Have you heard the saying “dress for the job you want”? Well, I took that to heart for my Halloween costume this year and for a party on Saturday night I dressed up as…

a Trader Joe’s employee!!

It might be one of my favorite costumes ever. It was easy, comfortable, and true to my character. If you love Trader Joe’s like I do – or just want an easy and fun costume – save this idea for next year!

 

Here’s how I put together my Trader Joe’s employee costume:

+ Trader Joe’s t-shirt or Hawaiian shirt. I ordered my long sleeve TJ shirt from Ebay (it was $9!). Or if you are chummy with your local Trader Joe’s employees they probably have an extra to lend or give you. When I was chatting with someone at Trader Joe’s on Saturday she said, “You should have just asked me for a shirt – I have a closet full!” Chris found the Hawaiian shirt he wore at Goodwill on the day of!

+ Jeans. Easy!

+ Name tag. I Photoshopped a name tag using a screen shot of the Trader Joe’s logo, Helvetica font text for the name and position, and found the exact shade of Trader Joe’s red. Then I printed them out on cards stock and taped them to our shirts! The only change is that I think the position should be in all caps but perhaps you could request that. Note: wearing a t-shirt means you are “crew member” status but wearing a Hawaiian shirt means you are “captain” status so create your name tag accordingly!

+ Tray of samples in tiny cups. What is a Trader Joe’s trip without a sample or tiny coffee? To make a tray of samples I asked for extra cups at the sample station during a recent grocery trip and used a small Christmas tray I already. (But any small, lightweight tray or serving platter will do.) I used packing tape to lightly affix each cup to the tray so they wouldn’t slide around. Then I filled each cup with TJ cinnamon schoolbook cookies (aka letter cookies at our house). I thought these were a pretty iconic Trader Joe’s treat but the little chocolate chip cookies would be good too! Throughout the night I offered letter cookies to people I was chatting with. I also thought it could have been cute to make it look like some cups were filled with coffee. Perhaps painting some cotton balls brown and stuffing a few cups with those? (*2024 update Trader Joes’ no longer serves coffee in tiny ups, sob! But try asking your local TJ’s if they might still have some tiny cups in the back. I was gifted a whole stack of them! Or just grab some generic tiny cups elsewhere and will them with snacks.)

+ Trader Joe’s grocery bag. At the last minute I slung a Trader Joe’s canvas bag over my shoulder which was a nice touch.

Two items I wish I had…

+ Box cutter. If you’ve noticed, Trader Joe’s employees always wear a leather holder on their waist with a box cutter in it. They are ready to jump in and open boxes at a moment’s notice! I wish I had made time to pick one up.

+ Fearless Flyers. I should have grabbed a few Fearless Flyers to have on hand, or tuck into the pocket of my canvas bag.

 

To be honest I don’t usually love dressing up for Halloween but this year was fun. My costume might make a repeat appearance in the future! For the Trader Joe fanatics out there, is there anything else you’d add to the costume?

P.S. Check out what’s in my cart at Trader Joe’s.