By Katie Koenig
Emerson has a large Halloweekend culture, and many of us feel the drive to come up with different costumes for each party. Last Halloween was especially big, with people dressing up for both the weekend before and the weekend after Halloween itself, which lands on a Thursday.
Although fun, having several costumes can lead to a lot of wasted materials and money.
We hosted a Halloween Costume Swap this year on October 29th in the Dining Center Private Dining Room. People could drop off whatever old costumes that they no longer wanted to wear, and picked up costumes that someone else had left.
Whether you swap clothes and costumes through events like this or just between friends, this is great to avoid spending so much for Halloween, to get a little more use out of a perfect fine costume that you may not be interested in, or to find anything you want to repurpose for another costume!
Even if you go to a costume store or thrift shop to build a homemade costume and props, it’s still a good idea to consider reusability. Do you have leftover boxes that you can cut and tape up into props, masks, or anything else? Are there clothes you have that fit a costume idea with a little work and hand sewing? Maybe you already have a fun outfit that just needs a couple props to take it to the next level!
Although Halloween is over, this is a mentality you can take with you whenever you shop. Consider if there’s anything you have that, although you don’t like anymore, can be repurposed into something new. Maybe one of your friends has some old clothing they don’t want either, and you decide to swap! Plus, this is Boston: clothes swap events and thrift stores are practically a dime a dozen.
Next time you plan to shop, try to consider what you’d use the clothing for, and if there’s anything you (or others) have that already fits the bill! When you do buy something, keep in mind the reusability of it, too—will you wear it a lot? Will the make and materials hold up after a number of washes?
When it comes to shopping, reuse, repurposing, and conscientiousness are the name of the game, from avoiding fast fashion to costume construction!