Halloween Party Outfits

One of the trickiest nights of the year to choose an outfit for is undoubtedly Halloween - as you'll want to look feminine, memorable and win the best costume competition!

Finding an outfit that's both elegant and sexy, whilst creating a character look, is difficult. Often it falls to looking too tarty, or too try-hard. This will totally depend on the type of party you're going to of course, and to what extremes people usually costume up to (look at photos from previous years if you can, to get an idea for what sort of effort you should be making).

How to Pick the Perfect Costume

Finding a costume that suits your personality is key - although Halloween is the one day of the year when you are able to choose an outfit like a completely different person and no-one will care. Make sure that you pick something you feel comfortable in, that you will be confident and sociable in, and have fun in too!

Original Halloween costume dress ideas are few and far between - most people opt for simple outfits that they can create from their own wardrobe. But, with a little help from secondhand, vintage or charity stores, you can create something a little more unique...

Here are a few ideas:

• Flowers and Seasons - theme your clothes by colour and texture to create the look of your favorite flower or season. For example, go as winter by wearing ice blue with snowflakes and glitter, decorate your face with glitter too!
• Years Gone By - represent your favorite era of history by picking out a character from that time period, and dressing up accordingly. Eg. Go as Mona Lisa or a Jane Austen heroine.
• Cowboys and Indians - these classic outfits never go out of style, get totally dressed up with all the guns, hats, tassels and bows and arrows that you need to really pull this look off.

Make Your Own Halloween Party Outfit

With the help of a pair of scissors and a few pins, you are able to cut and create things from old clothes you've got lying in the back of your closet. Punks, rockers, bikers, eighties or nineties should be really easy to replicate.

If you have a sewing machine, even better! You can probably whip up something that will look great for the evening party. Create a pretty Disney outfit - like Tinkerbell, or the Little Mermaid (sure, you can buy these, but it'll look so much better homemade).

Or choose a character from a film that everyone should recognise - like a Harry Potter character or someone in Lord of the Rings. If you can pick a character that has both book and film references, then it's more likely that people will understand your costume, and you'll end up meeting more people.

High Street Halloween Dresses

If you just want to look really beautiful, rather than be too 'costumed' pop down to your local high street stores and seek out the perfect flattering dress and go as your favorite celebrity on the red carpet. Make sure to really go for it with your hair and makeup to represent the movie star you've chosen. You might not win the Best Costume award, but you'll feel fabulous!