# Any simple clever costume ideas? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 28, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-simple-clever-costume-ideas/558702 "2010-10-28T20:58:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-simple-clever-costume-ideas/558702/21 "2010-10-29T02:51:09Z")
I couple I know went in normal clothing, with a bit of makeup to make them look pale… and two red dots on their necks with a bit of fake blood on their shirts: vampire victims. I think they won a prize for original costumes. ---
**Author:** ![Lightsaber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Lightsaber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightsaber)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-simple-clever-costume-ideas/558702/22 "2010-10-29T03:40:00Z")
Invisible Man. Just don’t go at all. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-simple-clever-costume-ideas/558702/23 "2010-10-29T04:53:38Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > Be forewarned, while harmless the chemicals inside glow-sticks stink like you wouldn’t believe. Oh, yeah, true; I’d assume if you’re carrying a jar around, by default you’d want to put a lid on it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-simple-clever-costume-ideas/558702/24 "2010-10-29T05:04:39Z")
Wear a grim reaper costume in blue instead of black. You are the blue screen of death. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-simple-clever-costume-ideas/558702/25 "2010-10-29T05:15:36Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > I’m going to a costume party on Sat and I need to dress up. I could go as the standard cop, pirate, doctor, caveman, grim reaper, etc… but perhaps theres a clever alternative out there. > > Any good easy-to-make ideas? I went to a party as a Hairy Potter. Wore an apron (with a logo for a pottery studio that I made up), DIDN’T SHAVE FOR A WEEK, and wore a long BITCHIN’ MULLET, man… ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-simple-clever-costume-ideas/558702/26 "2010-10-29T05:16:28Z")
wear brown clothing and a yellow ribbon as a belt. You are the old oak tree. Wear a cupid wing on your left shoulder. Have a heart seeping fake blood on your chest. You are a bleeding heart, left wing liberal. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-simple-clever-costume-ideas/558702/27 "2010-10-29T05:21:34Z")
Cover yourself in rolls of duct tape, screws of various sizes, and scrabble tiles. You are the Screwtape Letters. Wear fake muscles and a shirt with a big E on it. Carry a stake. You are Buff-E the vampire slayer. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-simple-clever-costume-ideas/558702/28 "2010-10-29T05:25:16Z")
Dress as a woman. Carry a soccer ball in a small blanket and treat it like a baby. You are a soccer mom. Buy a walker. Wear a nametag informing everybody your name is “Johnny”. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-simple-clever-costume-ideas/558702/29 "2010-10-29T05:41:05Z")
Wear a stethoscope. Draw an electrical diagram on your shirt, with an arrow pointing to the negative electrode. You are Doc Cathode. Draw a human figure on a bib. Wear it and carry a copy of To Serve Man. Wear a laurel wreath and attach lettuce and vegetables to your clothes. You are a Caesar salad. Put 3 tennis balls in your pants. You are ET, the extra testicle. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-simple-clever-costume-ideas/558702/30 "2010-10-29T05:45:09Z")
Wear a shirt that says “More Athey Than Anbody!”. You are atheist. Wear rabbit ears. Carry bottles labeled “Knockout Drops”. You are the Ether Bunny. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-simple-clever-costume-ideas/558702/31 "2010-10-29T06:01:14Z")
Wear a standard pirate costume. Carry a bunch of CDs or DVDs. You are a software pirate. Carry a hot dog in one hand and a beer mug in the other. You are FrankNstein. Wear a crown. Say only things that are untrue. You are the Lyin King. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-simple-clever-costume-ideas/558702/32 "2010-10-29T11:47:53Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Get a Superman t-shirt. Wear it under an ordinary shirt while decked out in an ordinary suit and tie. Add a pair of glasses and feature a “PRESS” pass noticeably sticking out of your breast pocket or whatever; possibly throw in a notepad. If anyone asks what you’re supposed to be – well, blandly answer that you’re a reporter, and throw in a blank stare, and with any luck you’ll evoke a look of mild disappointment at your half-assed costume. > > And when the time is right and all eyes are on you, tilt your head to the side and announce that Lois is in danger as you whip off the glasses and tear open your shirt. I am sitting at my desk at work right now, with my Daily Planet ID on my suit’s lapel and my shirt open to display the Superman tee-shirt. If anyone else comes as Luthor I am all set… ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-simple-clever-costume-ideas/558702/33 "2010-10-29T12:11:16Z")
