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• Costume design tips straight from the U of I Department of Theatre

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As pointed out in the movie Mean Girls, some females tend to choose Halloween costumes that are reminiscent of traditional children’s costumes — a firefighter, a doctor, a witch — save, however, the addition of the adjective, “sexy.” Such costumes might be fun, but they are surely tired and unoriginal.

“I always think that the funny costumes are better,” said Liz Jasperse, an MFA student in costume design. “There’s going to be 30 girls at the party with a short skirt and long socks. Just do something funny; it’s so much better.”

Kim Beutzow, an MFA student in costume technology, agreed. “I really like pun costumes,” said Beutzow. She said she’d heard of cutting out a felt arrow and placing it facing up on a shirt to be “felt up.” She also suggested constructing a porcupine costume out of clothespins. Beutzow’s own costume will work with a few layers of hilarity; she will be dressing as Wednesday Adams, who is dressed as Pocahontas on Halloween.

Amy Bartelt, an MFA student in costume design, will be dressing as Robin from How I Met Your Mother back in her pop star days. “I’m going as Robin Sparkles, I’m really excited,” said Bartelt. “I’m going try to go to Goodwill ... I don’t have that much time to make a costume, so I would like to find a bleached out denim skirt and some funky tights.”

Bartelt said she once dressed as a sandwich and constructed her costume with large colored sheets of foam that she layered and placed over her shoulders. Bartelt’s sandwich idea can easily be run away with. Taking cue from Top Chef challenges, a group of friends might split up and dress as a deconstructed sandwich with condiments to boot.

In the realm of makeup, Bartelt suggested that people look for makeup that will last through the night. “You can buy a lot of makeup for Halloween from Walmart and other stores, but if you want it to last and really look good, you want to get the more expensive kinds,” she said. Bartelt suggested Ben Nye, a stage makeup brand which can be found at Dallas & Co.

Halloween costumes don’t need to be overly intricate or time-consuming to construct, but they can still be creative. Goodwill, the Salvation Army and vintage stores like Dandelion make for good starting points. “You don’t need a sewing machine to make a homemade costume at all,” said Jasperse. “You can get something that’s close to fitting you, and then stitch it together. It only has to hold together for less than 24 hours.”