Halloween on a Budget: The Fashion Editors’ guide to second-hand costumes
By Evie Atkins, Imogen Burgess, and Amélie Siitonen | Featured image: Heidi Goodchild
Tired of seeing someone at the club wearing the exact same outfit as you because you both got your costumes from SHEIN two days before Halloween? This year, we’re looking beyond the high-street for a costume that feels a little less predictable. We asked our Fashion Editors to do the work for you, scouring Vinted to put together three second-hand costume ideas.
From breaking down their outfit choices to sharing tips on styling and finding affordable pieces, they’ll walk you through how to recreate each look on a student budget.
A budget-friendly look with couples costume potential
Imogen Burgess, BA Fashion Communication
Costume idea: Fembot from Austin Powers
If you want to keep it groovy, baby, you could consider being a fembot this Halloween. Starting from a reference picture on Pinterest, I began by simply searching ‘fembot costume’ on Vinted. This yielded some results, but they were quite expensive so I broke the outfit down into individual pieces: a fluffy pink bra, a pink babydoll dress and metallic pink gloves. I was able to find each item to complete the costume for less than £20.
Accessories and styling are what really sells the costume, so fully committing to backcombing your hair into a beehive style or caving and wearing a wig is essential. Some 60s-style make-up will help complete look. It’s perfect as a couples’ costume if you’ve got a dorky boy who’s happy to wear a frilly suit and thick-rimmed glasses.
Choosing pieces you can rewear beyond Halloween
Evie Atkins, BA Fashion Communication
Costume idea: The Very Hungry Caterpillar
The Very Hungry Caterpillar has crawled out of nostalgia and is coming straight back onto my social media feed. Not only does this costume feel instantly recognisable, but as Halloween approaches, I couldn’t help but notice the surge of people buying and reusing pieces each Halloween, meaning costumes don’t have to be a ‘one-and-done’, disposable purchase.
With the cost of clothing continuing to put pressure on consumers, I was determined to find out whether second-hand shopping really pays off, comparing the cost of a full costume on Vinted with an ASOS equivalent.
Like Immy, I was keen to break down my outfit inspiration piece by piece, which eventually left me with five key items to hunt for: a red scarf, an olive green long-sleeve shirt, a red beret, a black skirt and, finally to finish off, some red knee-high socks.
Clubs in Manchester – even on the coldest nights of winter – usually aren’t the place for scarves, but after a quick search for ‘red scarf’, I had one in my basket for £4.77, including shipping. The shirt and skirt were going to be my most expensive items, but I wanted to keep these two pieces versatile so they could be reworn for any occasion with other items in your wardrobe.
The shirt I opted for was a lovely Primark-find, with a small flower detail on the side. It brought the total cost of this item to £9.34, including shipping. With plenty of long and short options available to suit your preferred length – I found the perfect mini-skirt for £7.65, bringing the total to £16.99.
Now for the smaller accessories and styling. The most obscure item on this list is our beret or baker-boy-style hat. But fear not! Vinted has thousands of cheap options for us to scour through. I managed to snag a great deal on a simple red beret for £4, bringing my total to £24.38. Finally, a classic pair of red knee-high socks – although you might own some already – cost around £1 on average, rounding off the cost of the outfit.
Shoes are up to you; I imagine many of you already own a plain pair of trainers or flats. As for the styling, there’s no need to go all out: just add some simple makeup and accessories you already own. The only thing I’d do to jazz this look up is cut out some black eyes from paper and attach them to the beret if you want to look even more caterpillar-like!
In the end, I didn’t even have to make offers on any of these items, and yet the price difference speaks for itself. None of the Vinted finds required haggling or last-minute offers, and the whole outfit, including each individual shipping cost, came to £28.25. In comparison, a full outfit on ASOS featuring similar items totals £79.99. As a much more sustainable option, it’s clear that you don’t have to compromise on style.
Roaring Twenties glamour on a budget
Amélie Siitonen, BSc Fashion Marketing
Costume idea: Flapper girl
Nothing says glam quite like a flapper girl, so if you’ve been searching for an iconic Halloween costume, we’ve got you covered. Distinctive and immediately recognisable, flapper girls represent the height of the Roaring Twenties, a time of extravagance, rebellion and youth culture. Icons such as Clara Bow, Josephine Baker and Zelda Fitzgerald represent the best of the best at this time, and their looks became my inspiration for this costume – how could they not?
In the spirit of extravagance, I wanted to see if it was possible to create an expensive-looking costume on a student budget. Easy, right? I started with the dress because I knew it would be the most expensive component of the outfit. Searching for ‘flapper girl dress’ on Vinted, there were two options that caught my eye: a cheaper option for £5, or a couple of slightly more expensive Miss Selfridge dresses priced between £7 and £15. I particularly liked this one for £7.50. However, in the interest of staying on a budget, I opted for the £5 dress, bringing the total, including postage and fees, to £8.44. A great start if you ask me.
Now for accessories: the challenge was keeping these affordable but classy. You could argue that you need five or more accessories to truly get the complete look, but I disagree. Chances are that, as a student, you’ll be planning at least three costumes for Halloween weekend, so don’t overcomplicate it.
Back on Vinted, I found a string of faux pearls for £2, a silver feather headband/fascinator for £3 and a vintage beaded evening bag for £3 (which you could totally rewear – how fab!) This brings the overall total to £26.01.
With the costume sorted, it’s time to think about hair and makeup. This is where the costume really comes together. Opt for a smokey eye, a dark red lip and wavy hair with a side parting. Easy! Now you have the perfect flapper girl costume that looks great for under £30.
Halloween is the perfect time to experiment with your style, so why not try making your costume a little more sustainable this year? Whether you’re keeping it simple or going all out, all it takes is a little creativity and imagination to create a look that’s unique but won’t break the bank. After all, your costume doesn’t have to be brand new to make a statement.
