Blast From the Past: 2016 Costumes

Every year on Stuyloween, students pull their weird selves out from the huge piles of homework they were buried under and dress up to celebrate the Halloween spirit. Here are some notable costumes from last year.

Stranger Things

Senior Daniel Knopf as Will

Senior Michela Marchini as Eleven

“[Senior Michela Marchini] just called me one day and was like, ‘Hey, we should do Stranger Things for Halloween,’” senior Daniel Knopf smiled as he recalled last year’s Stuyloween when his girlfriend told him that they should dress up as Will and Eleven from Stranger Things.

The couple was really into the hit Netflix series at the time. They originally wanted to do the whole cast with their friends, but everyone else bailed. As a result, the costumes ended up being a couple’s look.

Knopf and Marchini went on a shopping adventure together to make their costumes. “I did a lot of Amazon shopping with my mom and thrift shopping with Daniel for the costumes,” Marchini said. “We bought all the pieces separately and tried to piece them all together.”

Though the costumes were pieced together, Marchini and Knopf did their best to imitate the ‘80s look. Marchini even went as far as drawing Eleven’s nosebleed and brought in an Eggo pancake box. Her mom, who is rather artistically talented, helped in the making of some of the props in the costumes, like the radio Knopf was holding.

The couple received a lot of compliments from their friends and even random people on the street. Last year was the first year Marchini and Knopf dressed up together, since they started dating a month after Halloween the previous year.

Up

Junior Taylor Choi as Russell

Junior Maryann Foley as Carl Fredricksen

Dressing up for Halloween has always been a tradition for junior Taylor Choi and junior Maryann Foley. They chose Up. Both of them are fans of Disney, and they were looking for an iconic duo to dress up as, so the characters of the heartwarming movie, Up, seemed perfect.

Though this was the first time Choi made her own costume, she expressed that though the process was a bit time consuming, it did not require much skill. She spent about two hours making the sash out of brown felt she got from Michaels the night before Stuyloween. It was a tedious process because she had to print and cut out 20 different badges and glue them on the sash individually.

Foley went through a similar process as Choi. However, unlike Choi, Foley actually had experience making her own costumes. As for last year’s costume, she just used clothes from her closet, with the exception of the bowtie, which she borrowed from a friend. To imitate the grape soda pin Mr. Fredricksen has in the movie, she painted an old bottle cap. Lastly, to construct the house, she simply cut balloon shapes out of construction paper and glued them to a cardboard. Foley even surprised Choi on the day of Stuyloween by bringing in a dog balloon, which represented the Golden Retriever, Dug, that Russell owns.

Yet, even with the “dog“ beside her, many people could not figure out which character Choi was dressed up as and mistook her as a girl scout. On the other hand, Foley’s costume was much more obvious. People recognized it immediately and liked it very much.

These compliments came at a cost. “There were just a lot of times that I had to awkwardly maneuver through crowds,” Foley said. “I once got stuck in a doorway because I forgot that I had the house on my back.”

Mermaid Man (from Spongebob)

Sophomore Ayham Alnasser

Despite his parents’ saying that Halloween is “Satan’s birthday,” sophomore Ayham Alnasser insists on dressing up for Halloween every year. Normally, he goes for the cheapest costume he can find at Rite Aid. However, last year, he decided to try something more out of his comfort zone.

“It was my freshman year, so I wanted to make a name for myself,” Alnasser explained. “So for the most comedic purpose, to get more kids to ‘vibe’ with me, and because Spongebob is overdone, I chose to be the Mermaid Man.”

Since he couldn’t find someone to be Barnacleboy, Alnasser went solo. He spent well over five hours stitching the costume himself. He pre-planned the costume in his head and used Youtube tutorials like “How to Sew” and “How to Choose Correct Materials.” Overall, it cost around 30 to 40 dollars.

Looking back to the day of Stuyloween, Alnasser revealed that he did not get much reaction from people, despite wearing a bright orange tight suit. Nonetheless, he did receive great reactions on his Facebook post online, where he discussed his costume.

Alnasser also participated in the annual Halloween costume contest that the Student Union hosts and won in the “Best Overall Costume” category. Not only did he manage to continue his tradition of dressing up for Halloween each year, but he also received a $15 Chipotle gift card.

Trump’s Wall

Junior Elisey Goland

When junior Elisey Goland walked into his chemistry class with a “Trump Make my Hair Great Again!” cardboard sign hanging on his neck, he received mixed reactions from people. “Some people thought I was promoting the wall and got mad. Others thought I was against the wall and got mad,” Goland explained. “But most people found it humorous.”

Though it was only a week from the election, making a political statement was never Goland’s intent. He just thought it would be fun to be the Wall. “A friend of mine said he was going as Trump,” he said. “So naturally, I decided to be the Wall.”

He only spent around half an hour on his costume with supplies he bought from a local 99 cents store. Still, the “Wall” successfully showcased Goland’s satirical humor. Things like “Hola Trump” and “Made in China Trump Inc.” were written over the brick-red cardboard that he painted. To make it more realistic, Goland even drew cracks on it with a black marker.

Dressing up for Halloween is something Goland really enjoys doing with his friends. He came in as an error message, “costume not found,” and Bender from Futurama in previous years.