Back in 2019, I wrote about the best last-minute costumes. Since then, a lot has changed, both on Grounds and in our pop culture such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This article dives into creative and simple ways to look hip while wearing outfits relevant to the University and beyond in today’s era.
1. BeReal
This Halloween, you can dress as the app that has skyrocketed in the past year — BeReal. This app sends a notification at a random time of day and makes you post within two minutes and is infamous for stopping tons of college students on their way to class or club meetings. You can imitate BeReal’s settings of a photo of both the front-facing and back camera on your phone by attaching photos to the front and back of your shirt. With the addition of the yellow caution emojis at the top that famously appear in the notification, you’re all set.
2. Veo scooters
When I wrote about last-minute Halloween costume ideas three years ago, Uber’s Lime Scooters were still around and I recommended you wear green to resemble them. Since then, Lime scooters in Charlottesville are no more, but electric scooters are just as, if not more, popular now with the introduction of Veo scooters. Now, all you need is a blue shirt and Veo name tag to honor this new staple of University life.
3. The Grubhub app
Since U.Va. Dining has implemented Grubhub to pay for food trucks and expanding its use to more dining locations, having Grubhub downloaded is a must for University students. You can represent this all-important app with an orange shirt. You can even tape on dollar symbols to represent how much money you’ve spent on it or how much the prices have gone up.
4. The Bonnycat
While Bonnycat was only with us for a few months, his memory still lives on in feline-loving students. From December 2019 to March 2020, the Bonnycat was an outdoor cat who would always hang out outside of the Castle to beg for food and demand cuddles from students passing by. Try honoring him by taking the usual simple cat costume and adding touches that resemble him. You can wear a gray top and cut the tip off of some fabric cat ears to match his style. Consider adding a piece of paper with his Instagram handle to make sure people understand the exact cat you are dressing as.
5. Adam Sandler
While most celebrities have extravagant styles that are hard for the everyday person to copy, there is one who rocks clothes almost everyone owns — Adam Sandler. A lot of memes have gone around on the internet about his constant sporting of baggy t-shirts and even baggier basketball shorts. Whether you achieve this look through thrifting, raiding the closet of your friends or just genuinely oversized basketball shorts, you will be sure to have the most accurate costume.
6. University President Jim Ryan
If you want to get really topical, you can dress up as the president of the University. While it might seem a little formal, you can also lean more into the athletic side by dressing up as Marathon Jim. You can even make use of your “Run with Jim” shirt and add a race number bib. Top it all off with the stories that you remember from his speech at convocation, the ring ceremony and the various videos posted on social media.
7. A bad grade
I might have stolen this idea from Baljeet from “Phineas and Ferb,” but there is something truly terrifying about a college student getting an F on an assignment. You can go all out and buy a white t-shirt from the craft store and draw scribbles covered by a big, red F. You can even use a screenshot of your own bad grade if you want to get really self-deprecating.
8. A “Heather”
Pulling from my favorite 80s movie and a recently popular trend on TikTok, you can dress as one of the three Heathers from the movie and musical “Heathers”. Each of the three characters, all of whom are named Heather, has a signature color that you can emulate with your outfit — green for Heather Duke, yellow for Heather McNamara and red for Heather Chandler. You can pair the colorful tops with a black skirt and any object resembling a croquet mallet. This even works great as a group costume, with all your friends resembling a Heather.
9. The Zoom meeting participant
While many of us are happy to pretend that the last two years of the pandemic didn’t happen, there is some potential in joking about the less serious aspects. One aspect of Zoom classes that I miss a lot is wearing pajama bottoms during discussion sections. You can emulate this era by wearing a business casual top and pajama bottoms. You can even wear your Zoom name around your neck to simulate the online experience.
10. An ambassador
When it comes time to put on your costume and go out for Halloweekend, you are sure to run into many ambassadors on the corner and other areas around Grounds. You can match their style by putting on a neon yellow shirt or vest and dark pants. You can even call back to the days of the pandemic by telling people to social distance and put on their masks. This costume will be worth it once you are able to point out that you are twinning with the ambassadors on the Corner.
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