50 DIY Halloween Costumes For Students

If you're struggling to come up with a Halloween costume idea, here are 50 DIY Halloween ideas that are perfect for students.

Halloween is the one time of the year where it's time to be serious about fancy dress. In uni, the chances are you will definitely be invited to one or two Halloween parties and people will be going all out.

Obviously, on a student budget heading to your local fancy dress shop isn't always viable especially as a Halloween costume is a once a year kind of thing that you're probably not going to be wearing again.

Plus, there are loads of cool pop culture and celebrity references and ideas that you can dress up as that you won't be able to find in fancy dress stores.

If you fancy yourself a bit of a creative person and are up for the challenge of putting together your own Halloween outfit, here are 50 DIY Halloween costumes to try this year.

1. Little Red Riding Hood

A classic, you'll want to get your hands on some form of red hood or cape, but the rest of the outfit should follow easily. Whether it's a simple red dress, red skirt and top or jeans as long as you're dressed in red you're good to go.

2. Sandy from Grease

Sandy is an easy costume to make if you're just searching through what you already own. Simply team a leather jacket with leather trousers or leggings. If you're really brave try replicating the hairstyle with a curler.

3. Wednesday Addams

Another easy look, to dress up as Wednesday you'll want to plait your hair into two even plaits and find basically anything black in your wardrobe, with a white collared shirt underneath a black dress or top.

4. Euphoria

Euphoria made headlines for the makeup and outfit choices of the main characters, so if you think you're good with makeup, all you'll need is some glittery eyeshadows and sparkly outfits and you should be good to go.

5. Coraline

For a Coraline look, you'll want to get your hands on a signature yellow raincoat like the one she wears through the film. Blue hair spray could also be a cool and temporary way to show everyone who you are too.

6. Billie Eilish

Billie Eilish made baggy clothes popular, so if you want to be comfortable this Halloween she has a whole range of iconic looks you can try out, from green hair to awesome makeup ideas.

7. A Vampire

This is a classic look that you can't really go wrong with. You'll want to get your hands on some fake blood (or red lipstick, if you're really last minute) to give yourself trails of blood on your face or bite marks on your neck. The rest of your vampy look can depend on makeup, and dark red or black outfits.

8. Tiger King

Tiger King was super popular last year and is a great Halloween idea. Whether you're going as Joe Exotic or Carol Baskin you'll just want to find as much tiger and leopard print clothing as you possibly can and maybe even try experimenting with face paint too.

9. Squid Game

Squid Game is very popular on Netflix right now, and the Squid Game tracksuit is sure to be popular this Halloween (not to mention comfy too). You'll need to get your hands on a dark green matching tracksuit and white slip-on shoes for an easily recognisable look.

10. Pirate

An easy DIY Halloween idea, you'll just want to find a white shirt that you don't mind cutting up and you can easily craft a sword and hat from cardboard.

11. Cher and Dionne from Clueless

Cher and Dionne have been popular Halloween choices since the release of Clueless over 20 years ago. You'll want to find your best plaid skirts and jackets to replicate the iconic fashion in the movie. If you're going for Dionne she sports a signature hat, whilst Cher holds a pink fluffy pen.

12. Britney Spears

Britney has loads of eras and iconic looks you could try for Halloween. Whether you're going as her Baby One More Time music video, where you'll need plaited hair, a white blouse and school skirt or the Oops I Did It Again look, where you'll want to find a red catsuit.

13. Lara Croft

Lara Croft is an easy lazy Halloween outfit as you probably already have most of the items in your wardrobe. Simply find a vest and some cargo shorts or a skirt and some walking boots.

14. Maleficent

You'll want to get crafty with this one to replicate a headband to imitate Maleficent's horns. The rest of the outfit should be pretty simple as you can just wear black.

15. Eleven from Stranger Things

Shaving your head would be a massive commitment to this costume, but luckily sporting a pink dress with a blue jacket and long socks should be a big enough clue that you're Eleven.

16. Elle Woods from Legally Blonde

Probably one of the iconic film characters of all time. There's a reason why Elle remains such a popular choice for Halloween, and that's because it's so easy to tell who you're dressed as. You'll obviously want to get yourself a pink get up and a dog toy to hold to replicate your perfect Elle look.

17. Regina from Mean Girls

The Halloween scene in Megan Girls is iconic. Regina's Halloween look consisted of bunny ears which are easy to make at home, a white bodysuit and some white boots. Simple, but easily recognisable.

18. Spice Girls

There's 5 to choose from and the Spice Girls all have iconic outfits. If you're looking for a group costume idea, decide who's going to be who and get ready to win the Halloween costume game.

For baby spice, you can wear your hair in pigtails and wear something pink, for sporty your best tracksuit, for posh a nice dress, for scary anything leopard print and for ginger your best red white and blue union jack look.

19. Ariel from The Little Mermaid

Ariel has always been a popular Halloween choice, and you won't need to have red hair to pull it off. You can make a seashell bra at home out of cardboard if you're really crafty, or repurpose an old purple bra. Team this with a green skirt or trousers and you're easily pulling off your best mermaid look.

20. Ariana Grande

Ariana has some really iconic looks, that are great for anyone who's lazy this Halloween. Simply tie your hair in a high ponytail, throw on an oversized sweatshirt and some knee-high boots and you're done.

21. 60s fashion

60s fashion is having a bit of a moment currently, and it's quite easy to find 60s print clothing in most shops so you can put together your best retro look.

