By Giulia Gutzwiller, Newswire Intern 

Whether you’re dressing up as something spooky, funny or sultry for Halloween this year, the least you can do is have some fun with it. Boring and lazy Halloween costumes defeat the purpose of the marvelous holiday. 

If you scroll through TikTok as much as I do, you’ve probably stumbled upon Halloween costume inspiration videos. While some of the examples shown in these videos are creative and unique, many are lackluster and require absolutely no effort. 

For instance, you could wear a red shirt and slap a printed paper with the Heinz logo on it, and you’ve transformed yourself into a ketchup bottle. You could also wear an all-black outfit, draw a dot on your nose and some whiskers on your cheeks, and you’ve got yourself a black cat costume. 

While these options are easy to execute and helpful for those who waited until the last minute to plan their costumes, they’re not interesting to look at. Halloween is by far one of the most extravagant holidays of the year, and people’s costumes should reflect that. This special occasion only comes around once a year, so why not embrace the opportunity to go above and beyond? 

Additionally, far too many overused costumes continue to plague Spirit Halloween stores year after year. It’s inevitable to encounter people dressed as angels and devils, Harley Quinns and Jokers, witches, sexy nurses and police officers every Halloween. Cliché costumes are too predictable, and it’s way more fun to come up with an original idea. 

The only thing more terrifying than lazy or cliché costumes is lazy AND cliché costumes. I’ll let out a blood-curdling scream if I see any friend groups dressed as M&M’s this year. Let’s leave that costume idea in 2012. 

Someone who really knows how to go all out for Halloween is Heidi Klum, who hosts fellow celebrities at her annual Halloween party and never fails to come up with remarkable costume ideas. 

In 2022, she strutted the party’s red carpet as a huge, disgusting and incredibly realistic worm. This iconic costume astonished audiences as it was completely unexpected for the well-known supermodel. According to Vogue, it took two years to craft this one-of-a-kind costume. We should all take a page out of her book. 

It’s understandable why some people don’t put a lot of effort into their costumes. Maybe they don’t want to spend money on a costume they’ll only wear once. Maybe they don’t have the time to plan a costume. Maybe they just don’t like celebrating Halloween. 

Whatever the case may be, it’s still possible to have a last-minute, well-thought-out costume from items already in your closet. For example, I’m dressing up as Olivia Rodrigo this year, and I didn’t spend a lot of money on my costume. I’m simply reusing the cropped tee, sparkly skirt, black stockings and black Dr. Martens boots I wore to replicate one of her looks at her concert last summer. 

When planning out your future Halloween costumes, don’t forget to ask yourself: what would Heidi Klum do?