20 Last-Minute Geek Costume Ideas for the Truly Lazy

If you are anything like me, costume season has snuck up on you! But that doesn’t mean that you can’t come up with something awesome. I refuse to ever buy a packaged costume from the store because I am hipster like that. If you also believe that homemade costumes are better, here are 20 last-minute geek costume ideas that you can whip up in just a few seconds from items you probably already own.

Happy costuming!

50 Shades of Grey

Wear all grey. Either print varying squares of grey and attach them to your body with safety pins, or use paint chips. Done.

Bookworm

Show the world your bookish side by dressing as a book worm. Wear green pants and a green shirt. Wear a green baseball cap and glue big, round eyes to the hat. Carry a book around under your arm.

Semicolon

This is probably one of my favorite costume ideas of all time. Wear a white shirt. Cut out a large version of your punctuation of choice from black paper or felt and pin it to your shirt. I am partial to the semicolon, but you could also be a comma, colon, exclamation point, or whatever you wanted! Maybe an ellipses…

Carrie

Carrie is super-iconic and super easy. Most women have an old formal dress lying around that you can’t bring yourself to get rid of. Make new use of it for your Carrie costume. Simply put on the dress, then dump fake blood over your head and down the front of your dress. Costume complete.

The Doppler Effect

I have to give credit to The Big Bang Theory for this costume, but I still think it is one of the best costumes I’ve ever seen. Wear black pants and a black shirt. Paint a white dot in the center of your chest, then draw vertical white lines that gradually get bigger the farther away they are from the dot. Fabric paint would work best, but you could also use white strips of paper if you are extremely crunched for time.

Arthur Dent

Arthur Dent is one of my all-time favorite book characters. He is so boring and English, I want to put him in my pocket. All you need for this costume are pajama bottoms, a bathrobe, and a towel. If you still think people won’t get the costume, you could try carrying around a teacup.

Ring Wraith or Dementor

All you need for this costume is a giant piece of black fabric. Drape it around your body and head in an ominous way. You get to pick which character you are. Add a scythe and this costume also works for Death (my favorite rendition is the Discworld DEATH).

Kaylee from Firefly

The men’s costumes aren’t so easy from Firefly, but Kaylee’s costume is easy to make. Find a jumpsuit and a floral shirt. Wear them with sturdy boots.

Original Star Trek Cast

The original Star Trek costumes are easy to re-create. Wear a blue, gold, or red long-sleeve shirt with black pants. Make the Star Trek logo out of paper and pin it to your chest. Add a circle of black felt around your neck if you really feel like going all out. I advise skipping the ridiculously short skirt if you are a woman.

Black Widow

Wear a black shirt and tight black pants. Creep around in a crouched position all the time.

Katniss from The Hunger Games

Wear black pants and a black shirt. Fix your hair in a braid and carry a bow.

Tris from Divergent

Wear black pants and a black shirt. Draw a tattoo of birds on your neck.

Thomas from The Maze Runner

Wear black pants, a grey shirt, and running shoes. Talk about how you have no memories of your past.

The Grapes of Wrath

Cut out some purple circles from felt or paper and pin them to a plain shirt in the shape of a bunch of grapes. Draw angry eyebrows on the grapes.

Nick from Gone Girl

Wear jeans, a plaid shirt and country-boy work boots. Ask party guests if they have seen your wife while making eyes at younger, pretty women. Brag about how you own The Bar.

The TARDIS

Cut out a hole in a large cardboard box for your head. Paint it blue and add details to resemble a police box. Disappear at all the wrong moments.

Dr. Who

Wear a nerdy sports coat, suspenders, and a bow tie or fez. Double points if you can convince a friend to be the TARDIS.

The Square Root

Cut out a large square root sign from paper or felt. Pin it to a plain shirt. You can also do this with a variety of other math symbols.

The Elements

Cut out the abbreviations from your favorite element onto paper or felt and pin it to a plain shirt. You are now an element.

Adult Harry Potter

Wear glasses and draw a lightening bolt on your head. Talk about the “good old days” and how Albus is such a good name for a kid.

What other last-minute geek costume ideas can you come up with? I’ll add them to the list! 

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