There are few things Hong Kong residents recycle better than Halloween costumes. You get your usual array of superheroes, fairies, witches, pirates and troops of giggly girls roaming about SoHo scantily clad in lingerie and animal ears  (I’ve personally never seen a mouse dressed in La Perla, but hey, that’s another story altogether). This year, in a grand stand against all fake fangs, capes and magic wands, I’ve decided to step away from that cheesy maid’s outfit and get a more original costume idea. With little fashion inspiration to be found on Pottinger Street, I made a beeline for SoHo to quiz the community’s fashion gurus.

Entering Maya, I talk to Janice, a hip PR account executive, running a press launch being held in the boutique. She believes that fashion talks... even during Halloween. “Since it’s such a big issue right now, a costume to convey protecting the environment would be good,” she says. “You could make a costume with aluminum cans… you won’t look as cute but you’d be saying something worthwhile!” Before you know it the entire store is in on the debate, each offering a different costume idea. A fitting model wanders over and suggests looking to the music industry for inspiration. “Check out Lady Gaga’s outfits,” she declares. “There’s no one better to imitate this Halloween than her. She’s crazy, she’s new and it won’t have been done before!” It wouldn’t hurt to avoid her MTV Awards look though…a yeti isn’t terribly original.

After Maya, I make a quick stop in Fang Fong and the quirky shop assistant there tells me that she likes the idea of dressing up as a piece of fruit. “It’s Halloween, so a pumpkin seems cool!” she says. The idea of hunting down a giant orange outfit isn’t really doing it for me so I wander into Indigo for further inspiration. Pamela, one of the shop assistants there says without hesitation: “Indian. I have never seen that before on Halloween. It doesn’t have to be extravagant, and saris are expensive, so just improvise with maybe orange and black chiffon.” 

After Indigo, I pop into Capuccini, which is just next door, to talk to the shop assistant, who muses for a while before telling me: “So many people get dressed up in dark clothes and draw blood on their faces, but I think it’d be really fun to get dressed up in a fabulous cocktail dress, and make your face up to look dark and twisted, like the living dead. The contrast would be so interesting!”

Apparently, she isn’t the only person who would like to look fabulous in a costume; Agnes from Bohemian agrees that Halloween isn’t necessarily an occasion to look like death warmed up. “It’d be really cool to draw inspiration from history, there are so many cultures and people from the past that are so mysterious, it’d be fun to dress up as one of them.”

So what’s the key to a chic Halloween outfit with a difference? Getting creative and show off your imagination! No one will care if you look a tad silly, as Mina the owner of Maya says, “Isn’t that what Halloween is supposed to be about anyway?”