Halloween at Canisius: Who I’ve been

By: Ashley Kurz, Managing Editor

Next week is going to be my fifth Halloween at Canisius, and although I am not planning on celebrating on campus, I’ve had enough experience to share. Halloween costumes have meant something different to me each year; for example, in my freshman year I had no money to spend. This actually ended up leading to one of my favorite costumes to date: a yearbook. I had a stained pair of white jeans I could no longer wear, a cheap tank top from Aerie, and a bunch of markers – don't forget those. There was some work put into it: I wrote “YEARBOOK” on my chest so people knew they had the ability to write on me, which was the best part. I was comfortable and colorful throughout the night. People wrote their numbers and “HAGS,” and it was a really fun thing to do at a party. You get to talk to all sorts of people and have a slightly muddy memory of the holiday. If you decide to do this, however, be prepared to lose almost all of your markers, fair warning. 

Sophomore year was my most basic: I was Dorothy and then a Hufflepuff wizard. These were cheap and low effort, but the Harry Potter costumes have been used years after when needed, which is a plus. The best part of the Dorothy costume was my basket full of Tito’s rather than the beloved dog, Todo, which was a fan favorite. 

I truly upped my game junior year – I had a vision and executed it to a tee. This was the year of the sleepytime bear. My only purchases were a red hat and bear ears to go on top. Conveniently, I had a blue and white striped pajama set and a mug. I wore a brown tank top underneath my shirt to really get the bear feeling going. For my mug, I cut the tags off of tea bags and taped them to the inside of my cup so they could hang off the side without falling. Each drink I had that night looked like I was drinking tea, which was extremely creative on my part. The next weekend I was Carrie; the blood and crown were fun but having to shower the blood off before bed at the end of the night was torture. 

Senior year was a good one for me; I made an effort to thrift my costume and reuse old ones because the world is burning and it's the least I could do. My house was doing Alice in Wonderland and I wanted to be the Mad Hatter. At the local thrift, I found a faded brown blazer, a flower vest and a bag of thread. I bought a top hat from Spirit Halloween, green and purple fabric from JoAnn Fabrics along with feathers, a tomato pin and some cardstock. I ended up making the hat an hour before we had to leave but it was so worth it. I wore a belt of thread and some striped socks and did my makeup based on the Johnny Depp version of the character. We all looked really good and I have the hat on a bookshelf in my living room just as a reminder that I can be very crafty from time to time. 

This year is very busy. My boyfriend and I are going as Coraline's other parents for one night. For another, my very best friends and I are going to be medieval princesses (with large hats)! After an extremely difficult and hilarious time deciding on our costumes, we landed on this one and I cannot wait to see it through (R.I.P. traffic cone and sexy construction workers). For Coraline’s other mother I hit the thrift store for a polka-dotted blouse and a black skirt – there may also be a fire bob in the mix. My boyfriend got a red robe and monkey slippers, which he has begun wearing around the house, and he looks so cute! 

My Halloween costume evolution at Canisius has been extremely fun to experience and even though there are other costumes I didn’t mention, I hope I could give a few ideas to anyone looking. It is also important to remember that dressing up is for your enjoyment! You don’t have to spend tons of money or order everything from Amazon because there are other options. Happy Halloween, everyone. Be safe and have a great time with your friends.