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Take your costume inspiration from the factual, fictional and legendary figures who make Minnesota great.
Relentless pragmatist and calzone enthusiast with an Ice Town sized skeleton in his closet โ Parks and Rec's Ben Wyatt is a fantastic addition to the catalog of fictional Minnesotans.
Dress the part with sensible plaid, a skinny tie, a members only jacket and a DIY "Knope 2012" badge. Thrift the look at your Goodwill.
Whether you're seeking the spotlight or not, you're in it. Accept your mantle as the voice of a generation and strap on that harmonica and guitar.
Thrift the look from Goodwill with a collared shirt, wayfarer shades and blue vest or jacket.
Did you miss your shot at being crowned Princess Kay of the Milky Way? Claim your throne this Halloween by dressing up as the butter sculpture you've always deserved.
Create your costume with an all-yellow outfit, a spray painted tiara and a quick DIY nameplate. Thrift the look at your Goodwill.
Step out of your bland everyday and in to the outrageous shoes of Minneapolis comedian and pitchman Fancy Ray.
Get the look with an over-sized gold star pendant, a suit in a bold color and hair curled back away from your handsome mug. Find your Goodwill and nab your costume elements for cheap.
Take your Gatsby-inspired costume back to its Minnesota roots by dressing as F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, emblems of the Jazz Age and pillars of American literature.
Seek out a tweed suit and dress shoes or a flapper dress and pearls, and start mastering your hairstyling ASAP. Get the look for cheap at Goodwill.
Every Minnesotan knows that Duck Duck Gray Duck is superior iteration of Duck Duck Goose. It fosters creativity, it's more fun to play and it doesn't force anyone to be a mean old goose.
Create a costume from this fiercely protected regional quirk by wearing head-to-toe gray, then adding a baseball cap with an orange bill and googly eyes. Take your DIY up a notch by applying some feathers to the sleeves. Find your costume elements for cheap at Goodwill.
Rarely does a corporate mascot become part of the family, but if you've ever been to Blue Earth, you know how central the Jolly Green Giant is to Minnesota.
Thrift some head-to-toe green, then get to DIY-ing. You can draw a leaf pattern on your clothes with marker, or you can create a leaf toga with felt and hot glue. Don't forget your leaf crown.
Whether you choose the fictional Slap Shot Hanson trio or their real-life Minnesotan counterparts the Carlson brothers, the costume essentials are the same. Long hair and taped up thick-rim glasses required, fake blood from brutal fights optional. If you can't track down hockey jerseys, go with their off-ice look: zip-up blue jackets with DIY Iron League patches.
Save money on costume elements by shopping Goodwill.
You could don a Dorothy costume, but we think it's best to honor the late great Judy Garland with some more originality. Style a fitted pea coat with sheer stockings, heels and a fedora to recreate Garland's "Get Happy" look from Summer Stock. Recruit eight or so people to flock around you in matching suits for the full effect.
Save money on your costume by shopping Goodwill.
Right up there with Honeycrisp apples and Pizza Rolls, the Jucy Lucy is a Minnesota original that local foodies are proud to call their own.
Create your costume by first painting a brown top with seeds. Pair that with brown bottoms of your choice, and create the layers of your burger with fabric or other clothing items (like a thick brown sash for the patty or a green tutu for the lettuce). Make it a group costume by showing up as rival burgers the Juicy Lucy, Blucy, etc., all labeled by nametags.
Save money on the look by shopping Goodwill.
Lizzo chose Minneapolis as her home in 2011, and all of Minnesota is richer for it. You have your pick of dozens of looks when dressing as Minnesota's premier Big Grrrl, but the simplest one to achieve is inspired by "Scuse Me."
Tie dye a sheet, don a crown and put in some dangling earrings. Don't forget the most important costume element: walk the the walk of someone who knows they're unstoppable.
Minnesota may have a fraught relationship with Fargo, but there's no better costume inspiration than Marge Gunderson when Halloween turns frosty. Layer up with the trapper hat, long puffer coat and boots that you surely already own, and add sheriff stars and a paper coffee cup to finish the look.
Thrift whatever you're missing from your local Goodwill.
Give your '70s costume some local color by dressing as Mary Tyler Moore in-character as Mary Richards.
You can copy her iconic opening credits hat-toss outfit with a peacoat, knee-high boots and a blue beanie โ but really any fashion-forward '70s workwear will do. Heading out as a pair? Your #2 should dress as Rhoda in vintage blouse, bell bottoms and her signature headscarf.
Thrift your costume elements for cheap at Goodwill.
Celebrate our folkloric founding father and the beauty of Minnesota wildlife as Paul Bunyan. The costume is easy โ as a Minnesotan, you already own red flannel and look great in it. Add hiking boots, trousers of your choice, a red hat and beard. If you have a companion (human or animal) a blue outfit and pair of horns is all they need to become your Babe.
Create the costumes cheaply by shopping at your Goodwill.
The setting of the Peanuts comic strip is a matter of dispute, but with over 100 statues of Charlie Brown and co. spread throughout Minnesota, we've pretty much staked our claim.
You can dress up as Lucy with a blue dress, saddle oxfords and homemade psychiatry booth signs โ but there are so many characters to choose from and all can be created affordably. (We love this video of RayG bringing Peanuts costumes to life with t-shirts and permanent marker.)
You can outfit the whole crew for cheap by thrifting your look at Goodwill.
No matter where life took Prince, he celebrated Minnesota as home. Pay homage to the Purple One with a purple trench, white ruffled top and black boots. Get your glam elements affordably by thrifting them at Goodwill.
If you think nothing interesting ever happens in Minnesota, you've forgotten Frostbite Falls, a hotbed for international espionage and talking animals. Dressing up as Rocky and Bullwinkle is perfect in case of a chilly Halloween.
For Bullwinkle, pull on a fuzzy brown cardigan and a DIY moose antler headband. For Rocky, a blue hat with ear flaps, goggles, gray hoodie and a homemade squirrel tail. Thrift the look for cheap at your Goodwill.
Heart of gold, head of air โ you can't not love Rose Nylund. Channel Golden Girls' Minnesotan treasure with curly blonde hair, a bright dress or matching coordinates, shoulder pads and sensible pumps. (Get into character by launching into over-long stories of life in St. Olaf.)
Find the look for cheap by visiting your Goodwill.
The centerpiece of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is 30 years old this year! With a little determination and a lot of foil, you can recreate Oldenburg and Van Bruggen's Spoonbridge and Cherry in costume form.
If you choose to go as a duo, we recommend cutting a spoon shape out of cardboard and covering with foil. For the cherry, go in head-to-toe red with a stem attached to the hat. (We love these no-sew cape costumes for the cherry too.)