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The end of October has finally arrived, and with it an opportunity to show off painstakingly gained cultural acumen for Halloween. After a calendar year of binge-watching every original series on Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, et cetera, ad infinitum, it's time to put all of that time in sweatpants to good use and dress up as one of 2014 to 2015's best film and television characters. Intensely studied the evolution of Daenerys Targaryen's maxi-dresses Game of Thrones or Olivia Pope's jewelry choices? Prove it.
In terms of shows that premiered since last Halloween, there's Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, whose signature look is easy to achieve — yellow cardigan, hot pink pants, and the pair of sneakers ripped from your tween years. Of course, the costume could be done as a duo with Titus Andromedon, but his Ironman "Hulkbuster" suit may be a bit harder to get your hands on. For even bigger groups, the five emotions from Inside Out make for an instant crowd-pleaser.
In the more practical wardrobe department, dressing up as Scandal's Olivia Pope requires you to treat yourself to a beautiful new winter coat, plus some sleek workwear to go underneath it. How savvy of you! The amazing Cookie Lyon of Empire can be captured in animal print, fur, or basically anything fabulous, but the outfit she wears straight from prison will be recognized by any loyal fan.
If you're even too lazy to order this misspelled Beverley Hill's t-shirt inspired by HBO's The Jinx, the easiest costume is Game of Thrones's Cersei, as she embarks on the "Walk of Atonement" in the season five finale. And if that is too controversial for you or fellow party members, you could always been a Minion, just make sure that you're good at making friends — you might need to find new ones.