Jaycie Thierry
Staff Writer
With just a couple of weeks left before Halloween, students are in preparation mode to get their costumes ready for the occasion.
Google released their most searched Halloween costumes this week and the top 10 are Pennywise, witch, Spider-Man, dinosaur, Descendants, clown, Fortnite, Chucky, 1980s and unicorn.
Functioning on a college student budget, most of the La Verne students surveyed found that they were more likely to make a costume before purchasing one.
For others like senior education major Lizbeth German, making a Halloween costume can be a bit of a time crunch, so buying a costume is the easier route.
“It can be pricier purchasing a costume, but unfortunately I lack the creativity and I’m busy all the time,” German said. “In the past I’ve dressed up as Poison Ivy and Batman, but this year I’m dressing up as a Mortal Kombat ninja.”
Senior theater major Marcus Young is planning to dress as Freddy Krueger this year.
“My favorite costume was when I dressed as The Purge theme a few years ago with a group of friends,” Young said. “The best way to go is with a homemade costume, though. It’s unique and something no one else has.”
Some students are even wearing their favorite costumes from previous years like senior criminology major Brendon Bergen in a mechanic’s uniform.
Bergen’s baseball teammate Jacob Freedman is like the many others who bargain shop to put together their costume.
“I’m going as Kanye (West),” Freedman said, sophomore kinesiology major. “It’s a sick costume. I went shopping at Ross to find clothes that would maybe look similar to something he wears.”
The trend of dressing as a rapper is also what senior major Cody Norman is going for this year.
“I’ll be dressing as Slim Shady,” Norman said. “I’ve got the bleached hair for it.”
Natalia Garcia, senior history major, once dressed as Hannah Montana three years in a row, but that one does not quite compare to her favorite.
“I dressed as Rosie the Riveter my freshman year of college and whenever I was asked who I was, I shared my opinion on the importance of feminism,” Garcia said.
“I definitely think I prefer a homemade costume,” junior sociology major Melanie Gazazian said. “There’s a lot more personality behind them and can make something as simple as a lifeguard or police officer costume so much more.”
Some of Gazazian’s favorite previous costumes are between a frat boy and a deer with antlers.
“I got more into customizing a costume more as I got older,” said Liliana Hernandez, sophomore kinesiology major. “My favorite was last year when I dressed as the Snapchat filter with the butterflies.”
Junior kinesiology major Brooke Aguirre is planning an 80s duo costume with her classmate Madalyn Carrasco.
“It’s my favorite era,” Aguirre said. “Plus it was at the Spirit Halloween store and I really needed to commit to something.”
Julia Trujillo, sophomore political science major, is going as Lola Bunny this year but has also teamed up for group costumes before.
“My favorite costume I dressed up as was Sister Encarnación from Nacho Libre,” Trujillo said. “My boyfriend was Nacho Libre and we won the costume contest at our high school.”
Freshman kinesiology major Grace Crowther has previously dressed as a giraffe and with be a cave girl this year.
“Homemade costumes let you make your outfit precisely how you want it, it’s way cheaper,” Crowther said.
Whether or not you have your outfit planned for the spookiest night of the year, you are not the only one. Affordability appears to be what is in style this Halloween season and the local thrift stores are sure to have what you may be looking for.
Jaycie Thierry can be reached at jaycie.thierry@laverne.edu.
