Still need to find a costume idea for Halloween? Make sure you avoid these five perilous choices.
"Sexy" Children's Character
There are two major groups that like to dress up for Halloween -- children, and then young adults that want to use the holiday as an excuse to be wild and "sexy." Don't mix the two by selecting a "sexy" version of Big Bird or some other easily identifiable children's character -- it just looks like you're a creeper. Besides, if you're an adult, doesn't your inner child feel icky when grinding on a "sexy" Elmo costume on the dance floor? That idea is brought to you by the letters E and W -- as in, Eeeeeeewwww.
Tanning Mom
Remember the "tanning mom" that was accused of putting her daughter in a tanning booth? Her skin was the color of burnt logs and her "I don't care about skin cancer" attitude left skin care advocates fuming. Though she's likely to be a popular pick (since the costume isn't so hard to pull off), we have a bad feeling some folks are going to go too dark and basically create a costume centered around unintentional black face.
A Meme
Y U NO UNDERSTAND MI COSTUMEZ? Because it's an inside joke. Even if you think heading out as a giant inside joke will amuse your small group of friends, it's more likely to be one of those things you have to explain all night. Once or twice, that's normal for "out there" costumes, but telling the history of Overly Attached Girlfriend to a dude dressed up like Batman is going to be awkward.
Anything Political
Halloween is only a week before the election (six days, actually), so political tensions will be high, pundits will be shouting from the rooftops (Twitter and cable news, actually), and SNL will be filled with memorable skits about how the most recent gaffes (Romney gets mustard on his shirt?!? Obama drinks a Slurpee?!? Hilarious, biting satire!) have changed the race. No matter what, though, avoid a political statement with your costume. Zombie Romney or Irish O'bama might be a silly way to reference the candidates, but it's also likely to bring up one of the taboo conversation topics -- how to balance the Federal Budget. *Shudder*
A Terrible Pun
Look, we know terrible puns, (Your friendly editor files those each #SundayPunday) and even though your glorious duo idea of dressing up as Kenan Thompson and a bag of Doritos -- "All That and a Bag of Chips," natch -- might bring a huge belly laugh when first revealed, it'll go awry somewhere. We punderstand that punny costumes take more thought and effort -- you can't just go buy a red, blue, yellow, and green Simon and orange Garfield costume -- but at the end of the night, when you're sitting alone as Ted Turner while your buddy -- who's dressed up as a bottle of hooch -- is hitting on the chick in the egg costume -- who's a buddy of the dude in a chicken suit -- is going to get really really complicated to explain to sexy Spongebob Squarepants.
Have your own terrible costume ideas? Share them in the comments below.
