For some people, Halloween is a chance to dress in a spooky outfit and indulge in the mysticism of the night once a year. But, for others it’s a chance to put on a silly and creative costume and put a smile on people’s faces.
For Kat Gallagher, it’s the latter: a chance to get some laughs and have a fun time doing it.
“I’ve been pumped about it,” Kat said about one of her costumes—note “one of,” as Kat likes to make a few each year—has reached a particular viral fame on social media. “Mostly everyone's comments on social media have been very supportive, so I was really happy. And yes, Mario Lopez did comment on it, which made my day!”
The costume, in particular, reaching social media fame is her rendition of Lionel Richie, mostly known for his song, ‘Hello.’ (See video below) Her costume, complete with album-cover-esque background, won her a local costume contest but exploded on Instagram achieving over 19,000 reactions from across the world.
“I was legit thinking of being Adele from the ‘Hello’ video, and then I typed into Google "Hello" and then Lionel Richie was right under it,” she said. “And I was like ‘if I slap a mustache on I could look exactly like him…Well close anyways. I just thought it'd get a laugh—my motive for everything!”
Last time she went viral, Kat’s costume of Kim Kardashian in her black dress and popped champagne bottle streaming over the back of her head, was put on Imgur and got approximately two million views, she said.
But back to this year, and the other costumes she prepared. Kat found herself as one of the heads to Mt. Rushmore, as well as a clever work-friendly ‘spice rack’ including Barbie dolls dressed and named like the spice girls upon a shelf she wore.
“I find it very encouraging and I'm happy that I have the ability to make random people all over the world laugh," she said.
But it all started in her second year of university, when she wore an all-out transformers costume with working headlights and transformable design.
"Everyone just expected so much from me after that," Kat said. "So I would make a list in my phone all year long of possible ideas as I came across them."
And while inspiration strikes her throughout the year, it comes down to the last few weeks before Halloween that she builds he costumes, often browsing the wares of Value Village, looking for random bits of clothing.
"It's so much cheaper and people seem to appreciate it more," she said. "People ask me what I'm going to be as soon as it starts getting cooler out. For example the Lionel costume cost me $8 - sweater, Bristol board and a mustache."
She said Value Village can be a great place for inspiration, like for her Guy Fieri costume when she saw the awful flame shirt, she made the decision that year to build the outfit.
So each year she looks forward to pushing the envelope and beating out costumes in previous years in terms of laughs and smiles.
