Maybe in a haze of midterms (or alcohol), you forgot Halloween was today. Never fret, ladies — these simple costume ideas (with a kick-ass lady twist) will be the hit of any Halloween party. After all, there’s more to life than skimpy vegetable costumes.
1. Rosie the Riveter
For this look, all you need is a blue shirt with rolled-up sleeves, a red polka-dot bandana and a can-do attitude. Don’t forget your best “down-with-the-patriarchy” scowl.
2. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Long before sparkly vamps and tired love stories, this sassy blonde assassin kept the town of Sunnydale safe from bloodsucking hellions. All you need for this outfit is a wooden stake, a blowout, a leather mini skirt (optional) and a night’s worth of sharp one-liners. I hear ‘90s nostalgia is all the rage with the kids these days.
3. Hillary Clinton
Command the room in a pantsuit, a Scrunchie and sensible shoes. This purveyor of hilarious text messages is an icon, so throw your shoulders back and dazzle the room with a smile that says, “Bill who?”
4. A goddess
If I’ve learned anything from “Animal House,” it’s how to rock a toga. Simply remove the top sheet from your bed and take a look at my favorite YouTube toga how-to video. Prepare yourself for a night of “Your-costume-is-out-of-this-world” jokes.
5. Frida Kahlo
Use black eyeliner to pencil on an authentic-looking unibrow and mustache, pile on some chunky jewelry and perfect a world-weary, “my-husband-is-a-fat-alcoholic-cheater” scowl.
6. Katniss Everdeen
For a more topical costume, weave your hair into a side braid, dress in black from head to toe and, if you feel like committing, carry a loaf of burnt bread. May the odds be ever in your favor!
7. Your favorite “Mad Men” character
Oh, “Mad Men.” The vintage clothing! The day drinking! The casual workplace sexual harassment! The obvious misogyny! Let’s be real: Joan, Peggy and Betty run that series. Bust out your favorite skin-tight dress (and a torpedo bra, if you want to be really authentic), tease your hair into a beehive and apply red lipstick and winged eyeliner. For the full combo, affect Joan’s hip-swaying strut.
Don’t get me wrong: Just because a costume celebrates women doesn’t mean it can’t be sexy or skimpy. The whole point of feminism is you can do and say and wear what you want. If you want to be a skimpy fruit, be a skimpy fruit. If you want to wear nothing but a plastic trash bag a la Ke$ha, go for it. Wear body paint! I really don’t care either way, because after all, that’s what feminism is: not giving a shit about what anyone else thinks.
