Halloween is Monday and you haven’t a clue what you’re going to wear to your friend’s costume party, an All Hallows Eve-inspired night on the town or just to pass out candy to neighborhood kids.

Additionally, you don’t really feel like forking over $50 or more for a costume that you’ll never wear again.

Don’t fret.

If you’ve got a closet, some scissors and a little creativity, you can make a fun last-minute and on-trend Halloween costume that doesn’t involve putting on pajamas and calling yourself a baby.

Sweat suit versatility

It may not be advice you’d hear from a fashion consultant, but Sue Simoncini, sewing instructor for Columbus State University’s Continuing Education program, said that sweats are “the best make-shift must for Halloween.” She noted that sweats can be easy to revert back to “normal” after Halloween, especially if using “no sew” techniques such as safety pinning material on the inside. Here are a few suggestions from Simoncini for transforming sweats into a costume.

• Dalmation: Take a set of white sweats and safety pin black dots all over. Add a pair of dog ears (easily found at most craft or discount stores).

• Bat/Batman: Wear a set of black sweats and make bat wings out of black felt. Add a mask for Batman.

• Mummy: Pin strips of old sheets or other white fabric onto a set of white sweats.

• Flower: Wear yellow or green sweats, make petals out of colored felt and hot glue around collar of sweatshirt.

• Cave man: Shred bottom of sleeves and pant legs of brown sweats; cut off shirt waistband and shred bottom of shirt. Distress with dirt.

From your closet

If you don’t even have an idea of what you want to be for Halloween, Tiffany Galey, costume designer and shop manager at the Springer Opera House said just look through magazines, watch TV and search the web. When you find something you like, simplify it.

“When you look at something say, ‘OK, it’s a blue skirt, red top and I can just use a scarf,’” she said. “Don’t hesitate to look in your closet or your kid’s closet or your husband’s closet. Just use stuff. If you need a cape, cut up a skirt, stuff like that.”

For a few of the season’s popular looks, like zombies and “Mad Men”-era characters, Galey said it’s more about the hair and makeup than your clothes.

“(For a zombie) really you can wear whatever, which is the beauty of it, same thing with vampires, and just do the makeup,” she said. “Just doing the scars, coloring under the eyes.”

To channel the 1960’s retro or pin-up look, Galey said do some research on how women did their hair and makeup or certain men’s accessories (skinny ties, hats) and focus on that.

Sandy Dawson, owner of Creatively Yours costume-rental shop, said an old prom dress can be wrapped in black tulle for a Lady Gaga costume -- just top it off with a fascinator, which you can make with cardboard, feathers, fabric, beads and a little hot glue.

To make a Morticia Addams costume, Dawson took a plain black dress, added a fish tail to the bottom, some length at the sleeves and rouched the neckline. “Of course anybody can do that even if they just hand stitch,” she said.

Galey pointed out that there are a lot of do-it-yourself websites out there right now, which are appealing for reasons ranging from the poor economy to just wanting something unique.

“You don’t want to go to a Halloween party and see ten people wearing the same bag (costume) that you bought for 50 bucks that you’re only going to wear once,” she said.

If you’re on a budget, spend money on things that you wouldn’t have at home, she suggested, like vampire fangs or different colored makeup.

When fashioning a DIY Halloween costume, Galley said it comes down to “using traditional things in a untraditional way, just looking at things in a different perspective and simplifying what you see to make it work for you.”