Halloween is closing in on students, and Onward State answered with a cheap way to dress for Halloweekend without spending $50 on a costume for a few hours. The roundup leans on Goodwill pieces and simple props, which makes it practical for anyone assembling an outfit at the last minute.
Goodwill pieces for Halloween
The Willard Preacher look uses a simple red crewneck, jeans and a book titled “Come Be My Follower.” The book is optional, but the rest of the outfit keeps the cost low and the assembly simple, which is the point when students are already scrambling.
The Nicky the Cowboy costume asks for a cowboy hat, a flannel or button-down, a Penn State sports T-shirt and a belt with a large buckle. Boots and jeans are a bonus, not a requirement, so the outfit can work even if a student is pulling it together from items already in a closet.
One useful comparison sits in the clothing itself: a thrifted shirt, jeans or jacket can cost far less than the $50 some students would rather avoid, and that gap is what makes the Goodwill approach work. The tradeoff is effort, not money; a cheap costume still depends on finding the right color, fit and accessory mix before the night arrives.
Campus looks from Penn State
The budget-friendly Nittany Lion look uses an all-brown outfit, a fuzzy coat and a striped scarf, with lion ears to finish it off. That keeps the costume recognizable without forcing students into a full mascot-level build, and it leaves room for whatever pieces they can already reuse.
The campus bunny costume is even easier to adapt: a fluffy robe, bunny ears and an Easter wreath worn around the neck. It can also work as a partner costume with someone dressed as a campus squirrel, which gives students a ready-made pair idea without requiring a full matching set from the start.
A separate Halloween costume idea uses a blackout, a vase and a quick turn into a props-heavy bit, while another Halloween setup leans on a cameo-driven joke. A third Halloween bit goes in a darker direction, showing how far a simple concept can go when the prop does the work.
Neeli Bendapudi and LiveOn
Neeli Bendapudi’s raise also appears as a possible costume idea, built from an all-green outfit and a gold purse meant to represent money. It is the kind of costume that reads instantly from a distance, though it still asks for the right accessory to make the joke land.
The LiveOn employee shirt costume is similarly spare, using a LiveOn shirt and a navy hat, with the hat possibly found there as well. The IM referee look pushes a little farther, with a black-and-white striped shirt, black pants and a traffic cone or neon orange prop to sell the role.
That mix is what makes the roundup useful: it gives students options that can be thrifted, borrowed or improvised, but some of the ideas still rely on a very specific prop, from a large buckle to a cone to a wreath. For anyone racing toward Halloweekend, the best move is to check what is already in the closet first, then fill the gaps with the smallest possible Goodwill run.
