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A neon pink mini dress. A butterfly bralette. An orange morphsuit. A fur coat. A giant pair of cow-print overalls. These items may sound like they belong only as part of Halloween ensembles, but with a little creativity, love for the environment and out-of-the-box thinking, they can be transformed into everyday staples.

Students are known to wear many Halloween costumes every year, one for each of the many nights that make up the so-called “Halloweekend.” The clothes pile up, and after the festivities end, many of these clothes end up thrown in the back of the closet — or worse, the bin.

Repurposing Halloween costumes is something everyone should attempt because clothing waste is a huge problem. In the U.S. alone, about 85% of all textiles thrown away every year end up either in the landfill or burned.

Many students order pieces for Halloween off of Amazon, where they are cheap to buy and cheaply made, made only to last a night. The labor-intensive and time-consuming process of recycling old clothes rarely yields new clothes, as only 1% of recycled textiles actually get repurposed this way.

In theory, recycling clothes is a good idea, the more sustainable alternative is to actually reuse your clothes.

Fashion design professor Charquetta “ChaCha” N. Hudson said she encourages anyone to upcycle clothing for friends or as gifts. Hudson listed multiple ways to upcycle costumes, including turning denim jeans into handbags, shirts into masks and extra fabric into bell-bottoms jeans.

“There are endless possibilities for creating new and fabulous pieces for yourself and your family,” Hudson said.

If you dressed up as a movie character, it’s likely that these costume pieces can be separated from their iconic ensemble and reworn. To transform an item that you associate with a character, I recommend layering it with other cohesive clothing already in your closet. If you dressed up as Velma from Scooby-Doo or Mia Wallace from Pulp Fiction, chances are you really like the characters. Why not keep the nod to them in your everyday wardrobe?

But say you dressed for Halloween as a bright and bold space cowperson, and you aren’t into wearing this look to class. One way to transform the wild color palette into something more tame is natural fabric dye. You can find this easily online or at craft stores, even at Target. Some black or darkly colored dye will work its magic and make that neon bodysuit match your fall palette.

Ava Lahijani, an SU sophomore and fashion design major, said she believes in having a personalized wardrobe, and she takes this attitude into her pre- and post-Halloween fashion plans.

The sophomore reworks Halloween costume pieces into her day-to-day outfits, reimagining them as “one of a kind” accessories, she said.

“It’s really helpful to use bits and pieces from your costumes and incorporate them into small aspects of your outfits that you make every day to amp it up and to reuse those pieces,” Lahijani said.

She also suggested thinking about waste when planning for Halloween: Avoid buying something you will only wear for “Halloweekend,” and buy unique clothing pieces that would spruce up not only your current wardrobe but also your costumes for the many Halloweens to come.

If your costumes are just too wild, Hudson still has a solution: a costume exchange.

“That is an excellent way to reduce waste but also make a social event of it,” Hudson said. “Use Google or Pinterest to come up with ideas. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. Draw inspiration from what others are doing to minimize waste, upcycle and repurpose.”

Lahijani said she encourages all clothing wearers to prioritize sustainability and individuality. When you wear a piece that was once a Halloween costume, you stand out more.

“You won’t be like every other person walking on the street,” Lahijani said.

Published on November 4, 2021 at 12:17 am