30 DIY Halloween Costumes For Empowered Ladies

Four of the Fab Five 2016 U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Team (Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images)

Aly, Simone, Laurie, Gabby or Madison – 2016 US Women’s Gymnastics 

Why They’re Awesome: At the 2016 Olympics, the US Women’s Gymnastics Team completely stole the show. In addition to winning gold for the team all-around, they have each achieved incredible things individually. From Simone Biles’s record-breaking number of championship golds to Laurie Hernandez’s status as the first U.S.-born Hispanic woman in over 20 years to make this team, every member of the team has broken her own glass ceiling. Possibly the most empowering thing about this team is how much they seem to care about one another. Despite competing against each other, they were always shown cheering each other on and celebrating each other’s victories. These women embody what it means to help other women, and they’ve inspired girls and women across the globe with their work ethic and their support of one another.

What You’ll Need: A patriotic leotard, mostly. You can go with the red, white, and blue ones, but that might be a little tough to replicate. At the 2016 Olympics, their training leotards were red and sparkly, which could be easier. You can find plain red ones for relatively cheap at American Apparel and dance gear websites like DiscountDance.com. Feel free to glue on sparkles and glitter if you want to! Then pull your hair back in a tight bun or ponytail and secure it with red, white, and blue ribbon. Whatever you do, don’t skip your medal! Buy a cheap plastic one, or make one by covering a circle of cardboard with gold foil and attaching a ribbon to it.

Next Level Move: Group costume! Have a whole squad you need to clothe for that Halloween party or bar crawl? This is the perfect costume for it. Just multiply your leotard order by 5. You and your friends may not be able to pull off backflips, but you can certainly pull off that glitter eyeshadow!