How to Thrift Your Best Halloween Haunting Style at Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries

Are you ready for Halloween? We are! With 15 retail locations throughout Massachusetts, our stores are bursting with merchandise ready to transform every shopper’s costume hunt into a haunting masterpiece!

Let’s see what our fashionista Rebecca found while shopping at Goodwill. With a budget of less than $100, she created four unique costumes featuring 10 pieces of clothing. This bonanza solved the college student’s critical holiday question: what to wear on a scary Friday, Saturday, and this year especially, Monday night?

Costume #1: Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride

In this mock bride’s dress, Rebecca recreates the translucent beauty of Emily, the main character in the animated fantasy film released in 2005.

To achieve this look, our shopper layered:

1. A white lace-infused Free People shift atop a black BodasLondon tank dress. These contrasting tones add an interesting and eerie visual depth.
2. A sheer wrap skirt constructs the dress’s signature slit.
3. Beautifully patterned black stockings illuminate the white gauzy fabric.
4. Dainty white lace tendrils dance across her head and neck as a delicately darkened face reveals the signature Goth of lovely underworld brides. Cost: $21

Costume #2: Dirty Dancing

Rebecca captured the movie’s essence with this knotted Wild Fable tank top and soft full pink skirt by Appleseeds™. The pieces beautifully replicate the most memorable garments worn by Grey’s character Frances “Baby” Houseman: the tied white top that saw her through a summer of clandestine dance practices and the full-tulle-skirted pink dress worn in the movie’s finale.

Although crafted and simple, the look also supports an easy couple’s costume, even if your partner only wears a black top and jeans. Cost: $12

Costume #3: Stevie Nicks, GRAMMY award-winning lead singer of Fleetwood Mac and solo artist

With her signature top hat and frothy clothing, she’s still stunning (and touring!) at age 74. To achieve Stevie Nicks’ distinctive look, Rebecca wore the BodasLondon tank dress underneath a short black damask-patterned skirt by Kookai. Our shopper found the top hat in a Goodwill fabric bin. She coupled it with two lightweight scarves and a tucked Ann Taylor poncho — skillfully recreating the angelic winged illusion worn by Stevie Nicks throughout her storied music career. Cost: $25

Costume #4: Little Red Devil

Finding this costume was a bit of an accident. While rummaging through Goodwill’s clothing, Rebecca snagged this warm red jacket by Kookai. The length and color spoke to her as did the form-fitting red and black dress sold and manufactured originally by The Limited. Interestingly, if paired with a bow and arrow instead of little red horns, this cute devil turns into Cupid – how simple is that? Two looks for one price. The best part though? Now when she spends the evening in Boston, her costume keeps her warm and in character! Cost: $27

What’s the best way to thrift a Halloween costume at Goodwill?

Come prepared. These shops are large and without costume ideas in mind, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Rebecca jotted a list of 10 potential characters and created a Pinterest board with images of her favorite. Her hunt took her to the Goodwill in Allston/Brighton at 965 Commonwealth Avenue and to Somerville at 230 Elm Street. She shopped at each Goodwill for about two hours over a couple of days.

In each outing, she targeted specific pieces of clothing, such as a pink dress or skirt for the Dirty Dancing costume, but allowed most of the costumes to evolve naturally. For example, Stevie Nicks made the list as soon as the top hat surfaced. While the poncho substituted nicely for a shirt with butterfly sleeves.

What makes thrifting a costume at Goodwill better than buying a pre-made one?

You can wear the clothes on November 1^st! By thrifting a costume crafted from regular clothing, it does not end in a resale bin or linger at the back of your closet. They stay in your wardrobe, where you can wear them all year long. Happy hauntings and stay safe this Halloween. Thank you for reading our holiday blog.

We hope to see you soon,

The Goodwill Team.

Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries

Our mission to help individuals with barriers to self-sufficiency to achieve independence and dignity through work. Not charity, but a chance. Goodwill’s mission services focus on helping people secure employment, which is critical for economic self-sufficiency.