It’s Halloween, which for frequent and casual concert-goers, partiers, and ravers alike is a day circled on the calendar. It’s one of the biggest event days of the year. But unlike other times of year, where wearing regular clothing is acceptable, much like wearing regular clothing is acceptable throughout your everyday life, Halloween comes with special expectations. Which may leave many wondering, what to wear to a Halloween concert?

Let’s get the first thing out of the way, obviously you’re expected to wear a costume. Sorry, but you can’t get away with pretending it’s not Halloween. If you don’t like the practice, take the weekend off. It’s okay, there are plenty of people who hide from the holiday. If you do go out though, you have to participate. Even if you do a lame “Jim costume” (meaning Jim from The Office).

But let’s talk logistics, always a sexy topic when discussing fashion. When you go to a Halloween concert, you’re likely going to move. Also, the end of October might be literally the worst time of the year to plan an outfit because the temperature fluctuates so much and can drop on an hour to hour basis. It’s a nightmare. Probably the actual scariest part of Halloween.

With that in mind, I have a very simple, three rule, guideline for you to construct the perfect Halloween concert outfit. Follow these rules exactly and you’ll never have to ask what to wear to a Halloween concert again.

The 3 Rules for Figuring Out What to Wear to a Halloween Concert

Rule #1

Stick as close to normal type clothes as possible

Did you make an elaborate two-person costume out of cardboard for you and your best friend? That’s nice, I hope the neighborhood loves it. Because you’re not taking that thing out anywhere but trick-or-treating. That is not mobile, it is not practical, and it is not all-weather.

Instead, try and base your costume off a shirt and pants or skirt base. Be a pirate, wear a hat, leave the sword at home. Done. Is that too simple? That’s fine. Be a creative Halloween hero, I’m certainly not. But build from a solid foundation. Cause your elaborate setups and excessive props will only slow you down, and probably irritate others at a packed Halloween concert.

Rule #2

Visualization

This is an important rule. You need to visualize yourself in a variety of different potential Halloween scenarios. Then, figure out if you’ll be okay with what your wearing. And thereby making sure you’re not complaining.

Here’s where this comes from. You probably have noticed the “skimpy Halloween costume” thing. You might have even participated yourself. Here’s the thing: the people who chose to wear a costume that seems to imply they are allergic to cotton knew what they were getting into. And they tough it out if the going gets uncomfortable. You don’t see them complaining and they have my respect.

No whining. Visualize. Know all the scenarios. Plan your costume accordingly.

Rule #3

Adaptability

If it’s like basically every other Halloween in the history of humankind, it will somehow be both the moistest, sweatiest hot ever and the driest, windiest, bone-chilling cold ever. Sometimes simultaneously. Somehow.

So how do you keep warm and cool at the same time? Well, you don’t. But, you can try your best. A lot of your heat escapes from your head, so wear a hood with your outfit. Keep your ears warm with it up. Hit the dance floor with it down.

There’s one thing that has been the perfect solution for me. It follows all three of these rules and it’s one that has yet to fail me.

A hooded onesie.

Yeah, you know what I’m talking about. Like just be an animal or a character that’s a onesie with a hood. Skip the footies. Wear real shoes. I’m serious about that. Ain’t nobody want to see the bottom of your feet after walking around on footsies.

But yeah. Onesie. With a hood. Wearing pajamas is great and entirely acceptable on Halloween. Nobody will know the difference and you’ll be hella comfortable. And now you know what to wear to a Halloween concert.

Need help figuring out what to wear to other things? Check out the whole series.

Go out tonight, and any night. Jukely is a concert subscription that gives members guestlist access to hundreds of music events – for one price. Whenever you want to go out, you’ll always have something to do. Learn more and sign up at jukely.com.