Make your office Halloween costume a team effort

Staff dress-up days (like Hawaiian shirt day) allow for even more fun and self-expression on casual Fridays, but the most exciting such day at the Health District is certainly Halloween. Many departments put a team effort into their costumes, transforming into such characters as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or the inmates from Orange is the New Black. With Halloween just around the corner, let us suggest a few ideas for this year’s group costumes:

Clue

This popular board game’s box cover and playing cards have been redesigned countless times throughout its 67-year history and offer tons of inspiration for vintage-look costume designs. Your group should certainly feature the original six suspects: Miss Scarlett, Mrs. Peacock, Mrs. White, Colonel Mustard, Professor Plum, and Mr. Green. But don’t stop there. Feel free to add the butler Wadsworth, maid Yvette, victim Mr. Boddy, and Singing Telegram Girl from the cult classic 1985 film. Later versions of the game added Miss Peach, Monsieur Brunette, Madame Rose, Sergeant Gray, and at least a dozen more, so keep it going and get the whole department involved.

Famous Robots from Pop Culture

While the most obvious characters for this idea would be R2-D2 and C-3PO, get creative and consider some of the following: Maschinenmensch from Metropolis, Rosie from The Jetsons, Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet, B-9 from Lost in Space, or Bender from Futurama. Use a bunch of cardboard, plastic, silver paint (or aluminum foil), and perhaps some battery-operated LED lights to bring these characters to life. Bonus points for pulling off a robot like Johnny Five from Short Circuit!

The Barden Bellas

The ladies from Pitch Perfect had a few matching looks throughout the first two films and the upcoming sequel — in theaters Dec. 22 — so take your pick. Just be prepared to sing on command, without accompaniment, whenever asked. It’ll be aca-awesome!

Ty Beanie Babies

This one’s super-simple. Just dress as ANY animal — seriously, they made one of every conceivable creature — and hang a large red heart with yellow star and white “Ty” from your body; bonus points for hanging a white logo tag from your back. The bears were always the coolest, though, and give you the opportunity to add an extra embellishment (like a heart, peace sign, or other symbol) to your upper left chest.

Brunch

Have fun with this one, with each person as a different food item. Pick up some colored fabric and transform yourself into eggs, bacon, bagel, lox, pancakes, French toast, Eggs Benedict, or Oysters Rockefeller.

Other ideas

  • Starbucks drinks (countless combinations)
  • The Golden Girls (only four needed)
  • Fruit (so many to choose from)
  • Crayons (so colorful!)
  • Emojis (gotta have a poop one!)
  • Spice Girls (Cinnamon Spice, Rosemary Leaves Spice)
  • Deck of cards (52 possibilities, plus two Jokers)
  • Share a Coke (each one personalized with your name)