Spooky Specs: The Definitive Guide to Halloween Costumes With Glasses

Yes! Halloween is this weekend! I love dressing up. But, sometimes your Halloween costume can be the most frightening decision of your holiday. So, for our four-eyed friends, we’ve compiled a big list of costumes that work with (and not in spite of) your glasses. If you want to skip to the list, jump to the end of the article.

Glasses Make, Not Break, Your Halloween Costume

As a kid with glasses, my costumes were often altered or less effective because of my giant gold frames: soldier (with glasses), witch (with glasses), mermaid (with glasses). Really, the most success I had with my extremely unbecoming eyewear was as Groucho Marx (not even kidding). Luckily, two things happened: 1) the  90′s ended and 2) glasses became fashionable. Like really fashionable. Glasses are so fashionable now that people who don’t need them, wear them. And because there are now wider varieties of frames, being 4-eyed is no longer something to fret about.

So stop thinking of your glasses not as something to work around, but as an accessory that can make your costume. Here are a few ideas of glasses-necessary costumes that are, for the most part, homemade and therefore with a less scary budget:

The other night, Glee went Rocky Horror and Finn sported Brad Major’s signature specs.

This costume is pretty easy:

• Khaki jacket
• White button-down shirt under a blue sweater
• And glasses!

You could opt for the strip-down scene of Brad and go in tighty whiteys, but you might want a Janet to partner with you so as not to see like just the creep in the underwear. And this costume can be layered: you can be Brad or Finn as Brad. Either way, with the recent airing of this episode and the aptness for Rocky Horror to be featured during Halloween, you’ll you good to go.

Another in-the-news costume is to go as a Chilean miner, sporting some wrap-around prescription sunglasses.

Some sites recommend going as a nerd, cliche as it may be. But nerd glasses are trendy, ergo being a nerd can be cute, even fashionable.

One site recommends Orville Redenbacher. It’s unique, funny, and you get to carry around a bag of popcorn all night.

Mad Men costumes are popular too. Among the great fashion featured on the AMC show are retro glasses styles, specifically the styles that have recently reemerged in fashion. John Slattery’s character, Roger Sterling, has donned retro glasses on numerous occasions. Going as Joan or Peggy or Megan or any other of the fabulously dressed Mad Men women could easily pull off glasses with their costume too.

Speaking of nerd glasses, you can skip the fashion all together and go as Judah Friedlander (bonus points if your date dresses up like Liz Lemon):

The recent insurgence of eyewear on celebrities also makes going as anyone from Justin Bieber to Madonna not only more interesting, but more fashionable (more celebrities in glasses here). And in many cases, to accurately portray the celebrity, in some cases it’s necessary to wear glasses.

Or, with some cosmetic contact lenses, you can turn your eyes into intricate pieces of a costume. Sites such as Haunted Eyes and Lens.com have a selection of colored contacts from natural to completely stupefying designs. For the fast-approaching Halloween, some stores, such as Wal-Mart, carry colored contacts, though it may be harder to find the really crazy ones on short notice.

A Little About Safety…

On a pragmatic note about Halloween, regardless of your costume or eyewear accessories, safety is a necessity. Prevent Blindness America mails out a free Halloween eye safety sticker and gives tips on their site. Here are some tips:

• Avoid sharp accessories and stick to face paint when you can.
• Obscuring your eyes, even just 1 eye, as with a pirate costume, can be dangerous as it affects your depth perception
• Make sure face paints are FDA approved and hypoallergenic.
• Make sure false eyelashes have nontoxic adhesive.

Get to the list already!

Okay, now that you know how to be safe and have an idea of some of the more popular choices, here is our BIG LIST OF HALLOWEEN COSTUMES WITH GLASSES:

1. Clark Kent / Superman
2. Austin Powers
3. Velma from Scooby Doo
4. Harry Potter
5. Liz Lemon / Tina Fey
6. Judah Friedlander
7. John Lennon
8. Buddy Holly
9. Justin Bieber, Madonna, Jay-Z, Pharrell, Justin Timberlake…really, any celebrity lately who’s been sporting thick, plastic nerd glasses
10. Elton John
11. Elvis in some aviators (Michael Jackson too!)
12. Groucho Marx
13. Lady Gaga
14. Ugly Betty
15. Sarah Palin
16. Dick Cheney
17. Howard Stern in blue, round glasses
18. Blues Brothers (either of them)
19. Benjamin Franklin
20. Neo, Trinity or Morpheus from The Matrix (you could even go as one of the ghost guys – everyone in that movie wore sunglasses)
21. Gordon Freeman
22. Peter Griffin
23. Hans Moleman from The Simpsons
24. Spongebob Squarepants
25. Professor Farnsworth
26. Alan from The Hangover (great for parents with a baby – just throw some aviator shades on your kid!)
27. Dr. Strangelove
28. Hunter S. Thompson
29. Librarian (sexy or otherwise)
30. Scientist
31. Nerd
32. Hippie
33. Hipster (NSFW)

Any other ideas? Leave them in the comments and we’ll add them to the list, making this the best, most comprehensive list of glasses-friendly Halloween costumes ever.

Related posts:

1. Sexy Specs: Glee’s Finn and Rachel Perform “Damnit Janet” for Rocky Horror Halloween Episode
2. Revenge of the Nerd Chic: Nerd Glasses Dominate Fashion
3. A Four-Eyed Halloween: Learning to LOVE Dressing Up Your Glasses