Halloween Costumes for Women Who Don't Want to be Naked? Updated for 2014

Halloween Costumes for Women Who Don't Want to be Naked

I've gotten a lot of traffic to this post from last year, and I thought I'd update it with some new ideas toward the bottom for those of you who are already thinking about Halloween costumes. When I was a kid, if school started and I didn't know what my costume was going to be, I would be very, very upset!
 
Today's post is a bit different than the usual. We're talking about a very specific type of clothing to put on our bodies today: costumes! I find what to wear for Halloween to be increasingly complicated: I'm past the point of "going out" like I once did to a club or dancing, but I still want a fun costume. Our neighbors throw the best Halloween party (they start decorating their home over Labor Day weekend), and, oh yeah, it's my birthday!

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But what to wear? Here are some of the criteria my good friend and I identified for female costumes at our current age.

1. Minimal effort. We defined this by not taking too long to make or too expensive. 
2. Something you get right away. Nothing that requires a lengthy explanation but is witty on its own.
3. Warmth. A costume should be warm enough that you won't freeze out on your porch handing out candy, walking the kids around the neighborhood, or hopping from one party to another.
1. Not slutty. Some of us (ahem, I recall making a costume with my best friend out of a single pillowcase...) fell victim to the slutty costume phase. I'm not sure if you all feel this way, but I cringe now when I see the Slutty _____ costumes (e.g., slutty cat, slutty wizard, etc). 
4. Durable. At this age, it seems that people have parties at random times within the month of October so you want a costume that either transitions into a different costumes or is durable enough for multiple parties. 
5. Makes a statement. Since we're past the slutty stage, we tend to want to make a different kind of statement: really scary, witty, or just beautiful.

Wow! Look at that list! No wonder it's so hard sometimes to figure it out.

I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments, even if they don't meet all of our silly requirements. 

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Here are some other fun DIY ideas. I love the artwork ideas! And there's THIS!

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Last year, I went to our neighbors' party as the Evil Queen with my husband as the Mad Hatter (we had been watching a lot of Once Upon a Time) and then as the Ringleader to my own carnival-themed party. My dear friend Andy joined me as the town Sheriff.

Updated for Halloween 2014:

This is so beautiful and has me thinking about other animals I could be.

I love these two couples ideas: DIY comic book makeup costumes and the Big Bang via this great list of last minute costumes. This has some great ones, too.

And be sure to step up your costume hair game with ideas from this Buzzfeed list, including a great idea for Medusa! It would be fun to use glow in the dark snakes for trick-or-treating!

I can't find the original source, but this is pretty awesome.

Looking for parent-baby combo costumes? This list has some great ideas! I love that bee and honeycomb! Got two babies? There's nothing cuter than Where the Wild Things Are.

Other ideas: characters from the Grand Budapest Hotel because they were all hysterical; I know there are going to be some amazing Maleficent costumes this year-will yours be one of them?