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I don’t consider myself a crafty person. I can’t paint or draw to save my life, and I’m not particularly great at building anything. Halloween costume ideas, however, are something I have a real knack for. After all, recreating fashion looks is something I do almost every day. As a shopping editor, I’m constantly trying to find things that look like other things. Sometimes, it’s a shirt that will fit a runway trend I’m writing about. Other times, it’s a dress that looks just like one a celebrity wore (only cheaper). This particular skillset spills over into my personal style, too: I’m inspired by things others wear all the time. (This fall leather blazer ensemble was a total homage to ’90s Winona Ryder).
When it comes to my Halloween inspo, it starts with an image or a video clip. “I’ve got a sweater like that,” I’ll think. “I could totally make it into something.” Other times, it starts with the costume itself: I’ll spot something that calls to me and build an outfit around it. (This year’s idea (stay tuned!) happened the second way.)
Before the big reveal however, I’m taking a look back at some of my best recreations thus far, from Wednesday Addams to Courtney Love. Sensing a theme? You’re not wrong — I tend to gravitate toward strange and unusual women (a.k.a. my fictional spirit animals.)
Behold, my ten best Halloween looks of all time.
My Best Halloween Costume Ideas
1. Lydia Deetz, 2020
I went all in on Halloween for 2020 after spotting—and falling for—this Leg Avenue Lydia Deetz costume online. A year of being cooped up at home courtesy of that pesky little global pandemic that shall not be named meant that I needed to do something fun, and well, this was it. The dress and the wig were store-bought, but I free-handed the ghoulish makeup using the picture on the left as a reference. For extra creativity points, I even made a photo of Beetlejuice my Zoom background while showing off my look online.
2. Cruella De Vil, 2021
The pressure was on to top my 2020 look in 2021. Though I typically like to pull my inspo from the my two favorite eras (the ‘80s and the ‘90s), I made an exception in for 2021’s Cruella after spotting this chic little costume. After all, I’ve been called “Cruella” a time or two for my own fashion choices, so why not embrace it, right? The hardest part of this one was getting the wig to sit just so, but once I got it on, I thought it suited me quite well.
3. Robert Palmer Girl, 2023
2023’s look was one I had been toying with for awhile. A throwback to the era of my birth, this was an homage not only to the fair-skinned, red-lipped babes from Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love” video, but also to a simpler time, when music videos, and not TikTok voiceovers, ruled the world. It was fairly easy to recreate: I started with a plain black bodycon dress and added some tights and a cheap little studded belt from Amazon. The two main elements — the guitar and the makeup — were things I already had at my disposal, however. (Ah, the perks of having a professional guitarist for a boyfriend!) This one also involved some performance art, since I actually did the dance from the video.
4. Marilyn Monroe, 2022
I had no intention of dressing up as the late, great Marilyn Monroe in 2022. But when this little French Connection frock popped up on my screen mid-scroll and gave me visions of a modern-day bombshell, I knew I didn’t really have a choice. Being that I’m only about 5 feet 2 inches tall, it suited me far better than a replica of Monroe’s actual Gentlemen Prefer Blondes getup, the hem of which would’ve almost certainly dragged the ground, and I figured I could actually wear this dress again at some point after playing dress-up. Naturally, Amazon provided the wig, the gloves, and the (faux) diamonds.
5. Sally, 2012
This was a last-minute DIY that I was particularly proud of. With (literally) nothing to wear to my friend’s Halloween party, I desperately looked around for something I could create. I was listening to a lot of Fiona Apple at this time, and her cover of “Sally’s Song” from the Nightmare Before Christmas had a particularly strong hold on me in 2012, so it’s unsurprising that I would eventually turn to Sally as my muse. 90 percent of this look consisted of eyeliner (which I always have an abundance of). I generously drew it all over my arm, chest and cheeks. Having successfully recreated Sally’s stitches, I also drew on little extended lashes under my eyes and used some blue eyeshadow to deaden my face a bit before piling on the rouge and drawing on a little Cupid’s doll mouth of lipstick. The dress didn’t matter so much to me (in fact, I think I borrowed it from a friend who thought it might work for the occasion) as long as I got the makeup right—and I have to say, I think I nailed it.
6. Courtney Love, 2019
Technically, this one wasn’t a Halloween costume (I wore it for my friend Sam’s rock-and-roll-themed baby shower), but I still think it’s still one of the best looks I’ve come up with to date. Given my affinity for Hole, I chose to go as punk rock queen and all-around badass, Courtney Love. I started with an inspo shot of her in a leopard coat, a black slip dress and a pair of ripped up fishnets and went to work. It came together quickly enough—I already owned a lookalike coat. I picked up a navy slip dress from Topshop and a pair of tights, added a cheap crown and a blonde wig, and boom! A star was born.
7. Wednesday Addams, 2016
After interviewing the Queen of Halloween, The Girl Next Door’s Holly Madison, about her approach to dressing up in 2016, I decided to take her advice and fashion my look that year after someone I already kinda’ looked like. And considering that I was still dying my hair jet black in 2016, Wednesday Addams wasn’t much of a stretch. I found a generic black collared dress to complete the look, but for me, it was the braids, the black lipstick and the kohl-lined eyes that really drove this one home.
8. Playboy Bunny, 2006
I admittedly wasn’t very creative with my costumes as a college student at Michigan State University. As Mean Girl’s Cady Heron so aptly explained, “In Girl World, Halloween is the one day a year when a girl can dress up like a total slut and no other girls can say anything else about it.” She wasn’t wrong, and I was definitely an active participant of that mindset in my early ‘20s. As a result, most of my looks were rather played out, to the say the least (basically, pick a thing and put “sexy” in front of it, and I’ve probably been that), but I really went for the gusto in 2006 with my stint as a Playboy Bunny. To this day, I’m still in awe that I actually pranced down the street in little more than a black bodysuit, a pair of ears and some tights. (At least I was confident?) A few years later, I recycled this look, albeit with a skirt over my bottom, so it actually got double usage—and a spot on my list.
9. Nirvana Cheerleader, 2013
They say necessity is the mother of invention, and that was certainly the case with the dead Nirvana cheerleader costume I came up with the night before my office costume party in 2013. As a broke 20-something, I was so poor I couldn’t really afford to buy a costume (not that I had time to, anyway, after waiting until the very last possible second). But suddenly, I was struck by a flash of inspiration when I somehow realized that I already had all the makings of a dead Nirvana cheerleader from the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video. I threw on a pleated black skirt and a simple black tank top from my closet and crafted a quick “A” for anarchy with roll of red packing tape I had in my drawer. After a quick run to Walgreens, I also had a pair of pom-poms as the icing on the cake. The next day, I proudly took home the award for “scariest costume.”
10. Alex Owens, 2018
In 2018, I worked part-time at a salon, so I tapped the available resources at my disposal (read: my lovely friends and stylists Rachel Miller and Mikayla Fratterigo) to create this look around Alex’s hairdo. Thinking back on Holly Madison’s advice, I chose someone I not only sort of resembled (we’re both brunette, close enough), but someone who owned a sweater that looked like one I already had. I threw it on, the ladies worked their teasing magic and my Halloween costume was complete.
What’s your favorite Halloween costume idea? Tell me in the comments below! Xo, Nicole
