GRACE AIGNER: Hi everyone! I’m Grace Aigner from the Minnesota Daily. Welcome back to another episode of In The Know, a podcast dedicated to the University of Minnesota.
It’s official. October is finally here and we are staring down the barrel toward Halloween—the one holiday of the year when it’s okay to go out in public looking like your favorite cartoon character, a mythical monster or the sexiest version of your comfort movie’s leading lady.
But putting together Halloween costumes in college can feel like an Olympic sport. I start thinking about my costumes for next year on Halloween night and add ideas to a list in my phone all year. Whether you’re thrifting, making or purchasing your costume, I’m willing to bet you’re looking forward to when you can show off your costume to the world, or whoever’s at your friend’s Halloween party.
This episode, we’re talking to students about what they’re being for Halloween. They’ll share how they’re crafting their costume and why the time and money to put it together is still worth it—even as college students with scarce free time and minimal disposable income.
Nikki Rempel, a third-year history student at the University of Minnesota, started crocheting her knock-off Labubu keychain costume weeks ago.
NIKKI REMPEL: So, for Halloween, I’m dressing up as a Labubu. Not the most original idea, I’m aware, but I did not get it from a TikTok or anything in particular. I really just got kind of obsessed with Lafufus specifically over the summer. So like fake Labubus that look really ridiculous.
And I was at the State Fair and they were selling a bunch of Lafufus and they were too expensive for me to buy one, which was a little sad. But I didn’t know what to dress up as for Halloween, but I knew I was probably going to make a costume and I realized that I could become a Lafufu for Halloween.
And I love to crochet, especially during classes. So I decided that I was going to be a Lafufu and I would make the costume during my lectures as something to do.
AIGNER: Americans are expected to spend $13.1 billion shopping for Halloween costumes, candy and decorations this year, according to research by the National Retail Federation. In 2024 they spent about $3.8 billion on Halloween costumes alone.
Money is not much of a concern when it comes to Halloween costumes, said Charley Rathgeber, a third-year student majoring in political science.
RATHGEBER: If I am doing a new costume, which I’ll usually buy some things for every year, I’m not entirely worried about the money just because this is something that’s fun for me. So I’ll just try to find cheaper options, but if I need to splurge on something, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s a fun thing for me to do. I love to do it.”
AIGNER: Aleksa Atkinson, a third-year student studying strategic communications, said she typically thrifts her Halloween costumes to keep them low-budget, last year’s costume cost about $15. However this year, she spent about $40 on a costume from Spirit Halloween, the infamous Halloween store that pops up every fall.
ALEKSA ATKINSON: I am going to be a vampire. This is a little bit more basic than my costume the previous year, I was Anne Boleyn. In case you don’t know, second wife of Henry VIII, she got her head chopped off because she couldn’t sire a son. So some dark history there, but I just thought that was really fun.
That one was really highly coordinated. My mom and I went to Savers and we got fabric from pillows and curtains and a table runner, and we sewed it together. But this year I bought one corset from Spirit Halloween. Way too much money. It’s probably 40 bucks. That’s a little outside my comfort zone, but hey, it’s for Halloween.
AIGNER: Like Rempel and Atkinson, Rathgeber tries to keep the cost of her Halloween costumes low by thrifting and collecting costume pieces throughout the year. But she said she’s always willing to spend extra for the holiday.
RATHEGEBER: This year’s Halloween costumes, I am very excited about. I will be doing Castaway starring Tom Hanks and he has a volleyball named Wilson with him. So I will be doing that for one of my looks. It’s very caveman, grunge.
I’m also doing a group costume with some of my friends and we love pop culture, and Tricia Paytas had a new baby this year, so we will be doing the Aquaman, Malibu Barbie and Elvis costume mix. So I’m really excited for that.
I have a lot of extra clothes and costumes and wigs on hand and props, just because I’ve been dressing up over the years. So I like to mismatch and make costumes out of that. I think it’s fun to do. It’s fun to make them, for me it’s like a hobby.
AIGNER: Rathgeber said she starts planning her Halloween costumes a year ahead of time. She thrifts and shops for two costumes in advance and leaves one costume to make spontaneously during Halloween weekend.
For all three students, their love for Halloween each started during their childhoods. Rempel and Atkinson said they became fascinated with costumes while making elaborate, DIY outfits with their families.
