Halloween is upon us once again, and for those who no longer trick-or-treat, it may not seem nearly as important to prepare a costume as it once was.  But it isn’t really necessary to buy expensive pieces of spandex from stores like Party City or Spirit of Halloween just to hand out candy or hang out with friends.  A good Halloween costume can be simple and inexpensive.

Since Real D 3-D film became popular a couple of years ago, almost anyone has at least one pair of the thick, black, hipster-style glasses laying around their house.  With the lenses popped out, 3-D glasses can lend themselves cheaply and easily to a quick Halloween costume.

Here compiled are a few ways to transform a pair of 3-D glasses into a passable Halloween costume, ranging from “So Easy a Caveman Can Do It” to “Some Assembly Required.”

Starting off:

Before any steps can be taken to trick out a pair of 3-D glasses, the “Real D 3-D” logo needs to be removed.  This can be done by:

• Coloring over the logo with sharpie or paint pen. This will show a little bit in the right light, but shouldn’t cause too much of a problem.

• Sanding the glasses down with a fine grade sandpaper.  This will completely remove the logo, but will cause the area sanded to be grayer and duller.  This can be remedied by simply sanding down the entire surface of the glasses.  It also gives them a very different look than the black and shiny original, and lends to a unique pair of accessories.

So Easy a Caveman can do it:

Once the logo has been removed, these glasses could become almost anything.

It is easiest not to do anything further with the glasses.  Pair them with a suit, and it’s a passable “Men in Black” costume.  Add a fedora and a friend, and you can become the Blues Brothers.

They can also be taken a step further.

1. Pop the lenses out of a pair of 3-D glasses. (All you have to do to achieve this is to take the glasses in both hands, and press firmly on the lense with your thumbs until the thin plastic pops out)

2. Raid a family closet or the local Goodwill for an outfit.

By pairing the glasses with a blue collared shirt, nice pants and dress shoes, and gelling their hair back, a man can become none other than Superman’s alter-ego, Clark Kent. With an orange sweater and socks, a skirt and black flats and a stylish brown bob, a girl can become Mystery Incorporated’s resident know-it-all, Velma Dinkley. Donning a sharp pinstripe suit and tie and a pair of converse, anyone can call themselves the tenth incarnation of the last time lord, The Doctor.

Crafting for Dummies:

The meek are inheriting the world of fashion. This year there are huge racks of nerd costumes at Halloween stores stocked with plaid and pleated skirts, collared shirts, bow ties and suspenders.

With one extra step to the 3-D glasses, this year’s most strangely popular Halloween costumes becomes easy.

1. Add a thin strip of white tape, foam or paper to the bridge of the glasses.  Electrical tape will add an extra nerdy dimension.

2. Now pair the glasses with a collared shirt, bowtie optional, suspenders, high-waisted pants or a skirt and sensible shoes to create an exceptionally convincing nerdy costume.

Folks who live in Google Glass houses:

A super culturally relevant accessory right now is Google Glass.  Although very few people actually possess the sci-fi creation, they have been the butt of numerous jokes and the subject of numerous nerd fantasies since Google announced their development in 2012.

To make a pair of wannabe Google Glasses, one only need follow a couple of additional steps after removing the lenses from the glasses.

1. Cut a long strip of white foam to fit halfway past the right lense and down the stem.

2. Fold the strip over and create a corner

3. Glue the foam to the glasses, for hot glue or super glue they should be easy to go for step 4 almost immediately.  For Elmer’s or tacky glue it should be allowed to dry overnight.

X-Pert consumer:

One of the founding members of the “X-Men: is mutant Scott Summers, code name Cyclops, who is also known for his tasteful eye wear.  In the comics, due to a brain injury, Summers does not have control over the red “optic beams” which emit from his eyes whenever they’re open.  The only way to stifle this is through wear of lenses made from the fictional element ruby quartz.

Therefore, turning a pair of 3-D glasses into a cyclops costume is a natural, X-Ceptionally simple progression.

To become a casual Scott Summers, one only needs follow a couple of steps.

1. Acquire red cling wrap and hot or super glue

2. Cut a piece of cling wrap at least 2 times larger than the frames

3. Put a thin line of glue around the back of the frames

4. Pull the cling wrap taught and lay it over the glue

5. Press it down to make sure it’s secure and let the glue dry

Voila! These steps should create glasses Scott Summers wishes he was cool enough to wear.  The great part about this idea is that any color of  see-through plastic wrap can be used; it doesn’t have to be a Cyclops costume. Use green cling wrap (or plastic), and wear all green to become a citizen of the Emerald City in Oz. Use pink or red glasses, wear all pink and red, and be very nice to everyone, see the world through rosé colored glasses.

There are numerous other things to do with 3-D glasses, it just takes a little bit of imagination.  Happy Halloween!

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By Madi Mertz