“I was recently reminded by a dear friend of the Oscar Wilde quote, Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth. This poses an interesting topic during a holiday which encourages us to wear masks. Perhaps masks support, providing a protective barrier so we can drop all inhibitions and allow our true spirits to shine. Or perhaps we hide behind them. Whichever you relate to more, there’s no denying that we’re all a little liberated when we play dress up.

I learned something about myself this Halloween: I don’t plan. It wasn’t until a few days before Halloween that I came up with my costume (same with last year). I never go out of my way to buy anything, nor do I force a costume. I simply work with what’s presented and currently influencing me. This year I’d been heavily influenced by Paris. It seemed everywhere I turned, all roads led to Paris. Last month I had also become interested in learning more about Old Hollywood and it’s fashion icons.

A week before Halloween I attended a beauty event in Downtown. As I got ready I thought my hair was naturally falling into the classic bouffant. I went with it as I tied in a black ribbon. Strangely enough I had never seen any of the films of the starlet whose coiffure mine had begun to imitate, nor had I begun to learn much about her. Regardless, I was undoubtedly influenced by her beauty from day one as I’ve been known to rock an occasional bow or two.

At the event they had a fashion illustrator doing beauty portraiture's. That's when it all clicked. As I sat down with the artist, Regina, she began to fluidly painted out the shape of my bow. Then she proceeded to the soft volume of my hair. She filled in the waves of my ruffled, off-the-shoulder top, added some thick cat-eyed liner and two pillowy pink lips. She looks up at me for the final touches and says — you look very Parisian tonight. In that moment I realized who I was channeling, and the DJ cued up his music from a brief pause. His choice? French music (I kid you not). And so it was decided...”

This year, we reiterate Ms. Morgan Ryan in that is entirely alright to not have your Halloween costume planned half a year in advance. In fact, sometimes the best ideas come with time under pressure (or when you allow the costume to choose you). Just scroll down and see for yourself the incredible costumes that some of our Lookbookers were able to drum up at the midnight hour.


1. BRIGITTE BARDOT

“...Ms. Bardot it was.” — Ms. Morgan Ryan

2. WEDNESDAY ADDAMS

“Not only are there already a million ways to style the Wednesday Addams dress, but you can find dresses for it everywhere (in store, and online) during this time of year. I find that it’s a better investment to buy a dress similar to hers, instead of a costume.

The original Wednesday featured in the Addams family tv series was portrayed at a much younger age in 1964, when modesty had a heavier influence on style, particularly with children. So try giving the original style a go by pairing the dress of your choice with black leggings. I absolutely adore this look!” — Raven R.

3. BOND GIRL

“In my opinion, every girl wants to be a James Bond girlfriend. This guy has absolutely elegant taste, not only in costumes, drinks and cars, but girls as well (think even of his most recent ones: Sophie Marso, Halle Berry, Rosamund Pike, Monika Bellucci and the like — all true icons of diverse beauties). Which is why I wanted to try out this character on myself and channel my inner Bond girl in all her danger and beauty. Halloween isn’t only for scary costumes!” — Vladyslava Kozachyshche

4. IT'S ALIVE!

“From being in my early teens I've always love vintage clothing, obsessed with hunting in 'thrift' stores and finding over sized items to give my style something more unique than others. That's where this little Halloween jumper comes into action!

It’s oversized, insanely comfortable and soft (which I think comes with being worn before, if that even makes sense). But the best part about it is that it says IT'S ALIVE in the most perfectly Halloween-inspired horror font I've ever seen.

As I work in an office, I've been wearing the ensemble in more of a casual manner, but was still able to style things up by pairing it with a vinyl black skirt. If dressing it further, I would have gone with some big chunky boots and a small black back pack!” — Jessica Gutteridge

5. MIA

“She’s one of my top favorite characters in one of my top favorite movies of all time. Pulp Fiction is, in my mind, a pure masterpiece and I will never stop praising about it to others.” — Sabina Bacevich

“I actually take most of my inspiration from films and it goes without saying that most of them are Quentin Tarantino's. Plus, Vogue shares the same mindset this year — going for iconic looks like Mia.” — Sabina Bacevich

6. CAT LADY

“What can be better than transforming into a dangerous black cat on Hallow’s Eve? It's one of my favorite characters. I kept my make-up and clothing very simple: black lipstick and black eyeliner (contacts optional), and the most fitted and fluffy items I could find. For shoes, I chose Uggs because they remind me cat paws.” — Vladyslava Kozachyshche

“So this outfit is inspired by those cats that people put up everywhere during Halloween that look like they are shrieking, or hissing or somethin’ (ain’t that clever). I styled it with my favorite cat sweater that I scored for only $5 at the Surplus store here in Chicago. It's practically where I find most of my prime items.” — Camilla Cediel

7. COSPLAY CHARACTER


“We adore The Expanse and thought that it would be cool to contribute to one of the most massively underrated shows out there, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that one of the main motivating factors was that we thought these two characters were pretty easy to start off with.

My boyfriend Ottie had a fine time not needing to do anything other than pick items from his wardrobe to be Joe Miller. I, on the other hand, ended up getting a callous on my index finger from all the hours spent trying to embroider a patch for Julie Mao’s coverall. I discovered shortly after (from a friend) that it would have been much faster, and easier, to get the patch tailored on from one of the army shops downtown — lesson learned!” — Ren Rong

8. REY

“I absolutely loved Star Wars: The Force Awakens so Rey was an easy choice for a costume, and she’s such a great character. My lovely boyfriend Tyrell helped me out and made the whole costume for me. Everything from the goggles to the little satchel. I kind of want to wear this costume all year round!” — Jocelyn Jacobson

9. HIPPIE


“If you’re not into going all out on Halloween, you can always come up with something from whatever’s already in your closet. This look was exactly that — but there can be a lot of different variations to it. If you’d like to replicate this particular one, here’s what you’ll need…round glasses, a ribbon or headband for your hair, loose pants or even sweatpants, sandals or flip flops (although platforms work best), some dangle accessories, a top (I recommend a sleeveless t-shirt), and braided hair (or fake dreadlocks if you have it). Throw on a jean jacket for colder climates. But to be honest, as long as you have the round glasses and put something baggy on — it's gonna work.” — Sabina Bacevich

10. BAE WATCH


This is the perfect pick for those of you that aren’t quite ready for summer to be over. Order one online and pick up a whistleblower or a buoy from your local department store. Swipe on some siren red lipstick like Kristina Belskih, and rescue the last remnants of the season before reusing it for the next one.