The World's Worst Party Costumes

After witnessing someone come to a recent office party of ours dressed as a giant toner cartridge, we decided to feature it along with some of the other worst party costumes we could think of. We hope you enjoy:

1. Duct Tape Man: It seems like a simple enough idea to grab a roll of duct tape, wrap it around one's clothes, and call it a costume, right? Here's where being Duct Tape Man can go horribly wrong: 1) It actually requires several rolls of duct tape to wrap even one's pants sufficiently and having to make multiple last-minute trips to the store can quickly get expensive, not to mention inconvenient in half-finished duct tape pants; 2) Wrap the tape too tight and it will be difficult to move; 3) Using the bathroom can become an ordeal, too, should one simply do a straight wrap and forget to create a zipper.

2. Aussie Rules Hooligan: It makes sense that a sport that combines rugby and American football, only without the padding, would attract some of the most rabid, violent fans. The sight of one can quickly kill any enjoyment in a room.

3. Toner Cartridges Man: As a general rule, party costumes should never be shopped for at an office supply store, no matter how good of an idea it may seem to take advantage of a Samsung toner cartridge closeout sale.

4. Walking Strobe Light: This one should be fairly self-explanatory. People and alcohol do not mix with anyone projecting pulsing lights. It's the costume that says, "Run away from me, you're going to vomit, I promise!"

5. Disco Richard Nixon: America's most troubled president was certainly not its most socially adept—awkward and bumbling at his most lovable points and notorious for his disastrous performance in the 1960 US Presidential Debate. It's a certainty that if Richard Nixon ever heard disco music, he did not dance to it, and imitators would be wise to steer clear.

6. Life-Sized Candy Bar: Here is another general rule. Avoid costumes that can be mistaken for six-foot pieces of walking excrement.

7. Drunken Koala: Cute animals and sloppy, stumbling inebriation do not usually go well together, though exceptions can be made for particularly cute people.

8. Poached Egg: This is the type of egg that's cooked in water and typically sprinkled on top of salads. It's not so much that this is an egregiously bad costume just that it's hard to pull off and kind of pointless. Better to poach a decent costume idea from elsewhere.

9. Anything favored by Prince Harry: Maybe it's wrong to lay a blanket judgment on the costume choices of a young, crown prince, given that the only widely circulated picture of him wearing one came when he dressed up as an SS guard. Still, that wasn't much of a place to start.

10. Hysterically Crying Person: Nothing kills the vibe and joy of a party faster than an angry, shrieking person dominating a room, though admittedly, anyone doing this as a secret joke can create great amusement for their friends. And that's the trick to most of these costumes, really. The world's worst party costumes can also be some of the best. It's all a matter of perspective.