Decorated white hats, detailed red corsets, and intricate costume pieces stood out in the hallways as students’ Halloween costumes had their long-awaited debut on Friday, Oct. 31, in celebration of the spooky season.
Many students went above and beyond in their costumes, highlighting their creativity and Halloween spirit. Sailing the seven seas, Mahi Singh ‘28 put a unique cultural twist on the classic pirate costume. She went the extra mile with Indian jewelry and borrowed costume pieces.
“I just made a list [of pieces] at the beginning of the week,” Singh said. “I looked on Pinterest and then decided to do it. I stole this from my cousin’s house. I had an okay pirate vibe, and then last night I had the impulse for makeup. My mom pulled out some Indian jewelry, and I have my jar of dirt.”
Sharing a love for all things Halloween, seniors Autumn Jacobs and Loic Pehrson dressed up as Curious George and The Man in the Yellow Hat from the popular children’s book series and TV show Curious George. They made heads turn in the hallways with striking accessories such as a lifelike kite inspired by the book and TV show episode “George Flies a Kite”.
“We put paint puffs on the tie and I made the kite from scratch,” Jacobs said. “I’m big in musical theatre and we had to dress up, so we decided to go for it. We went shopping for Loic, and I already had the brown skirt.”
Drawing inspiration from the Chinese novel Heaven’s Official Blessing, Vivian Young ‘28 created a costume of Xie Lian, one of her favorite characters. Finding sudden inspiration the night before Halloween, she crafted her signature hat from an old canopy, making use of common household items.
“I chose this costume because it’s a character from a book that I like a lot,” Young said. “It was sudden inspiration last night at 11 p.m. — three minutes of inspiration and three hours of work. [The character is] always seen with this hat, [so] I cut out triangles from cardboard, glued them together, made a hole for my bun, and attached the sheet from the outside.”
For these students, Halloween is about putting in creativity and effort to share their interests with each other. Every Halloween, students are filled with excitement, not just from their own costumes, but also from seeing other students don elaborate costumes. Costumes, unique or not, can demonstrate a person’s individuality, allowing others to learn about their fellow classmates and foster a sense of community.
“I like eating candy and going out to see other people’s costumes,” Young said. “It’s always very interesting. You learn a lot about people from what they choose to wear.”
