5 Sustainable Halloween Costumes
It’s officially Spooktober and you know what that means…Halloween is right around the corner!
Halloween and holidays in general can be pretty bad for the environment. We’ve developed this culture of going out and buying new things simply in the spirit of an occasion. For example, think about the number of one-off costumes that you’ve purchased for Halloween. Those garments probably ended up in the back of your closet for a few years or in the trash after you were done with them.
There’s a lot that goes into celebrating holidays a little more sustainably, but we can talk about all the plastic waste that’s generated for individually-wrapped candies or disposable decorations, in a different blog post. Today, we’re specifically going to address dressing up and Halloween costumes.
Quick disclaimer here, I went a little niche with some of these costumes and specifically chose characters with dark hair.
Without further ado, here are 5 Halloween costumes that you can create sustainably from the garments that you already own.
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1. Kiki from Kiki’s Delivery Service
If you have a simple black or navy tee-shirt dress, this outfit is a no-brainer.
Kiki is the main protagonist of this animated film by Miyazaki. She is a 13-year old witch who leaves home with her black cat and eventually sets up a delivery service. In the movie, Kiki is seen wearing a loose, navy dress with ¾-length sleeves, brown Mary Janes, a brown satchel, and a gigantic red bow. Kiki sports her hair in a bob and is frequently seen with her black cat, Jiji, and the broom on which she carries out her delivery services.
I was unable to recreate this look exactly but feel like the substitutions that I made still kept the overall vibe and image of Kiki. I styled this black tee-shirt dress with red flats and added her signature red bow. The challenging part here was creating a faux bob but after consulting many youtube videos, I think I managed to pull it off.
2. Jenny (The Girl with the Green Ribbon) from In A Dark, Dark Room by Alvin Schwartz
Okay, this look makes me so nostalgic because it was one of my favorite scary stories as a child. I remember in first grade, my best friend and I had a sleepover and we read the book just as we were wrapping up the night, and were unable to sleep at all.
The Green Ribbon is the third short story in this collection and it follows a girl named Jenny who always wears a green ribbon around her neck. As a child, she meets a boy named Alfred, and he asks her, “Why do you wear that green ribbon?” “Someday, maybe I’ll tell you,” she says.
A year later, they become best friends, and again, he asks her, Why do you wear that green ribbon?” “I’ll tell you later,” she says.
They begin high school and eventually start dating. At this point, Alfred is really curious. “Now will you tell me why you wear that green ribbon?” “Um, maybe if we ever get married, I’ll tell you,” is her response.
The couple gets married and has two kids. Frustrated and desperate to know, he asks her, “Will you please tell me why you wear that green ribbon?” “Look, if you really love me, please just drop it. One day, I promise you, I’ll tell you why,” she sighs.
Decades pass and Jenny gets very sick. The doctor says that she doesn’t have much time left. On her dying bed, she signals for Alfred to come close. “Alfred, now I can tell you about the green ribbon. Untie it, and you will see why I could not tell you before.
Slowly and carefully, Alfred unties the ribbon…and Jenny’s head falls off.
Anyway, this story was a really fond part of my childhood so it was a lot of fun to recreate this look. The outfit I’m putting together is based on that first image of her sitting on a couch wearing a pink and white sweater and purple skirt.
To recreate this look, I styled my mom’s short-sleeved white blazer over a knit pink cardigan and threw on a floral purple skirt. Of course, I had to top this off with a green ribbon. What do you think? Was this story also a part of your childhood? If not, what were some stories that you can still recall from when you were young?
3. Morticia Addams (or maybe just a witch)
I dressed up as Wednesday Addams a few years ago and figured that maybe it was time to give Morticia a try. The thing about Morticia is that she is dressed like any other witch and the only thing that sets her apart is the context in which we see her.
Morticia Addams is a fictional character from The Addams Family television and film series. She is characterized by her long, straight black hair, pale skin, and gothic-style gown with octopus-like fringe “tentacles” at the lower hem.
For this look, I basically threw on a long black gown, and because it was sleeveless, layered a black cardigan underneath. I topped this look off with classic smokey makeup and red lipstick.
If you have a skull prop at your disposal or family and friends who are willing to dress up as the rest of the Addams family, it’ll be a much more convincing sell. Otherwise, I think this look is a simple and easy, Halloween-appropriate witch costume.
4. Mother Earth
Taking a break from the creepy, witch-like characters, sustainable Halloween costume number four is Mother Earth. Mother Earth is pretty open to interpretation but I decided to go with a somewhat whimsical, romantic, and fairy-like styling. I figured that since we were going with sustainable Halloween costumes, at least one of these had to be an homage to the environment.
I wore my emerald green maxi skirt as a sleeveless dress, curled my hair, threw on some natural makeup, and created simple leaf accessories by bobby pinning leaves to my hair.
5. Samara from The Ring
Ah, another throwback to my childhood. The Ring was one of the first scary movies that I ever watched by myself and boy, was it terrifying.
Samara is the central antagonist of the film, and she is the vengeful spirit of a young girl who had a tragic life. In the movies, Samara’s long dark hair always covers her face and she is seen wearing a dirty, white, nightgown.
Unfortunately, I own very little white so this outfit is kind of a stretch. I threw on an oversized men’s undershirt and called it a day. If you own a house dress or a white nightgown, you should probably wear those instead.
There you have it! Five Halloween costumes that you can make sustainably from the clothes that you already own. Which of these did you find the most inspiring? What are some other sustainable Halloween costume ideas that you’ve seen in the past?
Need more ideas on how to spend the holidays more sustainably?
Here are some blog posts that you might find interesting: