6 Thrifted Space Halloween Costumes (Plus Space Party Ideas)

Halloween is ten days out, and if you haven't picked a costume yet, space is a great place to look. Space costumes are easy to recognize from across a room, they work for every age, and most of them can be pieced together from the racks of your local thrift store for far less than a bagged costume from a pop-up shop. Better yet, a thrifted costume can go right back into your closet (or back to a resale shop) on November 1.

Here are six space costume ideas you can build mostly secondhand, plus a few tips for decorating a space-themed Halloween party.

Before you hit the racks

A little planning makes thrift costume shopping much faster:

• Go early. The week before Halloween is the busiest time of year for costume hunters at thrift stores. The best coveralls, jumpsuits and solid-color sweatshirts tend to go first.
• Shop every section. Workwear often hides in the men's department, solid tracksuits in activewear, and the good gloves, belts and sunglasses in accessories. Check the kids' and home sections too, since a hula hoop or a lampshade can turn into a prop.
• Size up for layers. Late October evenings in Northwest Arkansas can get chilly. A costume that fits over a hoodie or a thermal shirt is a costume you'll actually keep on all night.
• Wash before you wear. Run washable pieces through a normal cycle before the party. It freshens them up and shows you whether anything shrinks or bleeds before it matters.

1. Shuttle-era astronaut in a "pumpkin suit"

This one is made for Halloween. The orange launch and entry suit Space Shuttle crews wore is officially called the Advanced Crew Escape Suit, but astronauts nicknamed it the "pumpkin suit." It first flew in 1994, and that bright "international orange" color was chosen so rescue crews could easily spot astronauts in the ocean.

To build your own, look for:

• Orange coveralls or a work jumpsuit. Mechanic and workwear coveralls show up at thrift stores all the time. Any shade of orange works; a deeper orange reads closer to the real thing.
• Gloves and boots. Plain work gloves and dark lace-up boots finish the look.
• Mission patches. Iron-on or sew-on space patches add instant authenticity on the chest and shoulders. Check the fabric care tag first, since some synthetic fabrics don't handle an iron well, and sewing a few stitches is safer there.
• A helmet (optional). A thrifted bike or motorcycle helmet with the visor up gets the idea across without a big build.

Carry the helmet under your arm and you'll look like you're walking out to the launch pad.

2. 1960s Mission Control flight controller

Not every space costume needs a spacesuit. The flight controllers who guided the Apollo missions from Houston make a sharp, comfortable costume that's almost entirely thrift-store staples:

• A short-sleeve white button-up shirt
• A skinny dark tie
• Dark slacks and a belt
• Horn-rimmed or thick-framed glasses (a thrifted pair with the lenses removed works great)
• A pocket protector stocked with pens, and a clipboard

Add a headset (an old gaming headset is perfect) and a lanyard badge, and you're ready to call "go" or "no go" all night. This one is a great pick if you want something you can wear to a work party or a school event without a mask or makeup.

3. Retro NASA fan

If you'd rather go casual, wear your love of spaceflight on your shirt. NASA has two famous logos. The round blue "meatball" dates back to 1959. The sleek red "worm" logotype, designed by Richard Danne and Bruce Blackburn, was adopted in 1975, retired in 1992 and brought back in 2020 as a secondary logo, which is a big part of why it shows up everywhere today.

Pair a NASA tee with thrifted 1980s pieces: a nylon windbreaker, high-waisted jeans, tube socks and chunky sneakers. Think of a kid at a space museum during the shuttle years, which ran from 1981 to 2011. Two easy starting points from our Amazon Picks are the NASA Worm Logo T-Shirt and the Popfunk NASA Retro Vintage Space Shuttle tee, listed below.

4. Visitor from another planet

The classic little green alien is one of the simplest costumes to thrift:

• A green sweatsuit or tracksuit, top and bottom. Mismatched greens are fine, since aliens aren't known for color matching.
• Wraparound or oversized black sunglasses for those big almond-shaped eyes.
• A headband with antennae, made from pipe cleaners and two pom-poms or ping-pong balls.
• Optional: a silver thrifted jacket or a shiny scarf for a touch of spaceship style.

For a funny twist, go as a "tourist" alien: add a fanny pack, a camera strap and a thrifted souvenir T-shirt from somewhere on Earth.

5. A planet or the Moon

Planet costumes are a fun crafty project and work well for groups. A family or a friend group can each pick a planet and walk in as the whole solar system.

• Base layer: A solid-color sweater or sweatshirt in your planet's color. Try orange or rusty red for Mars, pale yellow for Saturn, deep blue for Neptune, or gray for the Moon. Secondhand knits come in every color, so this is where thrift shines.
• Saturn's rings: Look for a hula hoop in the toy section, or cut a ring from a large piece of cardboard or foam board and hang it with two ribbon straps over your shoulders.
• Moon craters: Cut circles from gray felt in a few sizes and attach them with safety pins so the sweater survives for regular wear afterward.

Add a sash with the planet's name if you want to skip the "which one are you?" questions.

6. Retro sci-fi space explorer

Think 1950s and 60s pulp magazine covers and classic TV adventures: bold colors, shiny fabrics and a lot of confidence. Look for a fitted turtleneck or a velour top in a bold color, a metallic or vinyl belt, and anything silver, from a lamé jacket to a sequined top. Slim pants and ankle boots finish it, and a toy ray gun from the kids' section completes the mission.

Throwing a space-themed Halloween party

If you're hosting, a few touches turn a regular get-together into a night in orbit:

• Moonlight for the room. A moon lamp makes a great low-light centerpiece and sets a spooky mood without being scary. The BRIGHTWORLD Moon Lamp in our Amazon Picks has 16 colors, so you can switch it to a deep orange for Halloween night.
• Glasses for your visitors. Serve drinks in the Dragon Glassware Area 51 alien glasses, which have a little alien floating inside the double wall.
• A mug that changes with the season. The Unemployed Philosophers Guild color-changing planet mug reveals the planets when you pour in something hot, which is a fun surprise for cider or cocoa.
• Thrifted decor. Pick up dark tablecloths, silver trays and string lights secondhand, and scatter glow-in-the-dark stars across the table.

After Halloween

The best part of a thrifted costume is what happens next. The coveralls become yard work clothes, the planet sweater becomes a winter staple, and the Mission Control shirt goes back into rotation for the office. Anything you won't wear again can go back to a thrift or resale shop for the next costume hunter.

Whatever you choose, have fun, stay warm and safe out there, and live long and prosper.