86 Most Popular Halloween Costume Ideas for Women
Strong, sexy, scary — you name it, we've got it.
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If there’s ever a time to put every ounce of your creativity on display, it’s definitely Halloween. The holiday practically lends itself to creative expression and the chance to embody all that is fantasy and make believe. Though, should you find that you struggle a bit in the area of innovation, fret not, we have just the costume ideas for women that will blow the socks off your competition.
On October 31, you can take your pick from iconic Disney heroines and villains, the year’s most viral pop culture moments so far or even channel your favorite best friend duo or girl group. Basically, we’ve covered all of the bases, including costume inspo that’s funny, cute, sexy and clever. Choose what best suits you and you can't go wrong.
Helly R. From 'Severance'
Embrace your inner innie with a costume that channels Helly from Severance.
Sadness from 'Inside Out'
Who doesn't want to wear a bright colored wig on Halloween night?
Dionne from 'Clueless'
She's totally clueless, but that's ok. Dress up as Cher Harowitz's bestie in this timeless combination of knit and plaid.
Barbara Howard Costume
Abbott Elementary's finest teacher
Cosmopolitan Costume
This classic martini has recently surged back to popularity, making it the perfect Halloween costume. It is also super easy to pull off as you can make use of any LBD you have hanging in your closet.
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Tinned Fish Costume
The crafters out there will appreciate the unique tk.
Crocs Costume
Your everyday uniform includes a pair of these comfy slides anyway, so why should Halloween be any different? Suit up in a pair of black leggings, a sweatshirt and your favorite Crocs. Using a sheet of cardboard, trace and cut out the shape of a Croc using an X-Acto knife or box cutter. Cut one large hole in the upper center for your face and cut seven smaller holes around it. Cut another strip of cardboard and fold the edges to create your strap. Paint your Croc and strap with a few coats of craft paint. Using hot glue, attach your strap to the base of the shoe and then outline your Croc with a lighter or darker shade of paint. Create your Jibbitz from craft foam or paper and hot glue them onto the holes. Once everything is dry, attach backpack-style straps to the back of the shoe with thick ribbon and hot glue.
Beanie Baby Costume
The 90s are back in style and so is this effortless beanie baby costume. First, pick out a tie-dyed sweatsuit, with a hoodie. Then, cut out felt ears and attach them to the hood with hot glue. Cut a heart-shaped tag out of red cardstock to and punch a hole at the edge. Tie it around your neck with red ribbon. Finish up with a pair of round sunglasses and you have a sweet and cozy look!
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice comes out in September, but you can keep it old school in Lydia's iconic red wedding dress from the original film. This costume set comes with everything you need, including the veil!
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Caitlin Clark
The Iowa basketball legend turned WNBA superstar is a popular choice this Halloween. Luckily, this costume is fairly low lift as long as you have black basketball shorts, sneakers and a white tee or jersey. With a few iron-on varsity letters and numbers, you'll be knocking down deep three-pointers in no time.
Match with your own Bugs Bunny or rock this costume solo. Either way, you'll be ready to take down the Monstars.
Deviled Egg
Got dark jeans, a white tee and sneakers? Egg-tastic! You're already halfway there to creating this egg-cellent costume. As for the delicious-looking headband, you'll need an oval foam egg form, yellow rope, white felt, green pipe cleaners (for the chives!) a few red sequins (for the paprika!) and scissors and plenty of hot glue.
A skeleton is a classic Halloween costume, meaning you can't go wrong (especially if you're shopping at the last minute). Plus, this getup glows in the dark!
Dolly Parton
There's no working 9 to 5 on this Halloween costume! Of course, you can always go the wig route to imitate Dolly's iconic 'do and call it a day. But if you're in the DIY mood, a big piece of cardboard, yellow and brown craft paint, and some skills with an X-acto knife or box cutter can yield a larger-than-life wig cutout that you and your friends can pose with during the big Halloween bash.
Elphaba from 'Wicked'
You don't want to be just any witch, you want to be the witch the Wizard has been waiting for. Any black dress will do as will a black witch hat. But if you don't want to go all out with the green body makeup, you can try a cute variation like this, which only places green on the cheekbones and temples.
Top Gun isn't just for the guys! This cute dress adds a girly spin to the typical pilot costume.
Ladybug
Talk about a cozy and cute costume! If you've got black leggings and a black sweater, you're nearly there already. The next part is nailing the red poncho and antennae headband.
Here's how to do it:
1) Cut the red poncho up the middle and curve the cut out at the bottom to make the two sides of the poncho look like ladybug wings.
2) Cut out an even amount of the same size circles to create black spots. Hot glue the circles onto the poncho being sure to have the same amount on each wing.
3) Paint two foam balls black and let them dry completely. Fold a black pipe cleaner in half. Attach one of the foam balls to one of the black pipe cleaners by pushing the pipe cleaner into the foam ball until it feels secure. Repeat with the other painted foam ball.
4) Fold down the other ends of the pipe cleaner about a half inch and attach to the black headband evenly spaced with hot glue to create antennae.
Olivia Rodrigo
Liv's statement tanks were the talk of her Guts World Tour this year. Channel her look with just a few items, including sparkle shorts, a ribbed crop top and tights.
Lip Smacker
Remember these? We thought so. Take a trip back to the '90s or early 2000s with this adorable look that's seriously easy to create. Use our Lip Smackers template to create an iron-on patch, which goes on a pastel t-shirt dress or night gown. As for the chapstick cap, look for a brightly colored plastic beach bucket. If it doesn't fit quite right as a hat, you can customize the size by snapping off the plastic handles and attaching elastic or ribbon.
Taylor Swift
Channel your inner T-Swift by rocking one of her iconic looks from the Eras Tour.
Cameron (she/her) is a staff writer for Good Housekeeping, where she covers everything from holidays to food. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, where she received a B.A. in magazine journalism. In her spare-time she can be found scrolling TikTok for the latest cleaning hacks and restaurant openings, binge-watching seasons of Project Runway or online shopping.
Yaa Bofah is an editorial fellow at Good Housekeeping. She is a freelance illustrator and created original cover art for The Fashion Bomb Daily’s first e-book series. She enjoys supporting philanthropic endeavors and being an advocate for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
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