See Pinterest Staffers Model Their Crafty Halloween Costumes

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Welcome to a special Halloween edition of Working It, where Racked follows street style into the office. Forget pedestrian khakis and button-downs—these fashionable professionals take dress codes to a whole new dimension. Quick, somebody call HR!

Party City, Ricky's, Spirit: None of 'em have anything on Halloween when stacked against DIY giant Pinterest. When it comes to whipping up creative, do-it-yourself costumes, the team behind the San Francisco-based social media platform have the holiday on lock.

After the jump, get tons of fresh ideas for your own Halloween ensemble. And while you're in the mood, head to the Pinterest Handmade Halloween Hub, which features a different themed costume every week leading up to the big day.

Malorie Lucich McGee, Tech Communications: Cereal Killer

Do you have any secret Pinterest boards?
I have an ongoing secret board for gifts I see that remind me of friends and family. It makes it really easy to purchase thoughtful gifts when their birthdays or the holidays come up. I also have a secret board with a group of friends that we use to plan upcoming dinners—to figure out who's bringing which dishes (and wine).

How does the vibe of the startup scene affect how you dress for work?
The culture is laid-back, and we're constantly moving around to work with different teams. Many of us also have commutes that involve taking trains, biking, or walking through San Francisco, so comfort is key.

Do you have a Pinterest-inspired success story?
Whenever I travel, I DIY my itineraries for the trip to help plan and discover great places others have been. I recently went to Kauai and found some amazing secret beaches and locals-only spots thanks to other Pinners.

Who would you swap wardrobes with in a heartbeat?
Keri Russell.

Is there a particular Pinner or board that you love?
Last year I discovered a board by a woman named Rhonda Simpson with super interesting historical Pins on her "Nature.Science.History" board. Every time one of her Pins hits my feed, I learn something new and my mind is blown, like that penguins have longer legs than we think, or about a two-year-old criminal, or how doctors are growing a nose on a man's forehead.

What's the best Halloween costume you've worn?
It wasn't worn by me, but when I was 6 and my brother was 5, he was obsessed with The Wizard of Oz. My mom made him a flying monkey costume, complete with tattered angel wings.

Have you ever re-worn a costume?
I was a pirate every Halloween from about 6 to 16 years old.

Laura Brunow Miner, Graphic Designer: Popcorn

What was your first job?
I developed film at a one hour photo lab—one of so many jobs in design/photography I've had since!

Have you ever re-worn a Halloween costume?
For many years in a row, I was the moon. I would wear all black and toss on a big foil-covered crescent-shaped piece of cardboard with a hole for my face.

Do you have any secret boards?
I have a board for great examples of baby photography. (I have a 5-month-old and a toddler.) I love getting inspiration for tasteful and creative takes on these kinds of portraits, but I don't want to clog up my feed with baby photos, which people tend to either love or loathe.

What's the best Halloween costume you've seen?
My friend Steph Goralnick always knocks it out of the park, and her Sriracha costume is one of my all-time favorites.

How does the vibe of the startup scene affect how you dress for work? Do you feel more compelled to dress down?
Not here! Pinterest staffers, both male and female, tend to be very stylish and make an effort to look nice. I've significantly stepped up my game since I was a sloppy freelancer a year ago.

Ben Chiaramonte, Brand Designer: Wolf of Wall Street

Do you have any Pinterest-inspired DIY success stories?
I do. I just finished a potting workbench to get my plants off of the back deck. It turned out beautifully and the wife appreciates having her space back around the backyard. It feels great to have used Pinterest inspiration to design my own bench and then make it with a few trips to Home Depot.

What's the the worst on Pinterest right now?
Just do a search for "zipper face costume makeup."

Is there a particular Pinner you love?
Cardboard Collective.

Do you typically make your own costume?
Going back to my childhood, we always made our own costumes. I grew up in a small community where pre-packaged costumes were hard to come by and what you could find was too expensive. My parents pushed us to be creative, probably to save cash as I was one of three boys. I remember always being a "dead" soccer player, or a "dead" artist, since it was easy to just pull something out of the closet.

What are some of the best Halloween costumes you've seen on Pinterest?
I love all things Dia de Los Muertos makeup. Michelle Phan rocks it in this tutorial.

What about the best costume you've seen on an animal?
I kind of love the knitted tortoise trend.