REMPEL: My family did not have a ton of money when I was a kid, and so I kind of made the costume and we kind of thrifted it. I decided that I was gonna be this spooky bride thing, tough to do if you’re a 7-year-old, but my grandma, I think got from a garage sale, this very light pink dress that looked vaguely bridal.
And then we got one of these like devil horn headbands and hot glued an obscene amount of tulle to it. And half of the tulle was covered in spiders and half of it was covered in glitter, and it was so unbelievably heavy that it just kept falling off my head.
I just really enjoyed to dress up as a child. And I think a lot of kids like Halloween because you get a lot of candy. But really the big thing to me is that I just absolutely loved costumes.
AIGNER: Atkinson said dressing up for Halloween and making homemade costumes was something her family, especially her mom, took pride in since she was a little kid.
ATKINSON: One memory that just really sticks out for me, it was the first time we actually crafted something together versus her kind of crafting it for me. I did a steam punk costume, I think it was eighth grade or something.
And it’s in kind of that awkward stage where you kind of want to trick or treat because you still feel like a kid, but you’re also like, I’m about to be in high school and I’m too cool for school. So I think she was just so thrilled when I was like, “No mom, I still wanna dress up. Like this means so much to me.”
AIGNER: For Rathgeber, her love of dressing up started with her mom’s own costume collection, or as she called it, her “tickle trunk.”
RATHGEBER: My mom had a tickle trunk in my childhood. A tickle trunk is just a box that has a bunch of dress up clothes in it, but she liked to call it that for a fun name. So that’s kind of where it started.
For collecting pieces for my outfits, I’ve done a lot of thrifting. I love to thrift my clothes, so I will thrift suits, different boy’s clothes, like khaki shorts, t-shirts, things that I can use. I did She’s The Man one year, and she dressed up as her brother Sebastian in this movie. So I like thrifted everything for that, but now I just have this suit in my closet, so like I’ll just pull that out whenever I need it.
AIGNER: The three Halloween fans said they think their appreciation for Halloween extends broadly to University of Minnesota students. Atkinson said the holiday is a chance to embrace the fun of Halloween they remember from childhood.
ATKINSON: I think with us and with Gen Alpha, there was that pressure to grow up and maybe it made us move on too fast. So now we’re kind of seeing when we’re older, we’re like, “Wait, that actually could have been super fun if I just put my all into that.”
And I think it’s kind of revisiting that childlike whimsy, having fun, like life is so serious all the time, especially in college. I think we deserve a little, little break.
AIGNER: Rempel said taking that break and having fun in college often means doing something American society finds inappropriate, like drinking and going out. But Halloween, she said, allows college students to take a guilt-free break.
REMPEL: I think, broadly, college students are trying so hard to find things that are fun. People like frats, people like going to the bar. The kinds of things you think of when you think of college students doing something for fun, it is something that is vaguely illegal and that if it happened outside of a large college campus, people would probably be more concerned about.
And I think a lot of people want to be able to do something that’s fun. It’s a little different than usual and it’s extremely culturally acceptable to dress up and go crazy for Halloween because like the expectation is just that you will do it. And for a lot of people that maybe don’t party so much, it’s one of the, like one or two weekends a year that they will go out with all their friends. So it’s a real time of revelry for all the young people.
AIGNER: Halloween in college is a night of celebration, connection and creativity, Rathgeber said. The best part about Halloween is the costumes.
RATHGEBER: A main thing that makes people wanna dress up is just going out into these public spaces and other people seeing your costume and like being together with a bunch of different people that are in costumes, I think that that’s kind of what makes the night.
When you go to a party or you go to an event and you see people that are also dressed up, it’s fun to comment on their costumes, to talk to them, to make friends. To be like, “Oh, I should have done that.” So I feel like it’s just a good place for inspiration. Halloween’s a night for creative people.
AIGNER: College students know how to celebrate Halloween well. For many, it’s a time for creativity, excitement and relaxation that is well worth the few extra bucks spent on a costume or two–or three. So whether you’re making, thrifting or purchasing it, be proud of your look! I’m hoping someone tells you they wish they’d done your costume. That’s the best compliment you can get on Halloween.
That’s all I’ve got for you today folks! This episode was written by Grace Aigner and produced by Ceci Heinen. Thanks for listening and feel free to comment your costume plans at mndaily.com. If you have any questions, comments or concerns, don’t be afraid to send us an email at [email protected]. I’d love to hear from you.
My name is Grace Aigner, and I’ll talk to you next time on In The Know.
