Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photos: Getty Images, Everett Collection
The perfect Halloween costume is all about striking the right balance between clever and culturally relevant while still being recognizable. This year, you could take the easy route and dress as Wolverine and Deadpool with the rest of America’s straight boyfriends. Or you could go for total obscurity and dress as Anne Hathaway in The Idea of You. (Just in case, here’s a denim caftan.) You could even just put a pumpkin on your head and call it a night.
However, if you’re looking for something that will make people go, “Oh my God, that happened this year?” I’ve got great news. Below are 12 ideas for 2024 Halloween costumes that will (hopefully) require minimal explanation. Alternatively, you may refer to this list as a guide to any Halloween costumes you see out in the wild at the end of the month that make you go, “huh?”
By October 31, The Substance will have barely been out for a month. Which means Halloween is a great opportunity to prove to everyone just how up to date you are on pop culture. Even if the people you’re partying with have yet to see the movie, Demi Moore’s character Elisabeth Sparkle wears an outfit so delicious it requires no context other than, “I’m Demi Moore’s character from that new satirical body-horror film.” Don’t forget your cardboard box and oversize sunglasses.
To find the perfect Challengers costume, simply pick any scene with Zendaya as Tashi Duncan and wear that. You could do a white tennis dress and a braided ponytail. You could try to source the blue dress she wears after winning the U.S. Open juniors tournament. Make it a group costume and wear a pink velour zip-up from that scene. (You know the one.) If you’re going for something that’s more easily recognizable, the “I Told Ya” T-shirt or a blue collared shirtdress will serve you well.
Industry, an HBO drama about hot people who work at a London investment bank, recently wrapped its third season. This gives you the perfect excuse to source all of Harper’s business-casual outfit and say it’s for Halloween. A headset and business casual will also sell the look so long as you brush up on your financial jargon. This outfit can also double as a costume for a guy in finance, six-five, trust fund.
Even if you don’t have the costuming expertise of Saturday Night Live, you can still pay homage to everyone’s favorite baby pygmy hippo, Moo Deng. Wear your dewiest makeup, a silver body-con dress, and get into a little mischief. Make it a couples costume and get your partner to dress as the humongous baby penguin Pesto.
Every year, a little bit of the internet leaks into mainstream culture. This year, it is somehow “Hawk Tuah Girl.” Haliey Welch, which is Hawk Tuah Girl’s government name, officially launched a costume collection with Spirit Halloween. It’s a pink car-mechanic jumpsuit with a badge that reads, “Hawk Tuah Express. Lubrication experts.”
Everyone will think they have the best Chappell Roan costume, and they will all be right. Any one of the singer’s onstage looks deserve to be re-created as a Halloween costume. If I may make a request, I’d like to see at least one (1) re-creation of an outfit from the “My Kink Is Karma” music video. Specifically, her first outfit with the bedazzled white tank top, leopard-print miniskirt, and cowboy boots. Accessorize with butterfly hair clips, gaudy rings, temporary tattoos, and makeup you’ve cried half off. It’s the kind of costume that only gets better as the night goes on.
Pay tribute to two pop icons at once by dressing as Rosalía attending Charli XCX’s 32nd birthday party. You’ll need a black bralette, black shorts, a baseball hat, sparkly knee-high boots, and, of course, a cigarette bouquet, which will require some DIY-ing. For a pared-down version, buy a premade flower bouquet and a pack of cigarettes. (Parliaments, if you want to be historically accurate; fake cigarettes, if you don’t want to waste.) Then, attach individual cigarettes (or small bundles of cigarettes) to floral wire and arrange away.
Though we’ve received no music videos for Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, she’s given us plenty of Halloween-costume fodder. If you want to go low effort, Fashion Nova is selling a costume its dubbed Renaissance Diva Cowgirl. If you want to go for something more Beyoncé-approved, you can find pairs of Adidas x Ivy Park denim chaps on eBay.
The Sweat Tour and it’s the same but it’s a duo costume on Halloween so no it’s not. To dress as Charli, simply pair any black wraparound sunglasses with an Essex accent and an all-black outfit. Dark hair is a non-negotiable. For Troye, you don’t have to re-create the “Got Me Started” music video, but yes, you do.
Long ago in February, the world was mesmerized by the bizarre, immersive Willy Wonka Experience in Glasgow. If you want a costume that will have people saying, “Wait, that was this year?,” dress as one of the cast members at the unsanctioned Wonka event, like “The Unknown” or the disillusioned Oompa Loompa.
Another year, another era of Nicole Kidman costumes (and wigs). You could do Nicole Kidman in A Family Affair. You could pick any of her outfits from the Babygirl trailer. But you should probably go as Nicole Kidman in The Perfect Couple, wearing a blue gown and a cozy cardigan on the beach.
Halloween exists in the context of all in which it lives and came before it. So, if you walk around on October 31 in a blush pantsuit carrying a drink in a coconut, there should be no question about who you’re dressed as.
