Visualize this: A man and a woman each wear plain black pants. The left leg of one is tied to the right leg of the other, as in the game, "Three-Legged Race." Together they wear a giant oversized t-shirt that they've clearly had custom-made. The punch line is the t-shirt slogan: "Co-" reads one side; "Dependent" reads the other.
I saw this very unique Halloween costume once and in my mind it doesn't get any better than this--brilliant, inspired and conceptual. But hey, you can dress however you'd like come Halloween; it's the one holiday that really has a place for everyone. You can put couples costumes together using clothes you have in your closet, you can buy costumes, or you can get fancy and make your own. So if you're considering going en deux, here are some funny couples Halloween costume ideas to get you started:
Well-known couples: For these creative Halloween costumes for couples, think Sid and Nancy, Boris and Natasha, Tarzan and Jane, Bonnie and Clyde, Frankenstein and his bride, Hansel and Gretel, Ken and Barbie, Hugh Hefner and Playboy bunny. Anyone remember Captain and Tennille? What's nice about dressing as a pair that is already well-known is that their iconic status does some of the legwork for you: Because people know what to expect, they fill in the blanks themselves. Be sure to know your audience: Virginia and Leonard Woolf may go over well with your book group friends and less well at the Tractor Puller Association party.
Well-known couples with a twist: Have the man dress up as the female of a famous couple and the female dress up as the man. A variation on this theme is to go as a well-known gay or lesbian couple. Finally, the couple does not have to be romantically involved: Think Felix Unger and Oscar Madison.
Television characters: For these, you can either go retro--Pebbles and Bam Bam, Fred and Wilma Flintstone, Barney and Betty Rubble, Jeannie and Major Anthony Nelson (aka Larry Hagman)-or current.
Male and female variations on a theme: When making couples costumes for Halloween, you can also take a theme and do the male and female versions of it: Cowboy and cowgirl, priest and nun, a male and female Viking, or a couple representative of a particular decade (i.e. he is in bell-bottom pants with a velvet jacket, she in a miniskirt and white go-go boots).
Costumes with a sense of humor: Many of the unique costumes listed within this article can be given a humorous twist with just a bit of imagination. For example, for the priest and nun costume mentioned above, make the nun pregnant. Or if you have a male magician, have his female assistant dress with stitch marks through her middle.
Current trends: I can't really give you ideas for this category since by the time you read it, the concepts will be old. But look to the news for a current event, and run with it. Think Brangelina.
Things that come in twos: Some other creative Halloween costumes for a couple are things that comes in twos: mustard and ketchup, salt and pepper.
Things that go together: Think beer and lime, nut and bolt, plug and socket, sperm and egg, hot dog and bun. Playing with people's expectations can give your costumes some extra oomph in this category: Have the woman dress as the hot dog and the man as the bun.
Things that oppose: Consider categories that have a built-in natural opposition to them such as Republican and Democrat and then build on the theme.
Costumes in bad taste. I have to admit to liking the brazen extremes that some people will go to when dressing for Halloween. We here at HowToDoThings.com strongly recommend treading lightly when it comes to poking fun. So if your ideas run along the lines of...... Cher and Sonny (with a giant tree attached to his head) or Ryan Jenkins and Jasmine Fiore, please reconsider. If you plan to do something in bad taste, at least let it be at your own expense, and not someone else's.
Hopefully this list will help to get your own creative juices flowing so that you can create costumes that suit you and your better half (wait, that just gave me another idea.....)
