Those who know me know that I’ve never been invited to a theme party I didn’t lean into. I still dress up for Halloween every year. I love a cheap Amazon wig. I have enough 80s accessories and articles of clothing to fill a drawer (and not have to repeat outfits every time my favorite cover band plays in town).
Do I look ridiculous? Oh definitely. Do I care? Not one bit.
There’s just something so fun about wearing an outfit that’s so different from your usual uniform. It’s like slipping into a different persona for a few hours.
Halloween is obviously the low-hanging fruit of dress-up. Plenty of adults still wear costumes, so you won’t be out of place (if you’re worried about that sort of thing).
More often than not, my husband and I do a “family costume” with our daughters. We’ve been characters from Snow White, a family of unicorns, the Sanderson sisters from Hocus Pocus (with my husband dressed as Billy Butcherson, Winifred’s zombie boyfriend), and Bandit, Chilli, Bluey and Bingo (we were actually ahead of the curve on the Bluey costumes, before they were as wildly popular. We had to make our own costumes but it was so worth it!).
This year, it’s K-Pop Demon Hunters for our family. My daughters are obsessed and immediately wanted to be their favorite characters, Rumi and Zoey, leaving me to be Mira. If you’re familiar with the movie (and if you have young kids, you probably know all the words to “Golden” by heart - don’t worry, I do too!), you know that the Huntrix girls wear super short skirts, midriff-bearing shirts, and jackets. Finding Mira’s outfit in my size was challenging enough, but then trying it on and figuring out how to make it… Let’s just say “appropriate for wearing in front of children” requires some MacGyvering and creative seamstress work. But I have a plan!
My husband wanted to dress up as Jinu, the main heartthrob. But my brutally honest daughters insisted he was more of a Bobby, the goofy manager. But since my husband is a great sport, he will be the best Bobby he can be. (Pro tip: find a life partner who can match your enthusiasm for dressing up!)
I’m also a big fan of couples costumes. Last year, my husband and I went to a party as one of our favorite TV couples: Laszlo and Nadja from What We Do In The Shadows (which is a hilarious show about vampires on Staten Island). We went all out for the costumes and accessories. I even made my own Nadja doll (in the show, Nadja puts the ghost of her human self in a doll that looks just like her)!
For me, pulling the costume together is a fun game. I’m not opposed to an off-the-rack costume, but when I can pull pieces together from past costumes or repurpose items from my real-life wardrobe, even better. And when you pick something somewhat obscure (like vampires from Staten Island) you have to get creative. I like a challenge!
But fun costumes don’t have to be a once-a-year thing. Give me a theme and I’ll be there in a relevant outfit.
When the school fundraising auction was Luau-themed one year, my husband and I started looking for Hawaiian print dresses and shirts.
When our daughters were younger and we threw big themed birthday parties for them, my husband and I dressed up too. Harry Potter birthday party? I wore my Ravenclaw gear. Mermaids and Pirate party? Arghh.
Going to the local brewery’s Oktoberfest? You bet I own an authentic German dirndl. (That’s actually the only outfit that I went high-end because I knew that I’d wear it at least once a year!)
Of course, sometimes you need to improvise. One time on a girls’ trip, I didn’t have anything white to wear to the Moonlight Madness deck party, except my swimsuit cover-up. Did I wear a white, semi-sheer dress over my bra and panties to that party, just so I could be on-theme? Yes, yes, I did. (For the record, it looked like I was just wearing a sheer dress over my bathing suit. Or at least that’s what I told myself!)
My favorite recurring excuse for a costume is the 80s cover band concert I go to a few times a year. The Reagan Years always put on an incredible show, and at this point, I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve seen them. More often than not, I show up in some over-the-top 80s-inspired outfit. The music is great on its own, but add neon, fishnets, and sequins (all conveniently stored in my 80s accessories drawer), and the night instantly gets even better.
My friends and I typically go out to dinner before the show. Do we get some funny looks when we show up looking like we just parked our Delorean around the block? Oh, for sure. But more often than not, we get smiles and compliments.
I’m definitely the one in my friend group who is the first to commit to a theme and then strongarm encourage everyone else to jump in. And even if we are the only ones who dressed up (which rarely happens), it doesn’t matter because we’re having a good time. And we have such good stories!
My biggest tip for jumping into costumes is just checking Amazon. The key to jumping into a theme is making it a low-dollar investment. I’m not looking for accuracy and quality, I’m looking for something fun for the night. That’s why I buy the $20 wigs instead of the $100 wigs, and I have a bin full of previous costumes that I might never wear again. Although you never know…
Are you dressing up for Halloween this year? What other themed parties have you gone to? I’m always looking for ideas…
Love,
Amanda
Zero F’s Favorite
I love taking my girls trick-or-treating. We head back to our old neighborhood, one town over, because, honestly, they set the gold standard for Halloween. Every house goes all in with skeletons, pumpkins, and smoke machines, and we can’t go ten steps without bumping into someone we know.
My accessory of choice? A Yeti filled with wine. Or beer. Or whatever adult beverage feels right for the night. If the weather’s cool, it’s definitely red wine — purely for warmth, of course. Let’s just keep that between us.
👏🏼 SO glad I’ve found your account!! I too do fancy dress any day I can get away with it 🤣 but I find the adults living near me aren’t on the same page… 🤦🏻♀️ well, ‘more fool them’ I say, they’re missing out!! When did adulthood lose its playfulness??