year that I dressed as Napoleon Dynamite. I already had the “Vote for Pedro” t-shirt, and I accessorized with the glasses, (though I occasionally had to take them off, because they were a real prescription). I also wore too-tight jeans tucked into boots, and I tried to adopt Napoleon’s method of speech and walk. “Such an idiot!”

Tinkerbell Fairy - by Eliana Smith, Fashion Designer. My favorite Halloween costume is the one I designed/made for my darling Yorkie puppy, Ginny. I made it out of cotton, metallic lame and silk ribbon. Surprisingly Ginny loved it and stood way still for photos and didn’t let us take it of for a few hours because she loved the attention she was getting in it.

Daft Punk - by Tim Funk. This year I’ve been listening to a lot of Daft Punk since seeing Tron: Legacy. To make the costume, I built it around a bike helmet. There are tutorials online that helped construct the front part of the mask. I taped it together, painted it with gesso, then spray painted it gold. The visor was made from a clear drumhead and a sharpie. I wore it with black and then with my suit.

Pirate - by Jennifer Armitstead, Career Coach. Pants were pajama bottoms… Those pirates knew how to wear comfy pants. Grabbed a billowy white blouse and as much jewelry as I had on hand. Lots of black shadow around my eyes and a blue bandana - voila! A pirate is created for Halloween!

Bumble Bee - by Keith Lipke, Career Consultant. It was during the “No Rain” era by Blind Melon…and I made a bet with my fraternity that I would NOT do it…and of course I had to take them up on my bet. NOT only did I dress up as a bumble bee with full (fattened) outfit, mask and antennas and all…but I jumped up on stage with many of the university administration during a big Greek event. They were quite delighted to see me bouncing around on stage.

Venus and Serena Williams - by Greg Narayan, Honest College. My favorite was when my friend from Cornell and I last minute decided to dress up as Venus and Serena Williams. We had some girls bring us tank tops and tennis skirts and used two of my rackets. You can imagine, things got pretty ridiculous.

Cruella De Vil - by Sarah Ward, Image Consultant. This year I dressed up as Cruella De Vil. Though it wasn’t my original costume idea, I was inspired by some zebra print fabric and it came together seamlessly after that. I wore a a zebra print shrug over a long black dress with red gloves, red shoes, gaudy jewelry and makeup. Then I spiked my hair, sprayed half of it silver, and fashioned a cigarette holder from some black Sculpey polymer clay. It was a really easy costume and lots of fun!

If you’re looking for more Halloween costume ideas, don’t miss:

• 12 Last Minute Halloween Costumes for College Students
• 12 Quick and Easy Halloween Costumes on a Shoestring Budget