Wizards Getting Equal Time Parte ye Seconde

In my last installment I began my discussion of wizard costumes available commercially, such as they are, and talked generally about wizards and how they relate to Halloween.
We are picking up the thread here with another set of WIZARD OPTIONS (that was an echo effect, by the way).

It's all about options or the agony of having them as the case may be

You don't have to buy a commercial costume; not when you can purchase a MASK!  One aspect of the classic wizard costume that you might or might not like is the beard.  Is a beard de rigueur for your wizard costume?  Not, not at all, but in the world of costuming the more you don't look like Chad-from-next-door the more successful the costume.  If you have the robe and the hat and the staff and the pet raven and the belt pouch and the wand and the broom and all that and are not wearing spectacles you are a successful wizard.  Ta da.  However, the beard really "sells" it, don't you think?  Why not purchase a wizard mask?
I'll tell you why not.  Look at those sad bastards up there.  Seriously, you'd end up sweating and breathing your own candy scented breath and it would get all weird in there.  And where are the bloody eyeholes?  The virtue of these masks is that you get the beard, you get the very tall hat and a bonus crooked wizard nose (see witches for more information).  The doom of these mask, aside from the aforementioned breath-cum-latex funk, is that these wizards hardly look capable of a simple cantrip, much less fathoming the mysteries of the universe.
If you have a red bathrobe, big brown shoes and a sense of humor, item three, the Sorcerer's Apprentice hat with the Mickey ears is a great costume choice.  Almost instant recognition.  Doing it with some evil facepaint for a really nice effect is just gravy.

On the dark side, oooohhh yeah, on the dark side, whoa-oh-oh yeah (thank you John Cafferty  & the Beaver Brown Band)

What about Evil Wizards?  Check out these three dark fellows.  For the record these costumes are called sorcerer, sorcerer, and warlock.  They are spellcasters, but of an evil bent.  The first two really look like evil priests or monks, but in your classic fantasy works the evil wizards proudly announce their evilosity with their choice of attire. (Except for Saruman who wore white, because he was Saruman the White the leader of the Istari order, Gandalf the Grey's order, the wizards of Middle Earth, but he was corrupted by Sauron and then Gandalf died and returned to Middle Earth as Gandalf the White which is all way too geeky of me again, isn't it?)  You can accessorize for a really fun look.  How about a wicked dagger?  How do you feel about skulls?  There are options to dress these guys up to be really nasty.  That last guy is really badass with echoes of SKELETOR.  Any of these guys would benefit from an evil staff as well; something with a bird skull or some such.
Much like the classic Halloween witch costume you have options for being a wizard, but you must be recognized as a wizard for the costume to work.  Robes, hats, beards, staves, occult paraphernalia of all types are the keys to being recognized or you can go with an evil wizard.  Heck, you can go high concept, get some undead makeup and combine it with any of these costumes (preferably the evil ones) and be a LICH.  The choice is yours, wizard.

Of course there is always Merlin...

Have fun and keep your pumpkins lit.