6 Halloween Costume Ideas For Broke College Students

By Elana Goodwin on October 13, 2015

Halloween is just weeks away, which means if you haven’t already thought about what you’re going to wear, it’s time to start brainstorming Halloween costume ideas.

Of course, being a college student, you probably don’t have a lot of extra money you want to spend on a costume you’ll wear to a few parties and for a few hours. So here are some cheap Halloween costume ideas that won’t cost you much (or anything) that you can dress up as this Halloween.

Photo Credit: Marvel

1. Scarlet Witch of the Avengers. This Halloween costume idea is pretty simple for girls to do as you probably already have all the necessary components in your closet. All you need is a black dress, leather jacket, black boots, a few necklaces, high black knee socks, and black fingerless gloves.

Of course, if you don’t have some part of the costume you can always substitute for something similar. For example, if you don’t have fingerless gloves (and don’t want to make a pair by cutting off the fingers of regular stretchy gloves), you can use black construction papers around your forearms to act as Scarlet Witch’s gauntlets. Also, be sure to move your hands around a bunch to simulate her powers.

2. A pirate. You don’t need to go all Johnny Depp in “Pirates of the Caribbean” to execute this Halloween costume idea. For a poor student’s version of a pirate, simply don some sort of white shirt with a vest or cardigan and a belt over the ensemble with black pants, leggings, or a flouncy skirt, and boots, along with a black or red bandana or scarf around your head.

If you’ve got them, add gold jewelry, some rings, and an eyepatch, and generously apply black eyeliner to your eyes. You can also use a finished cardboard paper towel roll as a telescope.

3. A mime. All you need for this Halloween costume idea are black pants, a white and black striped shirt (or just a plain white or black one), and some white face paint. White gloves and red or dark lipstick are optional, as is a routine.

Photo Credit: venuris.com

4. A minion. All you need to be one of these gibberish-speaking characters from “Despicable Me” is a yellow shirt, a pair of overalls, black gloves, and a pair of glasses or goggles. This Halloween costume idea is also a great one to do if you want to dress up with friends as you can all be minions together.

For authenticity, be sure to brush up on the minion’s language and if possible, have someone dress up as Gru (which is also pretty easy as the costume consists of a black zip-up, black pants, and a grey and black striped scarf).

5. Men in Black. Both guys and girls can dress up as the Men in Black. For guys, all you need is a black suit, black tie, and a pair of black sunglasses. For girls, if you don’t have a black pantsuit, go with a black blazer, black jeans, and a black tie, along with a pair of black sunglasses.

If you don’t have a friend to dress up with you to complete the costume, you can always just be a Man in Black (as opposed to Men in Black). Extra points if you have a fake police badge you can use for the night and hold up when you say Will Smith’s line “NYPD, means I will Knock Your Punkass Down!”

6. A politician. This Halloween costume idea is super simple to carry out. All you need are some dressy clothes — a suit, blazer, sports coat, dress pants, or pencil skirt would work fine. Then either make a sign to carry around that says “vote for me” or “(Name) for (Position)” and be prepared to speak vaguely about change or important issues and make empty promises.

If you’re feeling super uninspired or simply don’t have the means to put together any of the above costumes, you can always go as a lazy and broke college student — you’ll definitely have the wardrobe for that. Put on a university hoodie, sneakers, and jeans (you can turn the pockets inside out to show you have nothing in them if you want) and you’re good to go. Happy Halloween!

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