22. Powerpuff Girls

Another team effort, the Powerpuff Girls should be easy to pull off. You'll need pink, blue and green tutus, skirts or dresses with some chunky boots.

23. A Unicorn

Who said Halloween had to be scary? You can create a unicorn horn headband out of cardboard and follow some really cool makeup tutorials on YouTube to be able to pull this one off.

24. Toy Story Alien

If you and your friends want to try a team outfit, this one works great on your own or with others. Make a green headband and wear a purple or blue dress or baggy t-shirt teamed with green leggings or tights.

25. Sabrina from Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Sabrina wears a red dress and coat with a black headband, so this look should be pretty easy to DIY not to mention it's very fitting for Halloween.

26. Cruella

Cruella is sure to be popular this year after Emma Stone's version smashed it in cinemas. The perfect scary character, Cruella is pretty easy to do if you have a fur coat and some red gloves. If you have light hair you can even use black hairspray to get the split hair she has too.

27. Wanda from WandaVision

The headpiece should be pretty easy to create at home and you'll just want to wear a red bodysuit or catsuit with some tights to pull off the look.

28. Barbie

Barbie is iconic and has always been a popular Halloween choice. To pull off your best Barbie look you'll need to dress head to toe in bright Barbie pink and execute flawless makeup.

29. Zombie

There are loads of Zombie makeup tutorials available whether you're a beginner or a makeup pro to help you look convincing. Other than the makeup you can pretty much wear anything you don't mind ruining, by cutting up an old outfit and staining it with either red lipstick or fake blood.

30. The Joker

This look is all going to be makeup based, so you'll want to get practising before Halloween to make sure you know what you're doing.

31. Pennywise from IT

If you prefer to keep your Halloween costume scary, there's nothing more terrifying than a clown on Halloween. You can just wear white and focus on recreating the scary clown makeup to look convincing.

32. Beyonce from the Single Ladies video

This is a pretty recognisable Beyonce look. You'll need to find a black catsuit or leggings and bodysuit combo and pull off some pretty impressive backcombing to your hair.

33. The Sims

If you're artistic going as a character from The Sims might be a bit tricky to pull off but will be worth it. You can use cardboard to paint blurry pixels to put on over a plain nude outfit to give the illusion of wearing nothing.

34. Mario and Luigi

If you and your best friend want to do a duo costume, simply get your hands on some red and green t-shirts and dungarees for an easy and effortless DIY costume.

35. 70s fashion

70s fashion is also having a bit of a revival recently. You can put on your best hippy look by pairing flares with a headband and trying a softer toned makeup tutorial from YouTube.

36. Devil

If you're on a budget all you'll really need is a red outfit thrown together and some devil horns on a headband which can be made with cardboard.

37. Blair and Serena from Gossip Girl

Blair and Serena are known for their fashion, so if you and your best friend are looking for a classy duo costume this Halloween you'll want to put on your best sunglasses and fancy dresses.

38. Bridgerton

The Netflix show was released last December, which means there hasn't been a Halloween where people have had the chance to dress up as Bridgerton characters just yet. Simply team a white, blue or pink floor-length dress with some long gloves and tie your hair up for an elegancy regency look.

39. 80s fashion

The 80s have remained a popular Halloween choice for years. You'll want to find legwarmers, nylon leggings and neon accessories.

40. Skeleton

You can create a skeleton look by painting the outline onto a plain white outfit that you don't mind ruining. If you not you can just wear black or white and try out some cool and spooky makeup.

41. Victoria's Secret angel

The Victoria's Secret angel is a glam DIY look. You'll want to wear all white and put together some wings and a halo and practice your best model walk.

42. Playboy bunny

Not only can you get loads of Playboy clothes from Missguided that you may already own, the Playboy bunny look is pretty easy to pull off. You can wear a black bodysuit with fishnet tights and create bunny ears out of cardboard.

43. Among Us

You can find a onesie or catsuit for any of the among us characters and craft the mask out of cardboard, this look would work really well for a whole flat to try together.

44. A butterfly

If you're a colourful person a butterfly look should be easy as you can just wear whatever rainbow colours you can find. You can also heavily rely on makeup to pull this look off too and craft some wings out of cardboard.

45. A fairy

Fairy wings and a wand are easy to find and make out of cardboard, and you just have to wear a pretty dress or skirt that will make you feel like a fairy.

46. 90s fashion

The 90s brought some iconic looks. You can wear double denim to give your best Britney and Justin look or try tie-dye with dungarees to imitate the looks from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

47. A mummy

If all else fails you can literally grab some toilet roll from your bathroom and wrap it around you if you're in a rush or you're on a strict budget.

48. Daphne and Velma from Scooby-Doo Another best friends outfit, you'll want to dig out all of the orange and purple you have from the back of your wardrobe.

49. Betty and Veronica from Riverdale

Betty and Veronica from Riverdale have different styles but are great for best friends to try. You can wear shorts and long socks with yellow t-shirts for their sports outfits, or find some of their iconic outfits from the show to recreate.

50. 00s fashion

00s fashion is all over Depop and TikTok so it shouldn't be hard to find to put together a DIY Halloween look. Whether you're wearing a Paris Hilton inspired Juicy Couture tracksuit or teaming low rise jeans with a tight crop top and glittery eyeshadow, Y2K fashion is easily recognisable and easy to put together.

So, if you're stuck on what to dress up as for Halloween this year and you're already floating ideas around in your group chat, these 50 DIY ideas are sure to impress at your party.