There are two types of people in this world:
- People who keep a Halloween Pinterest board with the 28394083290 perfect costume components that they’ve been carefully crafting for months, based on an extensive iPhone note titled “Halloween Ideas” that they update year-round whenever inspiration strikes.
- People who wait until the day of Halloween to start rifling through their closet and for the random things they can throw together into a last-minute costume.
Knowing fully well that I am the former and most everyone else is the latter, I’ve decided to help you all out with some topical, (relatively) easy to put together ideas for this year’s costumes. Here are 10 last-minute costumes to wear this Halloween:
1
LaTina Fey
In September, Tina Fey was a guest on Billy Eichner’s Billy on the Street, and got to play our new favorite game, LaTina Fey!. The task: name 20 Latino entertainers in a minute. You can watch the video here (spoiler alert: she failed big time). But this Halloween, you can turn help Fey a little by turning her into a Latina entertainer herself.
What you need: Step 1: be Latina. If you’re not, you’re disqualified from this costume, sry. Other items needed include dark rim glasses, a collared button-down shirt, a navy v-neck sweater, and a bag of “Sabor de Soledad.”
2
Donald Trump Piñata
At this point, it’s a well-worn cliché that all you have to do is throw the word “Sexy” in front of any person/place/thing, and people will accept it as a Halloween costume. So as soon as this Trump mess started flaring up in the news, we knew it was only a matter of time until someone made a “Sexy Donald Trump” costume ?.
Our suggestion? If you’re going to dress up as Trump, you might as well embrace the fact that everyone is going to want to take a swing at you with a bat. Piñata Trump > Sexy Trump.
What you need: A Donald Trump piñata. Carefully cut off the head, put it atop your own, y voila.
3
Celia Cruz
With the recent release of Telemundo’s much-anticipated Celia Cruz novela, now is a good time to bring back some of la reina’s over the top lewks.
What you need: A colorful wig, an abundance of sequins and/or feathers. If you don’t already have these sitting around in your closet, reevaluate your life choices. Also needed: teeth blackout paint (for creating gap between two front teeth).
Bonus points if you can keep it all orange, because it’s pumpkin spice season betches.
4
Dominican Drake
I suspect Drake deliberately released the “Hotline Bling” video weeks before Halloween knowing full well that everyone was going to throw on a turtleneck and some Timbs and call it a Drake costume. Which is obviously what you should do, because Cozyboy life is the best life.
To really take this costume to Dominican Drake zone, you’ve got to throw in a Dominican flag, a bottle of Brugal, and a few “Hotline Bling”-inspired bachata moves.
What you need: Sweatpants, timbs, gray turtleneck, Dominican flag, all of the moves.
5
Red Dress Lady Emoji
We got some exciting new emojis this month, but let’s be real, nobody’s trying to dress up like that Taco Bell-looking taco emoji. Which leaves us with Red Dress lady. Theoretically, this woman is a flamenco dancer, others call her the “salsa” emoji. Either way, she is the emoji you use when you know the dance floor is flames because we don’t have the perreo emoji yet.
What you need: Red dress, red shoes, two arms. This one is pretty easy to pull off.
6
El Chapo
This was the year everyone – gringos especially – obsessed over Latin American drug kingpins (again). Between El Chapo’s escape from a high-security prison in Mexico to Netflix’s rollout of Narcos, it seemed like Escobar and Guzmán were all anyone talked about. Both will be popular costumes this year, because bros will be bros. Considering this store is already selling a creepy ass Chapo latex mask, this one is an easy last-minute choice.
What you need: $20 (to purchase mask), a shovel.
7
Flaritza from OITNB
OITNB’s Flaca and Maritza characters are our favorite fictional BFFs. If you’re a twosome, this is an easy one to put together into a couple costume.
What you need: long sleeve gray shirt, khaki scrubs. Tear-drop eyeliner (for Flaca). Bonus accessory: a slice of pizza.
8
Pitbull
Pitbull has been everywhere this year, and once you’ve made an Empire cameo, you’re officially part of the zeitgeist. No matter what stage he appears on, the human air-horn unrelenting factory of dance club superhits brings his Miami yachtwear look with him – a range of pastels that manages to turn every event he attends into the Easter Parade. You too can bring Easter to late October with a Pitbull costume.
What you need: bald head, aviators, white pants and loafers, aversion to socks of any kind.
9
Bianca Jagger
It turns out my favorite nightlife rumor about seventies style icon Bianca Jagger – that she rode into Studio54 on a white horse – is not true. Jagger set the record straight this year explaining that she got on the horse after she was already inside the club (because that’s clearly way more casual…). Regardless, that horse should be a prominent part of your costume.
What you need: An all-white pants suit (again, if this is not already in your closet fix your life). This white toy horse on a stick.
10
Willie Colón and Hector Lavoe
Salsa’s OGs Willie Colón and Hector Lavoe were known for their album covers, in which they frequently appeared posted up in luxury cars, sporting suave as hell gangster-inspired looks. Channel los duros on Halloween and recreate one of their iconic looks.
What you need: A felt hat, leather gloves, a double breasted coat. Trombone optional.