Some of the best Halloween costumes are the Zeitgeist-y ones you can pull together in a pinch, with stuff you already have at home or can easily order online; the key is that they’re clever and well executed, not lazy and last minute. You now have exactly one week left until the big day, so to help you dress to impress, we have once again assembled a list of the best pop-culture Halloween costumes. Even with a few months still to go in 2024, it’s been a memorable year — with notable moments including a total solar eclipse and an indicted mayor, among so many others — so there’s no shortage of fodder for dress-up. Below, you’ll find something for Halloween fans of all ages, from iconic witches to sexy tennis players to a dancing scammer in a bedazzled ankle bracelet.
Amelia Dimoldenberg and Andrew Garfield’s Chicken Shop Date date
The real yearners remember the ridiculously flirtatious Golden Globes interview with Amelia Dimoldenberg and Andrew Garfield. A year later, Garfield’s much-anticipated appearance on Chicken Shop Date happened at long last. Of course, we watched with bated breath — the banter between Dimoldenberg and Garfield made us blush (especially given the recent news of his breakup with a self-described witch). It might be the most chronically online costume for a couple: Get a pink button-down and green satin-y skirt for Dimoldenberg and a brown cardigan for Garfield. Don’t forget a stuffed bucket of chicken.
Ellie the Elephant
As the New York Liberty’s Ellie the Elephant danced her way to stardom, she proved that mascots don’t have to be corny. She’s been written up twice by Vogue and has a keen eye for fashion, not to mention her own stylist. She’s even been seen carrying a Telfar bag. And now that the Liberty have secured the WNBA championship, she is even more of an icon — as we were writing this, she was riding a championship-parade float through the streets of Manhattan with Chuck Schumer. There will for sure be lots of Ellie costumes this year, on both adults and kids, but this is definitely a “the more, the merrier” situation, especially since it’s so easy to pull off. You’ll need a set of elephant ears, a tail, and a trunk. Then add a Liberty jersey dress, a green Statue of Liberty crown, and a pair of Ellie’s signature white Nike Air Jordans.
Strega Nona
If you spend any time on TikTok looking at cozy things or watching sassy Italian grandmas make pasta, you’ve probably seen the Strega Nona videos. Like Miss Frizzle before her, Strega Nona is part of an elite league of fictional witches with impeccable style using their powers for good. To play her, you will need a headscarf, a full skirt and apron, a “magical” pasta pot, and something to approximate tons and tons of pasta — yarn, for example. To make it a family or group costume, add Big Anthony and Strega Amelia, Strega Nona’s frenemy witch from over the mountain.
Challengers’ final match
It’s been a big year for polyamory, and Challengers’ throuple was right in the middle. But the most intense scene wasn’t the almost threesome between Tashi Duncan (Zendaya), Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor), and Art Donaldson (Mike Faist), it was director Luca Guadagnino’s ending: a final match with tennis-racquet taunts and a tied score set to a Reznor score. It’s easy enough to re-create, whether you’re a West Side Tennis Club member or not. Get a set of Wilson racquets and a pack of Penn balls. An Old Navy polo can stand in for Art’s Uniqlo-branded one, while Skims’s flannel sleep shorts look a lot like Patrick’s pair. And Reddit suggests that the sunglasses Tashi sported on the sidelines are from Persol.
Margaret Qualley’s Sue from The Substance
You probably know the plot points of The Substance by now: Demi Moore’s aging Elisabeth, Margaret Qualley’s young Sue, the “Pump It Up!” song, a lime-green elixir, Dennis Quaid eating shrimp. We think Sue makes for an easy last-minute costume: You could rewear your Rollerblading Barbie leotard and leg warmers from last year — or don this shiny new metallic Speedo with rhinestone star studs. Buy a pink-themed eye-shadow palette to go with it, and you’re set.
Immaculate with Sydney Sweeney
This creepy-nun costume comes courtesy of Sydney Sweeney’s turn as a scream queen in Immaculate. The movie’s premise is simple: The story is set in an Italian convent and there’s an “immaculate” conception. But obviously, everything’s a bloody mess by the end. Instead of Sweeney’s full habit, you could do her novice uniform: a white undershirt, jumper dress, and veil that comes with a collar. Don’t forget the fake blood!
Chappell Roan’s VMA performance in Joan of Arc cosplay
Chappell Roan’s VMA appearance was performance art, the likes of which haven’t been seen since Lady Gaga’s meat dress. Roan showed up to the red carpet carrying an unsheathed sword. Roan accepted the award for Best New Artist in head-to-toe chain mail. And Roan sang “Good Luck, Babe!” in Joan of Arc–like armor. You can get the knight effect with bracers, a chest buckle, and a chained coif. (If you’re the plan-ahead type, note that you also can rewear this getup whenever Baz Luhrman’s Jehanne d’Arc eventually comes out.) Have a mic on hand too.
Sabrina Carpenter and Jenna Ortega in “Taste”
There’s a whole lotta horror references in Sabrina Carpenter’s music video for “Taste” (Psycho, Kill Bill …), with a few scenes straight out of camp classic Death Becomes Her. The most memorable is a funeral starring Carpenter and Jenny Ortega in widow’s weeds, standing in front of the coffin of the boyfriend they were fighting over (and who Carpenter took a hole to the stomach and Ortega a knife to the eye for). Make your own homage to the homage with little black dresses, fake diamonds, a veiled fascinator, and a coat of red nail polish.