Mac Huynh, Writer: Unicorn

Tell us about a Halloween costume you never want to see again.
Sexy anything. WHY? Being a regular astronaut is way cooler than being a sexy astronaut! It feels like every year it keeps getting crazier. I just saw a sexy Olaf the Snowman costume from Frozen and felt despair. Do better, ladies.

What's the best Halloween costume you've worn?
A Carmen Miranda costume hand-made by my Grandma Ellie. She made it from old 1960s tablecloths and a big pile of shiny fake fruit. Walking white girl fiesta.

How does the vibe of the startup scene affect how you dress for work?
Startups are super forgiving when it comes to dress code, and sadly that means that by around Wednesday, I stop caring. In some ways it's liberating to let it go, but sometimes it makes me nostalgic for the '80s power woman I always wanted to be—shoulder pads, belted blazers, Easy Spirits, and big hair. I miss those days of dressing for success, and I never even experienced them.

Have you ever re-worn a costume?
I wore the same Cleopatra costume, also handmade by Grandma Ellie, pretty consistently from 11 to 17 years old. By the final years it definitely started to get too small to be appropriate and startled people who answered the door to a teenage trick-or-treater.

What are some of the best Halloween costumes you've seen on Pinterest?
I went down a crazy paper and cardboard costume rabbit hole on Pinterest. Best find: a Marie Antoinette gown and two-foot wig made entirely of paper! I'm doing that someday when I beef up my skills.

What was your first job?
Barista at an uppity Starbucks in Marin. They never actually trained me to make the drinks properly, so I always just kinda had to wing it and hope for the best. There were some incidents.

Dave Kim, Product Marketing: Cowboy

What's the best Halloween costume you've worn?
Tobias Funke trying out for the Blue Man Group—something like this.

Do you have any Pinterest-inspired DIY success stories?
Our home office was inspired by a Pin.

Is there a particular Pinner or board that you love?
Anthony's Batman board reminds me of growing up and reading comics.

Have you ever re-worn a costume?
Cowboy outfit—it so easy!

What are some of the best Halloween costumes you've seen on Pinterest?
The cosplay community is huge on Pinterest. It's always fascinating to see what lengths fans will go to dress up as their favorite characters.

What's your favorite animal costume?
The super dogs at the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade.

How does the vibe of the startup scene affect how you dress for work?
The dress code is pretty much T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers with the occasional button-down, and even with that you might be more dressed up than other folks. It's definitely a more comfortable way to work.

Christine Schirmer, Consumer Communications: Scarecrow

What was your first job?
I was a candy striper at a local hospital. Not a good look, incidentally, but I loved it.
I don't think people realize how much you get back from a volunteer gig.

What's the best Halloween costume you've worn?
My grandmother took a trip to London and bought me a Florence Nightingale cape. I accessorized with a candle.

What are your beauty must-haves?
Drybar. A good blowout can make any day better.

How does the vibe of the startup scene affect how you dress for work?
You can take the girl out of New York, but you can't take the New York out of the girl. I wear a lot of black and heels.

Mithya Srinivasan, International: Hawaiian Punch

Do you have any secret boards?
I have a secret board around gifts for my family and friends for the holidays that I like to keep under wraps.

What's the best Halloween costume you've seen?
One of the best group costumes that I've seen was a group of Spaniards running around a giant bull to recreate the very traditional Running of the Bulls from Spain.

Is there a particular Pinner that you love?
I love following West Elm and Ikea on Pinterest because I recently moved into a new place, and I really enjoy getting bits of home decor inspiration in my feed. Ikea is particularly helpful in providing tips on how to make even the smallest, coziest nooks of spaces even homier. I'm also on the hunt for a dream couch, and I really like seeing a variety of patterns and styles of couches via West Elm. When I click through on a Pin of a couch, I enjoy falling down the rabbit hole of discovery where I see all kinds of rugs and coffee tables that have been paired with that couch.

What your favorite animal Halloween costume?
A dog dressed as a taco.

Do you have any Pinterest-inspired DIY success stories?
I've made a bookshelf with some inspiration from Pinterest.

What are some of the best costumes you've seen on Pinterest?
A lot of the costumes for kids are really creative! Some of my favorites include a Clementine tangerine, Olaf the Snowman from Frozen, and baby Yoda.

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