This article is featured in the 2024 Homecoming Special Issue.
While the night of All Hallow’s Eve is now behind us, Dartmouth students await the festivities of “Halloweekend” — this year, the Friday and Saturday following Oct. 31. With a plethora of parties and events, Halloweekend 2024, which coincides with this year’s Homecoming bonfire and football game against Harvard University, is sure to have tons of fun — or scares — in store.
Parties and debauchery aside, an important part of any Halloween celebration is the costumes. As students scrolled through Amazon, Party City, Fashion Nova and countless other sites during their class lectures, one question remained front of mind: ‘What should I be?’
This season’s trends call for abundant leopard and cheetah print, classic angel and devil duo costumes, Disney Princesses, sharks, Elphaba and Glinda, lots of Beetlejuice and niche TikTok references. Whether your costume is funny, scary or quirky, the key this Halloweekend is having fun and letting your creativity shine.
Taking a Trip Down Disney Lane
Some of the best Halloween costumes aren’t torn from the pages of recent fashion magazines, based on trending memes or ripped from the closets of the hottest new influencers — but instead come from childhood classics such as nostalgic Disney movies.
Sophomores Ashton Bange ’27 and Raeli Smith ’27 plan to dress as Winnie The Pooh and Alice from “Alice in Wonderland,” respectively.
On a recent trip to Walt Disney World, Bange decided to purchase a “Winnie the Pooh full-body suit jacket” from the amusement park. Bange explained that he enjoys the energy that Winnie the Pooh brings to the table and hopes to radiate the same aura this weekend.
“Growing up, I always watch[ed] ‘Winnie the Pooh,’ and he just brings good vibes,” Bange said. “I feel like, if you’re showing up to a function, you want to bring good vibes. So if I’m Winnie the Pooh, obviously I would bring good vibes.”
Smith chose to be Alice because she already has long blonde hair, so the transformation would require minimal effort.
“[I] tried to figure out what my friends had that I could borrow and what we could all do as a group costume,” Smith said.
Two of Smith’s friends also plan to take a trip to Wonderland — they are accompanying her as the Mad Hatter and the White Rabbit.
Movies Come to Life
Beyond the wonderful world of Disney lie many other sources of Halloween costume inspiration. Many teenagers and young adults flock to movies, thrifting and even the occasional BuzzFeed quiz to find their next costume.
César Hernandez ’27 is no stranger to going all out when it comes to a good costume. Last year, Hernandez dressed as Ken from the Barbie movie. This Halloween, he intends to transform into a Christmas classic.
“I want to be one of the people on the train from ‘Polar Express,’” Hernandez said. “The reason I chose it [is] just because I think it’d be funny, and it’s a good movie. It was a childhood movie for me. People always talk about how [the characters] are uncanny, so I think that’d be kind of ironic or funny.”
However, the “Polar Express” character isn’t the only costume Hernandez has for the weekend. Acquiring an extensive collection of costumes through thrifting, Hernandez plans on wearing around three to four costumes over several days, with a bumblebee and DC’s Supergirl in this year’s rotation.
“Especially after Halloween season, a lot of people donate their costumes, and then I’ll just be able to buy in bulk,” Hernandez said.
Kate Clark ’25 also plans on becoming a character from a cult classic children’s movie — though she arrived at the costume idea with some online help.
“So far, my theoretical Halloween costume is dressing up as [an] Alvin and the Chipmunks [character], based off of a survey that you can take on Buzzfeed,” Clark said. “No matter what I did, I kept getting Brittany. I said I was gonna dress up as Brittany [last year], and it never happened. I think this year is the year.”
Halloween Plans
In addition to donning their costumes, students are gearing up for various Halloweekend celebrations. Clark, who does not personally identify as someone who goes “over the top” with Halloween, plans on helping out with a haunted house event at Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority, where she is a member.
“On the actual night of Halloween, I might just dress up in dark clothing, hide in a corner and yell at people … but that is very low stakes and kind of fun and silly for me,” Clark said.
Hernandez, meanwhile, plans to hang out at Bones Gate fraternity and embrace the spirit of Halloween.
“Don’t take yourself too seriously,” Hernandez said. “Just dress in something funny …It’s not the time to … try to impress. I think it’s the time to just not take yourself too seriously.”
While Hernandez and Clark plan to celebrate the holiday among their respective Greek houses, the Halloween scene looks quite different for Arden Rogers ’28, whose friend group plans to dress up in matching sailor costumes.
The First-Year Harm Reduction Policy, or “frat-ban” — a time in which freshmen are not allowed in Greek spaces — does not end for first-years until after Halloweekend. That means Halloween social scenes for members of the Class of 2028 look to be an assortment of dorm parties, bonfire celebrations and the classic lacrosse and baseball house functions, according to Rogers.
Ultimately, Clark said the best part about Halloween is that people get involved with the celebrations and express themselves creatively.
“I think [Halloween] is a holiday that is very easy to buy into,” Clark said. “And [Halloween is] very Dartmouth in that you get to go over the top with a costume or a concept.”
In addition to student-led events, the College is also hosting Halloween festivities such as the Film Halloween Party at the Hopkins Center for the Arts and the Night of the Black Cat at the Class of 1953 Commons.
