The 405 Interstate Highway Costume

For Halloween this year, I dressed up as the 405 highway. I live in Los Angeles, where traffic can be crazy. Sometimes it feels like a significant portion of my life is spent on the highway! I know many other Southern Californians share my frustration. (Our obsession with traffic was even parodied on Saturday Night Live's sketch on "Californians.") This is what sparked the idea for my costume! I wanted to personify the 405 highway as it's something that my community definitely knows very well. But I am sure anyone that has ever driven on any sort of highway can appreciate it as well.


My costume was made with very inexpensive materials. I handmade all the road signs using paper, poster board, and markers. The headpiece of the costume consists of a large road sign indicating "405 South Long Beach" that is attached to a white construction helmet using clear packing tape on the back side. I transformed an old black shirt and pants into the road using white tape to mark the lanes. One sleeve is marked as an HOV carpool lane with diamond patterns and the other sleeve is marked with double yellow Lanes, made with the same white tape which I colored with yellow marker. I bought a pack of toy cars online for $5 and sewed each car onto the shirt and pants. The back of my shirt was decorated with a "Do Not Enter" sign made out of posterboard that was sewn on to the shirt. I made sure that my outfit was coordinated by marking lanes on my shoes with tape. I also made highway sign earrings out of poster board (dangling earrings which were tied to studs I had) as well as a functional highway sign purse (signs glued to a paper gift bag) which I used to carry belongings when I went out. All road signs and exit signs were true replicas of actual signs on the 405.


Friends and strangers alike loved the costume. Many commented that the 405 was indeed scarier than any ghost or ghoul, perfect for Halloween. I got many laughs and high-fives! I was even voted Best Costume at a friend's party and won a bottle of tequila. No drinking and driving though!