How to Win at Halloween in the Workplace

Full disclaimer: I am a Halloween person. My birthday falls near it and I grew up with Halloween themed birthday parties every year. This post is for those Halloween Humbugs who glumly watch the festivities from the sidelines in the confines of their safe civilian clothes. Working at a creative agency pretty much mandates Halloween should be acknowledged and celebrated with gusto. Regardless of your company’s focus, Halloween is a time to celebrate the dead and undead alike, so show your soul is still alive and dress up. A little bit goes a long way, but infinite possibilities can be intimidating, so here‘s a list of costume categories to narrow your focus.

Meme: Prove your pop culture savvy by dressing as a popular internet meme. This article about the prevalence in stock photography of ‘women laughing alone with salad’ inspired a group of ladies to create a Best In Show group costume. If you’re a woman, and you have the ability to make or buy a salad, you’vejust made a costume.

Pet: For those who personally dislike dressing up but like the craftinvolved in creating a costume, channeling that energy into a costume for your pet is a great option. These Portland-based Laika employees took this concept to the extreme by dressing their Italian Greyhound, Bones, as an Imperial Walker from The Empire Strikes Back.

Famous Person/Character: Dressing as a well known figure can be as easy as throwing on a pair of glasses, or a mock black turtle neck. Or you can commit fully to a costume that is going to have the UPS guy/gal popping in the office raising eyebrows unibrows.

Inanimate Object: Not just great for babies, dressing as inanimate objects is a perfect way to honor one of your favorite things. Bonus points if one of your favorite things is a nostalgic toy from the 1980s, printed ephemera or anything involving coffee.

“Halloween Doodle,” used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license.