Rules for Dressing Up in Halloween Costumes at Work

Study: Dressing Up in Halloween Costumes at Work Makes Us Happier

A survey of 953 full-time adult employees found that dressing up for Halloween at work is a popular tradition, openly encouraged at 45 percent of workplaces. Of those who dressed up at work, 73 percent of workers said they were “highly motivated to contribute to the success of the organization.” Just 58 percent of non-costumed employees said the same. Among the survey’s other findings:

• 68 percent of costumed workers are proud to tell others where they work (vs. 58 percent of the non-costumed)
• 65 percent of costumed workers would recommend their place of employment (vs. 49 percent)
• 73 percent of costumed workers fully support the values of their organization (vs. 58 percent)

Unless You Work at a Costume Store, Here Are a Few Hard & Fast Rules for Dressing up at Work

If you work at a costume store or on a filmset, you can never be too outlandish. The rest of us have to abide by some rules of basic decency. Before choosing your poison, consider these tips for dressing in costume at work:

• Dressing as “Sexy Pocahantas” or “Frito Bandito” could be viewed as culturally insensitive.
• If you work in a healthcare setting, angels are cute, but avoid the Grim Reaper, Devils, or Skeletons.
• Don’t underestimate the power of a simple prop. (We’ve got amazing ventriloquist dummies!)
• Avoid unsafe dimensions that may get in the way of your work. (Inflatable T-Rex costume, we’re looking at you.)
• Costumes like flesh-eating zombies and “Pinhead” from Hellraiser are probably too sadistic and scary for work.
• Halloween or not, there’s still a basic “keep it covered” dress code, so ladies – no super-sexy lingerie costumes.
• Leave religious or political statement costumes at home. Popes, Jesus, Moses, or Donald Trump are bad moves.
• We have meat cleavers, chainsaws, and sledge hammers available, but you’ll have to leave these at home.
• An 8-hour work day is different than a few hours at a party. You may not want to choose a sweaty mask.

Lastly, keep in mind some religions view Halloween as a pagan-rooted holiday they’d rather not celebrate. Avoid heckling your coworkers for failing to “get into the spirit.” Employers can offer up Halloween as a “come to work in your pajamas” day for people who don’t want to celebrate.

Cool Halloween Costumes

Not every Horror Dome costume is tame enough for work. Frankly, some of our movie-quality looks haunt us in our sleep. Yet, there are “tasteful” and “safe” options for all the “wimps” at your work party. For men’s Halloween costumes, you can never go wrong dressing as Batman. It’s a flattering suit everyone is bound to love. Vampires lean more toward handsome and alluring than creepy and disgusting. Other appropriate looks for work include circus ringmasters, baseball players, our signature Horror Dome Sasquatch, and the White Rabbit from “Alice in Wonderland.” If you don’t mind dropping a few bucks on collector costumes, you’ll love our Superman, Darth Vader, and Halo 3.

Work-friendly women’s Halloween costumes might include: “Gatsby Girl” flappers, an assortment of queens, vampires, angels, fairies, and witches, or a “Lady in White” apparition. Our premium quality Wonder Woman costume pairs up great with Batman if you and a friend or coworking spouse want to fight crime together on your breaks. The male and female skeletons are among our more popular group Halloween costumes as well. We offer several versions of Mrs. Claus because, well, it’s never too early to start “the Christmas creep!”

Visit The Horror Dome’s cool Halloween costumes page for the latest and greatest fresh designs.

Read more about adult Halloween costumes in the workplace:

• NBC – Why wearing a Halloween costume to work may make you happier
  https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/30/why-wearing-a-halloween-costume-to-work-may-make-you-happier.html
• US News & World Report – Rules for Halloween costumes at work
  https://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/articles/2017-10-30/5-rules-for-halloween-costumes-at-work
• Society for Human Resource Management
  https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/employee-relations/pages/halloween-celebrations-haloween-costumes.aspx
• Holidappy – The dos and donts of dressing up for Halloween at work
  https://holidappy.com/holidays/Halloween-Costumes-for-the-Office-The-Dos-and-Donts-of-Dressing-Up-for-Halloween-at-Work