Halloween costume ideas for couples

Appearing in costume as couple only adds to the fun of Halloween. Here are some couples costume ideas to help you celebrate Halloween a deux.

Dressing as an already well-known couple is an easy place to start since their iconic status does some of the legwork for you: Because people know what to expect, they fill in the blanks themselves.

Be sure to know your audience: John and Lorena Bobbitt might go over well with your co-workers and less well with the in-laws. Think Homer and Marge, Shrek and Fiona, Austin Powers and Felicity Shagwell. Then there are the couples who aren't really couples: Alex Rodriguez and Madonna or David Duchovny and a blowup doll.

You can take pretty much any theme and make a male and female version of it:

Religion: Priest and nun.

Home improvement: Nut and bolt.

Foods: Chips and dip.

Beverages: Rum and coke.

And though we're trying very hard to stick to tame combinations, you can range from the vaguely suggestive to the downright dirty. I have to admit to liking the brazen extremes that some people will go to when dressing for Halloween. It's Halloween after all, a day made for the grotesque.

Remember that pairs don't have to be male-female or even romantically involved. Think Harry Potter and Hermione. Or Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. Nor does the pairing have to exclude inanimate objects. Think Emeril Lagasse and garlic or Lance Armstrong and a bike.

Current events provide plenty of costume ideas. Election season suggests John and Cindy McCain or Barack and Michelle Obama. And political figures often make good targets, i.e., Idaho Sen. Larry Craig and his stall mate.

A humorous twist can breathe new life into a hackneyed theme. For example, if a man is dressed as a magician, then his female assistant could dress with stitch marks through her middle. Or if you're dressing as priest and nun, have the male member of the duo dress as the nun, and make him pregnant.

Of course, couples costumes can be conceptual: ball and chain, rock star and groupie, lock and key. One of the best couples costumes I ever saw was pure concept: A man and a woman each wore plain black pants. The left leg of one was tied to the right leg of the other, as in the game "Three-Legged Race." Together they wore a giant oversized T-shirt that provided the punch line: "Co-" read her side; "Dependent" read his.

If you want something truly original, you'll probably have to think of it yourself.

But hopefully these ideas have jump-started your creative thinking so that you can create couples Halloween costumes that suit you and your better half (wait, that just gave me an idea ... ).