From Spooky to Silly: A Look Back at Iconic Halloween Costumes

If you’re anything like me, the Halloween costume brainstorming is on the horizon already. Whether your vibe for the season is spine-tingling and spooky or cute and cozy, October 31^st is the perfect time to unleash some creativity. Join me as I look back on some of Halloween’s most memorable costumes, and who knows, you might land on the perfect look for 2025.     

The Ghost

The ghost is the ultimate classic in that it really symbolises Halloween’s historical roots. We can trace the holiday back to a two-thousand-year-old Celtic festival known as Samhain: on the 31^st of October, the Celts would disguise themselves as ghosts and other entities to ward off evil spirits. It’s incredibly simple to make (if you’re using the eye-holes-in-a-sheet method) while distinctly chilling.

The Witch

Dating back to the 19^th century, the witch costume is pretty much synonymous with Halloween, and with so much room for interpretation, it’s hard to go wrong. You can take the old-school approach with a long, tatty dress and green face paint, for example, or you can go fashionable, modern and sexy – think black minidress with fishnets and purple lipstick. Stick to dark shades and the unmistakable pointy hat and you won’t fall victim to the dreaded ‘so, what are you?’. 

The Character

It’s fun to embody your favorite fictional character, and the Scooby-Doo foursome, Regan from The Exorcist and Legally Blonde’s Elle Woods have been firm favourites for decades. More recently, strong female characters Amy Dunne from Gone Girl and Cassie from Promising Young Woman have emerged as costume concepts.

The Joke

Many treat Halloween as a celebration of silly, thinking outside the box with their costume concepts. People often dress as instantly recognisable inanimate objects, such as a Crayola crayon or a cereal box, particularly in American culture. Costumes that play on words, such as a cow with a halo to represent the phrase ‘holy cow!’ have also done the rounds over the years. The shift from spooky to silly occurred in the 1960s, reflecting the post-war emphasis on youth, leisure and the rise of pop culture.

The beauty of a Halloween costume is you can make maximum impact with minimal effort – hello, next day delivery! But, if it’s an outlet for your creativity, putting a look together is so much fun, whether you’re using what you already have or perhaps going thrifting.

Just as a cauldron bubbles over with potions, your mind is probably brimming with ideas. Now that we’ve explored the most famous Halloween costumes, what vibe are you channelling this spooky season?