Topical Halloween Costume Ideas for 2023
Happy October, friends. There’s a chill in the air, the leaves are beginning to turn, and sports are… sporting? We assume? Anyway, it’s officially Sweater Weather™ (more on that next week) which means it’s time to get spooky. Whether you’re on the Halloween party circuit or trick-or-treating with the kids, we’re always a fan of adults in topical Halloween costumes, so we’ve rounded up our favorite costume ideas featuring pop-culture hits over the past year. And, to make life even easier, they all lean heavily on hairdos so you can keep your shopping to a minimum. Let’s go!
Tour Queens
This year we’ve got our two favorite touring queens to thank for a rebounding economy, so we’re paying homage to the Femmes of Funflation.
Beyoncé
You may have already perfected the Mute Challenge and have a closet full of silver outfits. In fact, you may be preparing to use Halloween as a way to extend the afterglow from attending a Renaissance stop. If it wasn’t on your list, dressing up as Destiny’s favorite child, Ms. Carter-Knowles, or a Renaissance Tour attendee, is as simple as head-to-toe silver with a bouncing blowout.
Taylor Swift
You’ve got a lot of options when it comes to Ms. Americana. Certainly you could take a nod from her Era’s Tour and dress as your favorite “era” of Taylor Swift, friendship bracelets a-plenty. We’re keeping it simple and going as TSwift in her WAG (wife and girlfriend) era. Grab a pair of cutoff shorts, a Travis Kelce jersey (or a red bomber jacket) and give yourself a sleek, straight blowout. Bonus points for bangs - real or clip-in.
Box Office Hits
Two major movie moments this past year are ripe for Halloween Recreation:
Barbie
To be honest, each Barbie character makes for a great Halloween costume, so we’re thinking this is the perfect group idea #TeamAllan. A great costume should be immediately recognizable among the masses, so we recommend either Weird Barbie or Mojo Dojo Casa House Ken.
For Weird Barbie, you simply need a pink dress and some washable markers to draw all over yourself. Short haired gals and guys can go to town on some pomade, otherwise grab a cheap blond wig and hack away.
Mojo Dojo Casa House Ken just needs a faux fur coat, a black bandana, and basically the same hair as Weird Barbie.
Live Action Little Mermaid
Halle Bailey as Ariel? We want to be Part of Her World. Little Mermaid is a great pull whether you’re looking for a sexy costume or feeling more demure, because it’s really all about the red hair. Sexy Ariels just needs a bikini top (break out those clamshells) and a shimmery skirt. Demure Ariel can take inspiration from this on-land look with a blue dress and a pink headband.
Instagram’s Favorite Freed Pop Star
Feel like dancing? We’ve freed Britney, and now she’s living her best life, dancing on Instagram in crop-tops. Recently she’s added… um, “props” to the mix. Dress up as our favorite, newly freed popstar in the most topical, of-the-moment version: Knife Dancing BritBrit. For clothes - a peasant style crop top with either cutoffs or bikini bottoms. For hair - a messy half-up half-down ‘do. For accessories - an iPhone and some fake knives. Emphasis on FAKE. And we’d make sure they look very, very fake, so you don’t wind up with a police incident like Britney 😬.
Happy haunting, friends!