Cheap & Easy Men's Halloween Costumes

By brwood (view all posts by brwood)
at 9:53AM Tuesday October 11, 2011
under Shop Smarter

There is one cheap and easy secret for men when it comes to Halloween costumes on a budget: Forget about your vanity. Over the years I have gotten tons of play out of a pair of clippers and a razor.

If you are willing to shave your head bald, or give yourself a Mohawk or a Friar Tuck, you are more than halfway to many good costumes. If you plan ahead and grow out a beard or a full bushy mustache or a big set of mutton chop sideburns, it opens a bunch of other options. Combine the two and you could come up with dozens of costume ideas.

Rollie Fingers - The hard part is growing that perfect handlebar mustache. The easy part is getting an Oakland A's hat.

Magnum PI - Thick mustache, aviator glasses, shorts, Hawaiian shirt, and maybe a Detroit Tigers hat. But he also wore tank tops, and jeans, and a Navy ball cap that said "Da Nang" on it.

Circus Strong Man - Shaved head, handlebar mustache, tank top and fake dumbbell...if you have the build for it a unitard.

The Monk - Brown bathrobe, piece of rope for belt and a donut of hair left on your head and you're there. This costume goes great with drinking out of a stein all night too, and hides the extra pounds.

Jedi - Forget the hair cut, grow a beard and add a light saber and you can be a Jedi--maybe not one of the main ones, but just generic Jedi Knight. Call yourself something like Calgon Softener.

Civil War General - Blue or gray blazer and pants, matching hat and big bushy sideburns that lead into a mustache and you can be in the Union Army or the Confederacy. Plenty of old suits at your local Goodwill in blue and gray.

Kojak - Lollipop, some 70s vintage clothes and a full shaved head and you're Kojak. If you can find a cool hat go with it. "Who loves ya, baby?"

Dr. Evil - If you've got a Nehru collar jacket and a shaved head you're Dr. Evil. Or dig a little deeper and you can be Hans Blofeld, which is who Dr. Evil is supposed to look like.

Taxi Driver - Army Jacket and Mohawk and you're Travis Bickle from "Taxi Driver." The taxi driver, not just a taxi driver.

Gandhi - Wrap a sheet around yourself, with a mustache, wire rim glasses, and a shaved head. This could be seen as a little racist, but then Ben Kingsley is only half Indian and he won an Oscar for this costume.

Do not, however, try to pull off Mr. T as a white man in blackface--which will get you beat up or maybe killed depending on if you leave the house or not.

Frenchman, Beatnik, Artist - A soul patch, thin mustache and a black turtle neck or a striped shirt and a beret and you can be a Frenchman, a Beatnik or an artist depending on what you hold in your hand (loaf of French bread, small book of original poetry, pallet and brush). The nice thing is, you can tell people you are different things all night.

Abraham Lincoln - If you've got a black suit, and the right build, you are just a mustache-less beard and top hat away from Honest Abe. Again, go to the Salvation Army and pick up a black suit for a few bucks.

Now that I've gotten you started I'm sure you can think of more. Spend $20 on a set of hair clippers at your local drug store and you can use them every year for Halloween--as well as from time to time to give yourself a trim.