It happens every year. The perfect Halloween costume dawns on you sometime in mid-January and you jot it down on a Post-It. Fast-forward through a time lapse of papers and coffee mugs and invitations piling on top of said genius idea and, by the time October rolls around, it’s as long gone as your patience for teenage trick-or-treaters in football jerseys.
Before you pull out the cat ears again (come on, you’re better than that!), here are a few last-minute Halloween ideas — with a Cheapflights twist. Whether you’re racing from the airport to a party come Oct. 31, or just need to kill some time away from the screaming child at your gate, here are nine costumes you can throw together during your next layover.
Taylor Swift and her surprise guests
This one works best if you’re in a New York airport and can get your hands on an I ❤️ NY tee, but any DIY crop top will do. Don the smallest high-waisted skirt in your suitcase, pick up a pair of white plastic knock-off Ray Bans from the nearest souvenir kiosk and add a swipe of red lipstick from Duty Free. Then run around between Jamba Juices and Burger Kings and collect as many life-sized cardboard cutouts as you can get your sticky fingers on. Spend the party bellowing “Put your hands together for your surprise guests, LeBron James, Niall from One Direction and the Carl’s Jr. Star!!!”
Chanel from “Scream Queens”
You don’t have to have to be a fan of the show to recognize Emma Roberts’ character — she’s the one in the FOX teasers who looks like Duty Free threw up all over her. The pastels. The pearls. The purses. For this one, collect as many baby-pink, quilted accessories as you can in the princess section of the toy store (or, worst case scenario, that kids corner in the book shop), add a pair of over-sized sunglasses and pin Chanel’s sorority letters, KKT, to your chest. Just pick up the knife and fake blood en route to the party to avoid unnecessary back-room interrogation.
The 40-Year-Old Virgin
Step One: Get hands on striped polo shirt (check lost and found or nearest normcore men’s shop). Step Two: Flatten hair into a toupee-esque pancake and practice your best school-picture gaze into hopeful nothingness. Step Three: Head to a Virgin kiosk, grab a fistful of luggage tags and affix them to your sweet new tee. Steve Carrell would be proud.
Beyoncé & Nicki Minaj from the “Feeling Myself” music video
Another guaranteed find at every airport? Jerseys. Tons of ‘em. Pick up two of the local team’s in XXL (best if they’re black and white, or if they’re the Chicago Bulls), pull on a pair of tube socks and grab a Big Mac. Accessorize by convincing the esthetician at 10-Minute Manicure to write “#FLAWLESS” on your fingernails.
Medusa
Begin with a fistful of green straws from Starbucks. Contort them into serpentine spirals and fasten them into your hair with bobby pins. (Bonus if you can find plastic snakes at a kids’ store). Use a white dress or fashion a toga out of your plane blanket — in desperate times, a white garbage bag will do. Weave black shoelaces up your legs, and start hissing at anyone who asks if you’re an expressionist Frappuccino.
Netflix and chill
Remember the Tinder photo that had the Internet abuzz last month? Here’s the airport remix. Find a red t-shirt at the gift shop. Print out the Netflix logo at the nearest Internet kiosk. Get a takeout meal from Chili’s, Big Chill or whatever frozen yogurt stand you can find with “chill” in its name. And there you have it: a costume, sustenance and an easy way to make friends on a long-haul flight.
Google maps
If there’s one thing you can find for free at any airport, without fail, it’s a ton of maps. Grab a stack of them, buy a touristy T-shirt you don’t mind mutilating beyond recognition and use the best adhesive you can find to cover it in the topography of California (or whichever maps you collected). Cut the shape of a Google Maps pin out of red cardboard (we recommend a deconstructed McDonalds Happy Meal box) and pop a face-shaped hole into the middle. Airport DIY at its finest.
Search for flights to California
A walk of shame
Head to the gift shop and pick up an oversized pair of men’s sweats. Dig the unworn heels out of your luggage. Smear (more) eyeliner under your eyes. Use the hairspray you accidentally brought in your carry-on (oops!) to tease your hair into over-the-top bed-head. Add a pair of over-sized sunnies and whenever anyone asks you what you’re dressed as, start to explain before leaving mid-sentence to find a bathroom.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
The ultimate lost-and-found costume. Start with one child-sized yellow cardigan; add Bubblicious-pink jeans, a floral button-up and a purple Jansport. Hashbrown no filter.
Main image: iStock/wavebreakmedia
