Need a last-minute costume idea for Halloween? Find out below what not to be. This month, I asked WSUM members what the most overrated Halloween costume is. Happy Halloween, everyone!
— Ray Kirsch
What is the most overrated Halloween costume?
The most overrated Halloween costume is definitely Hugh Hefner. What really irks me about this costume is when guys think that they really did something by picking it. That it's creative and alluring somehow. Now, I love a red robe as much as the next girl, but it's just too on the nose for me. Also, he was creepy and misogynistic, so I just don't care for him.
— Katie Meyers
Unfortunately, the most overrated Halloween costume is also one of the most prolific. I am, of course, talking about the dreaded store-bought costume. Every year, thousands of mindless hordes will stumble out of Spirit Halloween, dressed in a polyester simulacrum of whatever character or celebrity is most popular at the time, to wreak terror on the poor souls giving out candy every October 31st. While many candy-givers have attempted to stop these ghouls by giving them less candy, this has had no effect on their numbers. It is not candy they are after, but rather the destruction of Halloween until it becomes nothing more than a hollowed-out pumpkin of its former self. As of right now, the only way to stop these fiends is to do the unthinkable: create your own costume. Not unlike the vampires of old, these foul apparitions shriek and hiss at the mere sight of cardboard and glue guns. They dare not turn their back to the closet, for the myriad outfits contained within are unthinkable to these beasts. So the next time you're at a Halloween party or trick-or-treating (which I think college kids are allowed to do), be wary of these creatures, or you too will be entombed within a Spirit Halloween for all eternity…
…or at least until September of next year.
— Henry Moore
The most overrated Halloween costume, in my opinion, is an athlete. A majority of people already have a jersey in their closet, and throwing it on every halloween barely counts as a costume – especially when you just wore the exact same thing to watch the football game on your couch. This doesn't have to be the case, however. The athlete costume can actually be pretty cool if you've got baseball pants or a football helmet to go along with it, but very rarely does anyone do that, and so it's become more of a low effort cop-out for anyone who feels the need to dress up. Ironically, this is coming from someone who wears a jersey every Halloween, but what can I say? It's just so easy.
— Alex Gershman
Dressing kids up as crayons for Halloween is overrated. I'm saying this as a former crayon kid! Bro, no child is ever excited to dress up as a type of school supplies. It totally sucks going to school and seeing your friends dressed up as superheroes and dinosaurs, but you are just a non-living piece of wax. Maybe it would be sick if you could be a cool writing utensil, like those smelly markers or a glitter pen, but crayons are the worst! Give a kid a choice between drawing with crayons and literally anything else, and those crayons are not getting used. Highlighters? Cooler than crayons since they actually color things consistently rather than having a billion little holes for some reason. Regular number 2 pencils? Cooler than crayons since you can erase AND make details. No kid is ever gonna look back fondly at their crayon-Halloween. I don't care how aesthetic the Facebook post is, bruh please stop dressing kids up as crayons. A glitter pen costume would actually be so sick though, as a healthy and swag alternative.
— Sturgeon Moritz
While I feel like there's always going to be at least one person that says any “sexy” costume is overrated, I raise you: the men's basic t-shirt, pants combo. In defense of the yearly sexy costume, I'd much rather a fun costume that takes time and effort, than someone trying to convince me that their random t-shirt pick is the next best thing. Or even worse, that they look “cooler” for picking out a casual costume. Sure, Halloween might just be another dumb human holiday, but in turn it deserves a truly dumb human celebration and you can't do that without fully giving into it. Life is short, so if you can, dress a little sexier and have some fun with it.
— Nicole Borras
The most overrated Halloween costume has to be when people dress up as album covers. Look, I have never properly celebrated Halloween until this year because I was in India. I have just never got when people dress up as their favourite album covers. The usual ones are, at this stage, to be expected when hanging out with musical people. Abbey Road, Rumours by Fleetwood Mac, you name it, I do not like it. I think it is quite weird if you have to do a certain pose or be in a certain position to show what your costume is. If you take the people out of the album cover of ‘Rumours,' it legit is just formally dressed people. That is not a costume!
— Aniruddh Nambudiri
Over my short time here on Madison's campus, I have seen students getting more and more creative with their costumes, constantly updating their outfits to fit with current events and new movies. Last year, I saw people dress up like Eddie from Stranger Things and several Euphoria-related outfits. This year I expect to see some Taylor-Kelce couples costumes and Barbie/Oppenheimer fits circling around campus. However, some costumes have stuck around when they clearly shouldn't have, and here is my top choice for my least favorite. The Harley Quinn/Joker duo. It's been done so many times, and it's just annoying at this point. Plus, it's never creatively done and we end up seeing the same outfits every year. Since the studios keep putting out content with their favorite cash cow characters, I assume I'll see several people dressed up as these villains this year.
— Garrett Lublin
The whole prisoner bit is overdone. I saw way too many orange jumpsuits this Halloweekend. What an original idea all of them had. You're supposed to put some thought into your costume, not just pop into Party City.
It's one thing to exploit the planet by purchasing a Halloween costume made with non-renewable materials that you'll wear once, but I draw the line when it comes to exploiting victims of the prison-industrial complex. With these incarceration rates? Insane. Everybody wants to dress up as a prisoner, but I don't see anyone going out as casualties of the war on drugs.
— Jeb Blossom
The most overrated Halloween costume is when a man dresses as Patrick Batemen. During Halloweekend, I could've thrown a rock and hit three of you. Whenever I see men dressed up as him two things come to mind 1. did you read the book 2. did you understand it. I can tell you the answer; it's no. However, in all fairness, you guys probably looked great in those suits and I am, frankly, looking.. respectfully.
— Lizzy Frusciante
After asking countless people this past Halloweekend, I have realized the most overrated costume is a nuanced argument depending on the person. It is safe to say the most overrated for guys is the classic referee jersey, which is just too easy. In second place it would be some type of sports player or basketball player specifically because all you need is a jersey. There is no passion, commitment, or pride in any of those costumes. Halloween is the only day where you can dress up as whatever you want without being looked at because there is always someone that has a more out of pocket costume than you. On the other hand, the most overrated female costume that I was told would be a police officer. Why a lot of women would want to be a police officer one day of the year is not known to me. One of my friends dressed up as young popstar Justin Bieber, so she gets a lot of “brownie points” for the effort and I thought it was a great costume. I have more to say about the most overrated Halloween costumes for guys because of personal experience, and the fact that we need to stop normalizing costumes with no effort in my opinion. I can agree that costumes are expensive, but thrifting is always a good and fun option to get an interesting, wacky costume.
— Matthew Catalani
