Styling Tricks & Treats

This Halloween, I made a promise to myself: no new costumes, no unnecessary Amazon hauls, and absolutely no more random accessories wedged into every corner of my closet. My goal was simple—use what I already own and rely on a little creativity (and maybe some concealer) to pull it all together.

The weekend before Halloween, the local bars were hosting their pre-holiday parties, and I decided to join in after work. Since I needed something that could transition from “office professional” to “girls night out,” I went with a light blue dress and a white bow and declared myself Wendy from Peter Pan. Was it my most recognizable costume? Debatable. Did it work? Also debatable. I was so tired that night I didn’t even take a solo picture—so, you’ll just have to take my word for it.

For the actual night of Halloween, I had one costume in mind: clown. (Insert your own joke here.) About six days before, I frantically scrolled through Amazon looking for a cute clown hat, and the only options left were... tragic. So I improvised. I dug out black fishnets, white socks with bows, and a few basics from my closet, then relied on my makeup skills to copy a TikTok tutorial. A few smudges of eyeliner later and some slightly lopsided pigtails, and voilà—clown chic.

My friends and I ended up going to a club in Philadelphia called NOTO. It was packed (as expected), but it was fun to dance and see everyone’s costumes—half impressive, half questionable.

Honestly, I think Halloween should be about the energy, not the outfit. You don’t need to drop insane amounts of money on a costume to have fun. Some of my favorite go-to looks are the easy ones: animal makeup with all-black or brown and some ears, a last-minute cowgirl, a spy (black sunglasses fix everything), or a witch using whatever’s already hanging in my closet.

That said, next year I do plan to get a head start… but knowing me, I’ll probably still end up painting whiskers on my face at the last minute.

Top & Jacket: Princess Polly, Shorts: Edikted