On Wednesday, October 31st, the English Department will be hosting its annual Literary Costume Party. To receive colloquium credit, you must dress as your favorite literary character or as an author and you must be able to knowledgeably answer questions from faculty about the person/character. A prize will be given to the student with the best costume!
In order to get in the spirit of Halloween, here is some inspiration for your costume for the party:
A classic: Harry Potter (or, one of his friends/allies in the novel). You can’t go wrong with reusing your old house robe from middle school, or digging out that old wand you got at Universal (let’s face it, that wand is still on your dresser at home). You never know what magic you might bring with you. Courtesy: Party City
Another Harry Potter classic is J.K. Rowling herself. You can’t go wrong with dressing as the author that brought us our favorite childhood book and movie series’. Courtesy: EW.
Now you can’t forget Katniss Everdeen, the Girl on Fire, can you? Katniss is a classic, as you’ve got a small shopping list of black clothes and a pseudo-bow and arrow. Plus, Katniss’ braid is the easiest hairstyle for a costume. Courtesy: Halloweencostumes.com.
Effie Trinket is another Hunger Games classic, as it’s the perfect opportunity to not only dress up but to show your talent with face make-up. It will most certainly provoke a reaction from the party, as they’ll all be admiring your handiwork. Courtesy: Pinterest.
Need an excuse to dress up with your boyfriend or fellow friends? Partnering up as Nancy Drew and Joe Hardy provides the perfect opportunity not only match, but to wear a simple, yet distinguishable, costume. Courtesy: Pinterest.
Eleanor and Park
Dorian Gray is another literary classic that’s an easy costume to pull off. Just grab a suit, part your hair down the middle, and grab yourself a photo frame and you’ve perfectly captured The Picture of Dorian Gray. Courtesy: ITM Archive.
Dressing as one of the Bronte sisters might prove a little difficult in comparison to some of the other costumes here, but being one of the Bronte sisters gives you an opportunity to dress in a hoop skirt and to stay comfortably warm during the cool October evening. Courtesy: Pinterest.
Dressing as Jane Austen gives you another opportunity to get dressed up while also remaining relatively simple and comfortable. Courtesy: Pinterest.
The Great Gatsby’s Jay and Daisy provides yet another couples costume idea. It’s an easy costume for the boys, and a fun dress-up opportunity for the girls. Besides, who doesn’t love getting a little glittered up with their costume? Courtesy: Cinema Autopsy.
Dressing as Frankenstein is yet another literary classic. Like Effie Trinket, Frankenstein gives the wearer the perfect chance to mess with face make-up for the ultimate look. Plus, putting patches on your already ripped up clothes is the best way to re-purpose them for ultimate use. Courtesy: Pinterest.
You can’t go wrong with dressing as Edgar Allan Poe. The costume requires a black outfit and a fake (or real, depending on your budget) raven on your shoulder. Plus, you’d be reciting The Raven all evening. Sounds like the perfect night, if you ask me. Courtesy: Best Race Costumes – WordPress.
And for those of us that literally cannot pick one character or author, there’s only one option left: being an actual bookworm. The costume is fairly simple: just grab some cardboard, paint, and a cute solid-colored dress to spice up. Add some pipe cleaner ears and jumbo glasses, and you’re a bookworm! Courtesy: Pinterest.
Got any other costume ideas? We look forward to seeing them at this year’s Literary Costume party! And don’t worry, we’ll be posting a highlight reel following the event!
Witty English 