Best Halloween costumes of 2011

Halloween is coming up, and, yes, it’s on a Monday, but promised parties the weekend before should allow just enough excitement for costume purchases and creations to sky rocket as usual. Costumes can soar to unimaginable prices and on a college-student budget you can either save up for a few months for the ultimate costume, or make something yourself.

The following costume ideas can either be purchased at said ridiculous prices or created for less. Leggings, sweaters and a mild amount of creativity can be thrown together to make almost any costume.

Here are the top costumes you’ll be seeing (or wearing) this weekend.

Celebrity costumes

Mass interest in karaoke and Rock Band, along with the amount of people looking for their big singing break on YouTube, suggests that a great deal of today’s population dream of being rockstars. Halloween can help you there. Imitate celebrities such as Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj, Ke$ha or the very recognizable band KISS for an easy costume creation or purchase.

To be any of those ladies, pop on a wig, coordinated with said popstar’s current look, glue some candy, stuffed animals or sharp objects onto a leotard and add some stripper heels and ripped stockings for the ultimate diva look.

KISS requires some simple black and white face paint, black leggings and long sleeve shirt with some silver fabric to cut into lightening bolts. Super glue the lightning bolts you’re so proud of onto the clothes you hopefully don’t care that much about, and done.

Charlie Sheen took over the tabloids (and the news stations) this year with his “winning” attitude. You, too, can pick up his drinking problem, just for the night, and easily look like the man who is making bank off of your imitation. Some knock off Ray Bans and a bowling shirt or a black shirt with “#winning” written on it, throw on a straw hat for good measure and your fellow parties will know your drinking abilities should not be challenged.

Humorous costumes

Because we are so influenced by pop culture and the music videos it produces, Bruno Mars has something to do with the popularity of the monkey mask that has been making its way around the Halloween stores as the party animal costume.

A significantly cheaper alternative is to just buy the mask and create the rest yourself. A trip to Old Navy for a cheap sweater to write “party animal” on will get the point across, without having to consume jugs of beer that the monkey totes around in the music video. Plaid shorts are optional and everyone has pants so this costume is a piece of cake.

Angry Birds, a cell phone epidemic you’d have to live under a rock to not hear about, is a Halloween craze for every age group. Purchasing one of these costumes can be on the pricier side, but access to black pants and a red shirt can help recreate this look for a more reasonable price. Get your most artistic friend to copy the angry bird face onto your shirt and then proudly fight off pigs for the rest of the night.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been around for ages and with recent news of plans for a new movie and series in 2012, this a perfect costume for Halloween. Be ahead of the curve this year by taking charge of your favorite character regardless of if you want to be dressed head to toe in a green suit or if you want to add some sex appeal into the mix.

To make the first costume, get the turtle mask, green tights and green shirt. To add a yellow stomach, tie fabric colors around the middle of the stomach and knees, and skip the shell for an easy costume.

If a sexy costume is what you’re after, my sewing skills are limited and the only tip I can offer is to suck it up and buy the costume.