iPhone Halloween Costumes

Why do so many people want to dress up as an iPhone for Halloween? Can't nerds dress up as something normal like Steve Jobs or the Lin

ux Penguin? In recent years more and more Halloween party goers are choosing to dress up like an iPhone.

What would possess someone to dress up like their favorite piece of technology? It's not like an evil spirit or seductive she-devil where you can act out certain personality traits. The iPhone, in the end, has no real personality; it's just a fancy piece of plastic with lights and buttons. Isn't it? I put this question to Sally Foster, a former psychology professor and dean of San Elijo Campus at MiraCosta College in California.

"In general, people choose Halloween costumes more with their subconscious minds, much like we select our mates," Foster says. "A shy person picks something cool because they want to be cool. If, on the other hand, someone hated technology . . . they'd dress up as a malfunctioning, or archaic piece of equipment." I guess that accounts for this guy who dressed up as the Windows Blue Screen of Death.

Bottom line, Foster says that says since technology is so much a part of our lives, it is not at all surprising to see many technology-inspired costumes.

There you have it: In a sense, you are what you dress up as -- even if you don't realize it. So the big question is: What kind of iPhone are you?

Eco Friendly

Fortune blogger Philip Elmer-DeWitt spotted this eco-conscious iPhone evangelist in New York. The Apple-themed crusader was reminding us to think about the planet by recycling old devices. (Click on image to enlarge)

The Chick Magnet

Here is further proof that a hot piece of technology gets more attention from girls than your dad's sedan. This iPhone lover was dressed to impress by turning himself into his MySpace Mobile page, displayed on an iPhone. (Click on image to enlarge)

The Fit iPhone

Jason Jacobs, founder of the RunKeeper iPhone application, decided to run the 2009 Boston Marathon dressed as an iPhone. Of course, Jacobs' costume displayed his very own RunKeeper app. RunKeeper is a GPS-based fitness application for the iPhone 3G and 3GS that has a variety of cool features to help you track your workout. (Click on image to enlarge)

The Handyman

Regis Laborie in Oswego, Oregon wanted to create a realistic-looking iPhone costume without strapping a 42-inch LCD TV to himself (more on that later). Instead, Laborie created this costume with several criteria: Keep the cost under $50, build the costume using common or easily accessible tools, and keep the time investment down to about ten hours. (Click on image to enlarge)

The result is a sandwich-board style costume made of wood, plexiglass, foam pipe insulation, glue, tape, paint, clothespins, paper, and Styrofoam. The realistic front uses Christmas lights to illuminate the iPhone icons. See Laborie's blog for step-by-step instructions showing how he put the costume together. You can also download several image files from the blog to help you create your own iPhone costume.

The Real iPhone Costume

If you're dressing up for Halloween, why not give your iPhone its own costume too? Ideal Case is selling a demon-style silicone iPhone case that glows in the dark. The case is available in many different colors including yellow, green and orange. Pick up your own demon case online for $17.99. (Click on image to enlarge)

If you need more information, you can also check out this overly thorough review of the demon iPhone case on YouTube.