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7 easy Halloween costumes: Jurassic Park, Stranger Things, The Martian, and more

7 easy Halloween costumes: Jurassic Park, Stranger Things, The Martian, and more

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Tomorrow is Halloween, which means you still have a little bit of time to figure out a last-minute costume to properly celebrate.

You could sink lots of money and your remaining time into this endeavor. After all, costuming is a rich hobby, one that rewards dedication with incredible outfits. But, not all costumes need to be enormously complicated, time-consuming, or elaborate in order to simply look good.

Here are a few costumes that you can put together relatively easily for Halloween, or even your local comic book convention.

Ellen Ripley, Alien

Ripley is one of the most iconic characters from science fiction cinema, and her outfit from Alien is relatively simple: a green jumpsuit with the a couple patches and white sneakers. You probably won’t be able to get the patches for tomorrow, but for a Halloween party, printing copies on stiff paper, or creating an iron-on decal should do the trick.

A pair of Nostromo patches go on each shoulder, while the Weyland-Yutani Wing patch and brick patch go over the left breast pocket. If you want to be super-accurate, you can track down a G-4B Flight Suit, which is what the original costumer used for the film. If you want to go the extra mile, you can find a fan-casted kit that you can assemble yourself.

What you need: Nostromo patches, green jumpsuit, white undershirt, white sneakers. Bonus: flamethrower kit.

Worker, Jurassic Park

In the opening moments of Jurassic Park, we watch as a group of workers corral a dinosaur into a cage, only for everything go wrong. You too can be an expendable worker drone! The marquee feature on this costume is the bright orange helmet with a park logo on the front (there are a few variations on this logo — you’ll want the yellow-backed one). This is pretty easy to accomplish with a sticker and the right helmet.

The rest of the uniform is easy: a blue jumpsuit or military surplus shirt and pants with a Jurassic Park logo on one of the shoulders. If you want to get a bit more advanced, toss a tactical vest over the suit, and carry around a stuffed dinosaur toy.

What you need: Orange Hard Hat, Blue BDU shirt / pants, tactical boots, belt, Jurassic Park sticker (for the helmet), patch (for the shoulder). Optional: Tactical Vest.

Mark Watney, The Martian

Okay, so the martian surface suit that Mark Watney wears on Mars from The Martian is not a quick or easy build, but there’s a simpler costume that you could put together if you’re a fan of the movie: his flight jumpsuit.

This just requires gray coveralls and the right set of patches: the Ares 3 logo goes over the right breast, while the name patch goes over the left. An American Flag patch goes on the left shoulder, while the NASA logo goes on the right. A white undershirt should complete the ensemble.

What you need: Gray Coveralls, patches, white undershirt.

Sam Bell, Moon

One of my favorite movies of all time is Duncan Jones’ Moon, and it includes a costume that I’ve put together several times for conventions: Sam Bell’s jumpsuit. Charlie Kline has an exhaustive shopping list for what to buy for the most accurate costume, but for a quick Halloween costume, you don’t have to stress over all that detail.

You’ll want to get a gray jumpsuit and a bunch of patches. The patches are a bit complicated. On the right shoulder, you’ll want to put on the Sarang Helium 3 patch, with the HE3 Resourcing Patch under it. Over the right breast pocket, the Engineering Crew patch goes above the rank patch. On the left breast, the Technical Maintenance goes over the Lunar Industries, while the Sarang O1 patch goes over the left shoulder. A white undershirt completes the costume, as well as sneakers. To go the extra mile, get a "Wake Me When It’s Quitting Time" shirt, aviators, and a battered red hat.

What you need: Gray Coveralls, Lunar Industries patch, Sarang 3 patch, Rank patch, Sarang Engineering crew, He3 Resourcing Patch, Technical maintenance patch, gray / white sneakers, Wake me when it’s quitting time shirt.

Jyn Erso, Rogue One

Rogue One promotional still

Jyn Erso’s story is still confined to Rogue One trailers, which is to say you’ll be ahead of the curve. Like any Star Wars costume, you can probably source all of the original costume components, but the design’s also generic enough that you can probably put it together with normal clothes.

Start with a pair of black pants, brown boots, and a gray, long-sleeve shirt. Over that, she wears a dark jacket, over which she wears a brown vest. She’s also outfitted with a gun belt and fingerless gloves, as well as a gray Jersey scarf.

What you need: Gray woman’s shirt, gray Jersey scarf, vest, black pants, fingerless gloves, brown belt, brown boots.

Off Duty Uniform, Stargate SG-1

A military surplus store can be your friend when it comes to putting together military-type costumes. A super-easy costume to put together is the off-duty uniforms worn by Stargate Command personnel.

All that’s required here is a set of green, blue, or black military-style shirt and pants, with the right patches. The correct garment has epaulets and buttons on the wrists. A Stargate Command patch goes on the left shoulder, while the unit patch (SG-1, 2, 3, etc) goes on the right. A patch with a character’s name (or your own, if you want to get one custom-made) goes over the left breast pocket. A black undershirt, combat boots and a black belt will complete the costume. You can also endlessly customize this outfit: a black combat vest, helmet (with black cover), and holster will make sure you appear adequately ready for combat.

What you need: BDU olive green shirt / pants, patches, tactical boots, belt.

Eleven, Stranger Things

Stranger Things
Photo: Netflix

This year’s breakout sci-fi show was Netflix’s Stranger Things, and at New York Comic Con, we saw more than our fair share of Elevens, Hoppers, Barbs, and variations on the rest of the cast.

Eleven’s costume seems to be the most popular. There’s a ton of sellers on Etsy making a fairly accurate version of the dress, but you might be able to find a pink dress with a white collar on your own at Goodwill. Throw a blue windbreaker over that, and wear a pair of white converse high-tops over green and yellow striped socks. If you really want to commit to the role, shave your head, or get a blonde wig. For added detail, carry around a box of Eggo Waffles.

What you need: Pink dress with a white collar, blue windbreaker, green / yellow-striped tube socks, white converse sneakers.