DIY Halloween costumes
Cutting, sewing, and sizing: with many Halloween parties taking place around campus, students can stand out from the crowd with DIY costumes.
Sarah Shouse, a costume design major at Utah State University, has dedicated her life to costumes. After being involved in costume making for eight years, she now works in the USU costume shop in the fine arts building. The costume shop produces all the costumes for USU theater productions.
“Even when I was little, my grandma always made our costumes for us,” Shouse said.
This Halloween, Shouse and her boyfriend are dressing up as Morticia and Gomez Addams.
“When it’s finished I’ll probably have spent 30 to 50 hours on these costumes,” Shouse said. “(Morticia) is my favorite goth icon. I also wanted to do a couples costume. I love the relationship that the Addams have.”
Shouse likes to make her own costumes because she can add unique and personal touches to them.
“I do look at the authentic images and try to copy that, but I like to change colors to make it pop,” she said. “I have special wigs that I make as well.”
Julie Larsen, another USU student making her own costume this Halloween, patterns her designs after characters from her favorite books or movies. This year, she is dressing up as an anime character.
“I have a bright pink wig and school uniform,” Larsen said. “I had enough pieces that I was able to put this together.”
Larsen loves getting new ideas from what everyone else wears on Halloween.
“Think of something that you really really like and wouldn’t normally wear, and then that can be your costume,” she said.
Jeremy Woodall, a USU senior, said his family never dressed up in stereotypical Halloween costumes and oftentimes made their own.
“My costume for this Halloween took a hundred hours to make,” Woodall said. “It is something special I put together for Comic Con. I don’t just get the cheapest fabric I can find, I make stuff that is going to look good and be comfortable to wear. I put effort into it even if it is just a costume for looks.”
Woodall plans on creating his own Halloween costumes in the future.
“If you are looking for ideas, find characters that you like,” he said. “Even if there are people with the same costume as you, it is still a lot of fun.”
Whether its for the Howl, Comic Con, a party, or just for fun, students express themselves through their costumes.
“It’s nice to be someone else for a little bit,” Shouse said. ”If you have to go to the store and get a costume, do it. If you want to wear your costumes to school, do it!”
— shelby.black@aggiemail.usu.edu
@shelbsterblack