How to DIY your own nostalgic pop culture costume when Halloween is just a week away

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Rebecca Peloquin

All Hallow’s Eve is just around the corner, so hopefully you have a Halloween costume planned and ready to go. However, if you’re still trying to figure it out and the thought of going to the costume shop gives you grade-A anxiety, we’re here to help.

If you want to focus more on your face instead of your outfit, you can throw on some spooky Halloween makeup. Wet n Wild has these cool Fantasy Makers kits, while NYX Cosmetics has a whole guide for creating DC Comics-inspired looks with its products.

But there’s another fairly quick and easy option for a creative Halloween costume, especially if you’d rather not do the whole scary thing. You can pay homage to one of your favorite ‘80s or ‘90s movies by dressing up like an iconic character. The best thing? Instead of spending money on an already-made Halloween costume, you can use things from your own closet, head to the craft shop for simple supplies, or tap your Amazon Prime account for pieces.

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Here at HelloGiggles, we’re big nostalgia heads, which is why we created three different looks inspired by our favorite movies: Purple Rain, The Craft, and Pretty Woman. Using just a few things we already had in our closet or bought online, we were able to channel Prince, Vivian Ward, and Nancy. And you can, too. So let’s get our DIY on, baby.

Prince in Purple Rain

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The look:

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First we found this Victorian ruffled shirt on Amazon ($11.99+), as well as this affordable purple blazer ($24.99), and thought adding a few silver studs ($5.69) would cement that stylish Prince sex appeal. You can apply the studs by hand with a plier, so just turn on Netflix and get to crafting. For a Prince beauty look, line your eyes with a black pencil eyeliner and draw a lil ‘stache, if you feel so inclined.

And now, the wig. Our advice is to hit two birds with one stone and find a wig made from real hair. That way you could style it more than once, which means you can essentially have two costumes (perfect for various Halloween parties or for next year’s costume). The wig we got from The Hair Shop originally had tight curls. After we were done cosplaying as The Purple One, we grabbed a flat iron and straightened it until it resembled Nancy’s hair, which you’ll see in the next look.

Nancy from The Craft

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The look:

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You’ve already got the wig, so next is, ahem, crafting Nancy’s witchy look. If you have a black lace dress hanging in your closet, you’re already halfway to being the leader of a teen witch coven. We already had this black lace dress from ModCloth ($99) and accessorized with a black spiked collar from Hot Topic ($10.50) and layered rosaries (like this $7.98 one from Amazon). Add fishnets or black tights, and boots. For Nancy’s goth makeup, you can use a dark red or black lipstick plus heavy eyeliner. Now you’re ready to call the four corners and invoke Manon.

Vivian Ward from Pretty Woman

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The look:

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There are a couple of different ways to replicate Vivian’s steez. There’s the outfit she wears when we get introduced to her in the movie, which consists of a cropped tank, mini skirt, thigh-high boots, and blonde bob wig (Emma Roberts channeled her aunt with this look during Halloween a few years ago). The other option is her glam red dress when Edward took her to the opera, which is the one we chose to recreate. First, find a long, red, off-the-shoulder dress. We found ours from Forever 21 for $48 (there’s another option here for the same price). Then, all you need is a red-haired wig, white satin opera gloves (Amazon, $7.99), and a red rhinestone necklace (Amazon, $9.99). Now you’re ready to step into the high heels of one Vivian Ward.

We hope these costumes inspired you to forgo the costume shop and DIY one yourself. Happy Halloween!

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