All I Want for Halloween Is You…

...to buy local and secondhand for your costume!

Every year, I’m mildly surprised by all the last-minute Halloween shoppers. I’m not saying I’ve never been one before, but most years I’m way too excited about the opportunity to dress up to wait to plan my outfit. But I’m not here to judge. What I’m really surprised by is the proliferation of last-minute shoppers at big-box stores like Wal-Mart and those weird seasonal Spirit Halloween pop-up locations.

I don’t really get the appeal of Wal-Mart costumes, but I actually get the attraction to Spirit’s one-stop Halloween shopping. In addition to convenience, they have cool gadgets and weird witchy accessories that are tempting to wear all year round. But the problems with these shopping habits are too compelling to ignore. Those super-cheap costumes were almost no doubt made in sweatshops (or, at the very least, a not-quite-sweatshop with labor practices that just barely edge by). Most, if not all, of those cool Halloween cosmetics were tested on animals. And as cool as those products are, most of them are of such a low quality as to be worn once or twice and then thrown away.

I’m not an anarcho-capitalist (ew), but I am the kind of anti-establishment activist who believes that as long as you’re going to spend money, you might as well vote with it. Animal cruelty, labor exploitation, and environmental destruction are what we’re voting for when we buy new, cheap products from questionable sources. It may sound more difficult or more expensive, but after years of buying my costumes from Etsy and thrift stores, the difference is negligible at most. So here are my tips for making the most out of your (last-minute!) Halloween costume.

Buy stuff you’re going to wear again.

I can’t stress this one enough. Either buy things that will work in your wardrobe outside of the costume, or things that can be repeated for costume parties down the line. It saves space in your closet and money in your wallet, and prevents you from buying throwaway items. For example, I bought a perfect fringed flapper dress and 20s-style shoes at the thrift shop one year, because flapper parties never go out of style, and the items are still cute on their own as regular clothes. Or, for my Batwoman costume last year, I bought a sexy lace mask that has subtle bat wings on it, which is perfect for masquerade parties even without the comic book theme. My wardrobe grows every Halloween and I’m never stuck with some junk costume that I’m looking to get rid of as soon as November 1st rolls around.

Buy generic stuff at the thrift store and specific stuff on Etsy.

If your costume calls for a black corset, you’ll probably have decent luck trying a thrift shop first. That’s a pretty general item and most stores are likely to have at least one. A boutique Goodwill store (the smaller stores that specialize in used designer and name-brand items), or a fancier consignment shop like Buffalo Exchange can make the hunt even easier (although slightly more expensive).

For highly specific items, say a black corset with a Batman logo on it, try Etsy. (Of course, if you’re skilled at crafting, you could probably put one together yourself, but I'm not that talented). There’s a lot of cool nerdy fans on Etsy making stuff for their specific fandoms, which makes things related to movies, comic books, and video games really easy to find, among other cool costume-y stuff. Enter your basic search terms (“black Batman corset”) in the site and then broaden or narrow the search as needed.

Enlist the help of friends.

I’m blessed to have good connections. I have two close friends who work in management at Goodwill and at least one good friend who’s an established fashion designer. They are my go-tos when I need a lookout for a specific item, or help putting a custom one together. But if you know someone who’s also out shopping for their costume (or just thrift-store hopping for fun), ask them to help you look for things you need!

Next year, shop all year round.

I love costume parties, Halloween, and comic cons, so I’m always on the lookout for potential costumes. If you’re looking all year round, you’ll quickly start to accumulate items for a cool costume—and hopefully that you can wear on an everyday basis as well. Garage sales, online markets, flea markets, and swap opportunities are all places you might find the things you need.

However you decide to do it, just please, buy ethically made or secondhand clothes and make sure your Halloween makeup wasn’t tested on animals (you can find that on Etsy, too). Be a good citizen on Halloween—and of course, have fun!

If you like my writing, you can find more of it at elysehauser.com.