Be a Tourist, Elle Woods, or Lamontster for Halloween

Now that midterm season is almost over, you might need something to do before midterm season begins again in two weeks. The solution: Make this upcoming Halloween special by taking the time to create a Harvard-themed costume. Flyby came up with a few ideas to get you started.

Tourist
Option 1: Begin with regular clothing, then layer on a visor, sunglasses, and camera on a strap around your neck. Carry around the collection of plastic Coop bags you still have from freshman year when your mom bought you a Harvard sweatshirt. Speak all day in your favorite foreign accent, or just pretend to be a Canadian if you’re lazy.

Option 2: Dress up as a prospective applicant by donning a prep school uniform, asking overly-thoughtful questions, and scribbling notes furiously in preparation for the inevitable “Why Harvard?” question in your interview.

Option 3: Make it a group costume by coordinating with friends and assigning a tour guide with an umbrella, straw hat, or frilly dress with a hoop skirt (or all three at the same time).

Elle Woods
For those of you looking for a less, shall we say, substantive costume, this is a great option. Simply acquire a flaxen wig and don the Playboy Bunny outfit worn by fictitious Harvard Law School student Elle Woods in the 2001 hit “Legally Blonde.” Make it a duo costume by getting a girlfriend to dress as Elle’s rival Vivian Kensington in a chunky turtleneck, tweed skirt, and clogs.

Some inspiration: To quote Elle, “Oh, I like your outfit too [Vivian], except when I dress up as a frigid bitch, I try not to look so constipated.”

HUPD Officer
As kids, many of us thought it was cool to go trick-or-treating and in a black uniform with a badge and plastic water gun to help us catch bad guys. Now that we’re at Harvard, we know it’s even cooler to stop the tourists from infiltrating Annenberg, catch deviants pedaling their bicycles through the Yard, and save shivering freshmen who got locked out of their rooms in a bathrobe. Ask nicely to borrow a uniform and rep HUPD with pride.

Lamonster
In this costume, you can scare little children as the horrifying transformation of an innocent bookworm into a scaled, coffee-breathing, Lamont-dwelling beast.

First, prepare ahead of time by not showering for several days. Put on a base layer of a Harvard t-shirt and sweatpants, and keep it classy with some flip flops. Next, find a roommate (if he's not already repulsed by your odor) to help apply those neon-colored sticky page marker tabs all over your body—these are the scales acquired by hours of reading.

Color your face green with highlighters, and then make horns by repurposing Lamont Café cups. A simple tail can be made by hole-punching and stringing together whatever you find in the bottom of your backpack: a broken mini-stapler, old sushi containers, the first draft of your Expos paper, etc. Complete the look with reddened eyes and stubble, and you are ready to go out on the prowl.

Ghost of John Harvard
If all else fails, cut two holes in a bedsheet, spray paint one of your shoes gold, and you’re set.