by Jazmine Ponce
Staff Writer
Throw out the old witch’s hat and plastic vampire fangs. With Halloween approaching, it is time for creative, unique and funky costumes.
Time is of the essence. There are only two days left, but it is not too late to find a costume for Halloween.
Movies always create costume fads and with this year’s past movie blockbusters there are plenty of fantastic characters to mimic.
Catch up on all the “Yeah Baby!” impersonations and be Austin Powers. The costume starts at $39.99 at participating costume shops (fake teeth and mojo not included).
Have a little brother? Dress him up as Mini-Me and go as Dr. Evil. The Dr. Evil accessory kit includes a bald cap, pinky ring and fleshtone makeup and sells for $7.99. Other characters from the ’60s spy spoof include agent Felicity Shagwell, Austin’s love interest, or a FemBot.
If that is not your bag baby, then maybe the Force is with you. Even before the anticipated “Star Wars” prequel opened last May, fans were dressing up as the popular characters. The evil Darth Maul is a popular favorite.
The Halloween Adventure in the Montclair Plaza has the best deals for Star Wars costumes. A Darth Maul mask and light saber are $29.99 and a makeup kit is $12.99. A Queen Amidala deluxe kit includes a gown and head piece for 49.99. The make-up kit is $12.99.
Also available are a variety of masks from Boba Fett to a minor character in the Star Wars cantina, which range in price from under $24.99 to $160.
Fans can also impersonate other characters from “Episode I” like Obi Wan Kenobi and Qui Gon Jinn. Deluxe costumes start at $39.99, yet fans can also get the same effect by purchasing or borrowing a white karate uniform. A variety of light sabers start at $6.99.
Politicians and characters from television shows are also popular costumes this year. Masks of Bill or Hillary Clinton go for $24.99 each.
Rubber “South Park” character masks go for $23.99 at all Spencer’s Gifts stores located in various malls.
Generic felt hats and gloves similar to the ones worn by the South Park characters are $16.99 and are also available at Halloween Adventures.
Wrestling fans can publicly emulate their favorite wrestlers from the various wrestling organizations. Rubber masks of Sting, the Undertaker, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Goldberg, Man-kind and The Rock start at $24.99.
For small children, costume fads range from a variety of Saturday morning cartoon shows.
The cartoon show and game “Pokémon,” a big hit with children, have costumes for the characters Pikachu and Charmellon, which sell for $13.99.
Other cartoon characters children can emulate are Blue from “Blue’s Clues,” Scooby Doo, Tommy and Angelica from Rugrats, and characters from the X-Men. Most children’s costumes are priced at $12.99 to $24.99.
Not all creative costumes are store-bought. There are a variety of unique costumes that can be made or put together from clothes and objects around the house.
If one lacks artistic skills, go to local flea markets or thrift stores and acquire creative cheap clothing from the 1930s to the 1980s. Depending on the clothing and one’s taste one could be a flapper, sock hop girl, punk, hippie or swing dancer.
Famous characters from movies and television can also be created from thrift store finds. Using a suit and a trench coat, people can be the famous duo of Mulder and Scully from the television show “The X-Files.”
Accessories for those looks can vary from a cell phone, a flashlight and hair dye (for Scully red hair) to making an FBI badge by one’s personal computer program.
The hit movie “The Matrix,” starring Keanu Reeves, is also a favorite. By wearing all black and a leather trench coat, one can be Neo, Morpheus or Trinity. Cool accessories for this look would be black sun glasses, a toy gun and black boots.
Other characters can be as cheap as the price of makeup or special effects latex parts which range from $2.99 to $16.99.
Fans of the show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” can be Buffy by using blonde hair dye and carrying a wooden stake. For vampire characters such as Angel, Spike and Drusilla, use thrift store clothes, latex vampire bite wounds and cool vampire fangs that fit over the canine teeth and stay on for up to two hours at a time.
The fangs can be purchased for only $4.99, while the latex wounds are $5.99 at Party City, located in the shopping center in San Dimas off Arrow Highway.
Makeup is an important aspect of a scary costume. The web site Halloween Online at http://www.halloween-online.com offers step-by-step makeup instructions for vampires and other helpful tips on becoming creatures of the night.
Halloween is a time to dress up and have fun. A few stores to visit are Halloween Adventures, Party City, Spencer’s Gifts or the Halloween Shop located in the West Covina Fashion Plaza for a variety of masks and costume ideas.