I’m struggling here as well. For the past month and a half (or so) I’ve been stuck at home with a slipped disc, which I am being operated on a week today. After some issues I’ve finally got strong enough painkillers that I can move around the house OK and even go for short walks, so I have decided to take a taxi to/from my mate’s house on Saturday to go to his Halloween party. It is my first night out in months (I was having issues before it got really bad, so I used to just go home-work-home). But anyway, organising a costume is difficult I can’t go out and buy anything, apart from stuff from my local (but small) supermarket. I do have crutches, which could be somehow incorporated into a costume. The style here in Sweden is more on classic ideas and visual aspects than word play, although I am tempted by the crime scene, although I am concerned that the masking tape will come off in minutes. So, any ideas? Edit: And in my defence, the Oxycontin is making it hard for me to really concentrate on stuff, so coming up with ideas of my own is difficult. Honest. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-simple-clever-costume-ideas/558702/34 "2010-10-29T12:41:38Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > Wear a suit and hang a sign from your neck that says “IRS”. :eek: > > I took a white long sleeve t-shirt and drew the cholesterol molecule on it. Yes, that shirt made me look fat 😃 The party I’m going to on Saturday is full of IRS agents. I’m sure that costume would go over well 😃 I have a simple costume. I’m wearing a tan bathrobe, v-neck T-shirt and pajama bottoms and sunglasses. I have long hair and I haven’t shaved for a week, which will get sculpted into a ratty goatee. All I need is to order White Russians all night and I’m set. Yes, I’m going as The Dude from The Big Lebowski. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-simple-clever-costume-ideas/558702/35 "2010-10-29T13:11:11Z")
Go as a Tea Party activist. Truly scary! ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-simple-clever-costume-ideas/558702/36 "2010-10-29T14:17:26Z")
> [@EvilTOJ](#): > > The party I’m going to on Saturday is full of IRS agents. I’m sure that costume would go over well 😃 > > I have a simple costume. I’m wearing a tan bathrobe, v-neck T-shirt and pajama bottoms and sunglasses. I have long hair and I haven’t shaved for a week, which will get sculpted into a ratty goatee. All I need is to order White Russians all night and I’m set. > Yes, I’m going as The Dude from The Big Lebowski. I’m consideringthis but there are a few issues: I’m bald. I have beard anyway, which I am not willing to shave to a goatee. Last year someone went to a party by the same host as Arthur Dent. This guy will be going this year. What do you think? The third seems the worst to me, the only major differences would be lack of towel and addition of sunglasses. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-simple-clever-costume-ideas/558702/37 "2010-10-29T14:23:01Z")
One year I went to a costume party wearing a cheap Santa suit with a nude body stocking under it. Whenever anyone talked to me, I would open my jacket. I won first prize as “the flashing Santa.” ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-simple-clever-costume-ideas/558702/38 "2010-10-29T14:54:09Z")
> [@trapezoidal\_jellyfish](#): > > I did this once and it was great. People had to ask me what I was, and it sometimes took them a minute to figure it out, but they all laughed. > > Wear all black. Black shirt, pants, shoes, gloves, even a hat maybe. Run a line of white masking tape down the side of your arm, up the other side to your armpit, and down the side of your body to the bottom of your foot. Same on the other side of your body. Run a line of tape up the inseams of your pants also. You have essentially made a white masking tape outline of yourself. > > Congratulations, you are now a crime scene. Using white chalk might be a little more realistic, but I don’t know how to make sure it doesn’t rub off, so I used tape and it was fine. I love it, that’s what I’m going as. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-simple-clever-costume-ideas/558702/39 "2010-10-29T15:07:00Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > I couple I know went in normal clothing, with a bit of makeup to make them look pale… and two red dots on their necks with a bit of fake blood on their shirts: vampire victims. > > I think they won a prize for original costumes. Hmmm…that sounds like a great idea for after work today. Would simply drawing 2 red dots on my neck with a red sharpie work? Should I outline the dots with a black ballpoint pen so that they stand out? ---
**Author:** ![Jennmonkye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/278dde/32.png) [@Jennmonkye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennmonkye)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-simple-clever-costume-ideas/558702/40 "2010-10-29T20:41:20Z")
Dress in all navy: pants, blue shirt, navy vest, shiny shoes, hold six pack of beer and a long pool blow up float attached to the back of your costume. Welcome to the party, flight attendant Stephen Slater! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-simple-clever-costume-ideas/558702.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-simple-clever-costume-ideas/558702.md?page=3)