Industry’s Yasmin Kara-Hanani as Diana, Princess of Wales
Industry was ascendant this year, stepping into its spot as Succession’s successor, a.k.a. the prestige drama to be watching. Though you can pretty much always count on the characters wearing well-tailored suits, the season-three episode, “Company Man,” let the Pierpoint crew have a little fun for the company’s Children’s Investment Trust Charity Day. Eric channeled Henry VII, while Sweetpea was Spice Girl Geri Halliwell. But Yasmin as Princess Diana was especially fitting, since she’s going through it in the tabloids (her father’s death, the government inquest into her boyfriend’s company …). To be Yasmin-Diana, replace the Harvard sweatshirt with a Pierpoint one, then add some bike shorts and “diamond” studs. Top it off with a blonde wig, and make sure it’s a bad blonde wig — that part’s key.
Cole Escola’s Mary Todd Lincoln in Oh, Mary!
The hottest ticket on Broadway is Oh, Mary!, starring Cole Escola as Honest Abe’s long-suffering First Lady. Vulture’s review declared the play “a work of deranged beauty: a version of Mary Todd Lincoln told (as the press release teases it) ‘through the lens of an idiot,’ played with all the verve and severity of Bette Davis on bath salts.” We’re seated! This costume takes some commitment — a Victorian mourning gown (crinoline encouraged), old brooch, Puritan-like collar, a heatless curling rod, and plenty of blush.
NYC’s Trash Revolution
Much of Mayor Eric Adams’s tenure has been about taking out the trash, making the recent headlines about corruption and illegal campaign contributions all the more rich. But before Adams himself landed in hot water, he turned last year’s “War on Rats” into this year’s “Trash Revolution,” by debuting a new trash can for the greatest city in the world. This idea is for the real New Yorkers — all you’ll need is a basic trash can (or the official one for $46 plus tax), a printout of the Department of Sanitation seal, and a roll of garbage bags. Bonus points if you get a group together to “toss more black bags into the dustbin of history.” Just watch out for rats (and do your best to steer clear of the FBI).
Anna Delvey (and her ankle monitor) on Dancing With the Stars
Lower East Side scammer Anna Sorokin (née Delvey) made her latest mark on the Dancing With the Stars dance floor. Not that we saw many of her moves, since she was one of the first contestants to be eliminated. But even with fellow competitors like reality show veteran Phaedra Parks and Olympic darling Stephen Nedoroscik (perhaps better known Pommel Horse Guy), her house-arrest ankle monitor stole the show. You can channel the fake German heiress with an outrageous fringed getup — and bedazzle an ankle band (featuring the face of your Apple Watch) with faux rhinestones too.
Pommel Horse Guy and his Rubik’s Cube
The Paris Olympics was packed with dramatic visuals and memorable moments, all of which would make great Halloween costumes. There was Lady Gaga dancing in pink ostrich feathers on the banks of the Seine, Simone Biles’s incredible comeback and side eye, Céline Dion’s solo on the Eiffel Tower, Raygun breakdancing, Snoop Dogg hosting, and even the French Olympics mascot that confused people in how much it resembled a pair of tongues. But our pick for the best costume has to be Stephen Nedoroscik’s meme-worthy star turn as Pommel Horse Guy. The gymnast and Rubik’s Cube expert won the world over when he swooped in to secure the bronze medal both in the individual competition and for the U.S. men’s team — their first medal since the 2008 Games. It’s an easy costume, provided you bring the appropriate level of enthusiasm, that will have you fielding high-fives all night. You’ll need a pair of black glasses, a Team USA T-shirt or jacket, a bronze medal, and this Rubik’s Speed Cube. It’d also make a pretty adorable toddler or kid costume.
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz
Speaking of tiny model citizens, there is nothing funnier than children dressed as politicians in power suits. This year the obvious choice is Kamala and Tim wearing their signature garb: the suit from her viral coconut-tree speech (carry a coconut-tree toy, inflatable, or tote bag of your choice) and his favorite well-worn red flannel with a real tree-camo baseball cap or campaign pin. Bonus points for adding an adult or kid Lil Jon to the mix as the evening’s hype man.
The Biebers and Baby Bieber
Justin and Hailey Bieber’s first child was born in August, a son named Jack Blues Bieber. While we have seen only a single photo of his foot wrapped in a cozy blanket ($100 says it’s from Barefoot Dreams), dressing as the newly expanded Bieber clan is an easy last-minute costume for anyone who also has a infant. Simply copy a few key elements of the couple’s casual style, add a tiny Jack of Hearts tattoo, a Rhode phone case and lip gloss, and put your babe in a Bieber-emblazoned onesie.
Brat: Mommy-and-Me edition
There will be countless brat costumes this year, but we’d wager that most of them won’t involve a small child wearing a neon green T-shirt and Brat label. Suddenly the theme of summer has an extra layer of meaning.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice family costume
Beetlejuice is a perfect Halloween movie and the release of the sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, makes dressing up as the movie’s main characters newly relevant. It’s an especially good family costume, too: Parents can go as Beetlejuice and Lydia played by Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder, respectively, while Jenna Ortega’s character, Astrid, is perfect for a sullen tween.
The 25th anniversary of The Sopranos
It’s been a quarter century since Tony Soprano fed ducks in his swimming pool, and the show is unsurprisingly still amassing new fans. For a quick but impactful costume, we suggest going as Tony in a bathrobe, or as Christopher Moltisanti, Tony’s cousin-in-law, in a neck brace and sunglasses. A gold chain and a carton of orange juice will help seal the deal for Tony, as will an oversize suit with a purple shirt and tie for Chris.
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