14 Best Halloween-Costume Ideas 2025

Some of us have been pondering what to be for Halloween — or what our kids might want to be for Halloween — for weeks on end. (One Strategist parent is figuring out the makings of a Pixar lamp costume for her son, while another’s daughter wants to DIY a piece of sushi.) It’s all in the spirit of our annual commitment to bringing you the most timely Halloween-costume ideas we can muster, like 2022’s spotted lanternfly, 2023’s Gwyneth Paltrow at her ski-collision trial, and 2024’s Cole Escola as Mary Todd Lincoln in Oh, Mary! Below, we’ve gathered most of the products you’ll need to create the best pop-culture Halloween costumes of 2025, whether you want to be a Labubu or Pope Leo XIV.

Whether we like it or not, 2025 will be remembered as the year of Labubu. The cuddly, grinning monster went viral on a new level, inspiring billions of dollars in spending on Labubu plush bag charms, stickers, and an astonishing assortment of miniature clothing, accessories, and wigs for Labubu dolls to wear. To dress as the ugly-cute creature (or its counterfeit counterpart, Lafufu), you’ll need a pair of ears, face paint, and a fuzzy jumpsuit. There are lots of Labubu makeup tutorials on TikTok and Instagram to help you get the smile and the twinkle in the eyes just right. If you’re going as a Lafufu, the easiest way to make the distinction is paint the face on off-kilter or upside down.

Well, Swifties: “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.” Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are officially engaged, and the photoshoot for the engagement was about as romantic as a Folklore lyric. (Though the rose garden sure seems quaint now that we’ve heard The Life of a Showgirl’s “Wood.”) A couple who’s enfianced (or about to be) could re-create the magic with a similar cable-knit sweater polo and striped smocked dress (Swift and Kelce were wearing Polo Ralph Lauren, as reported by our sister site The Cut,) and as many fresh roses as your budget allows. And while Swift’s engagement ring reportedly starts at around $250,000, there are “replicas” for a lot less zeros available all over Etsy.

You know the West Village Girl. The West Village Girl (unironically) quotes Sex and the City. The West Village Girl drinks iced matcha lattes. The West Village Girl does Pilates. And the West Village Girl wears what all West Village Girls wear: a little white T-shirt, baggy dad jeans, and Sambas.

KPop Demon Hunters costumes will be everywhere, and while there are many ways to channel Rumi, Mira, and Zoey, the easiest, most comfortable option is to dress up in bathrobes and hair towels from the post–HUNTRIX world tour couch scene. You’ll need a bathrobe, a hair towel or hand towel, and a wooden tray full of fake snacks like sushi, a banana split, and the band’s favorite: cup ramen. Netflix happens to be selling drinking glasses printed with ramen labels from the movie if you want to go all out.

The Minecraft movie was a huge hit, with delightfully silly performances from Jack Black, Jason Momoa, and Danielle Brooks. The movie’s most popular kid costume will be the chicken jockey. But if you’re a parent out trick or treating with your mini Minecraft fans, going as either Steve (Jack Black’s character) or Garrett Garrison (Jason Momoa’s character) is a low lift that delivers a big impact. For Momoa, you’ll need a pink fringe jacket and a long wavy wig. For Black, you’ll need a blue short-sleeve turtleneck and a big beard, real or fake.

This spring saw Katy Perry, who is not an astronaut, travel to outer space aboard Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin rocket. The all-female suborbital mission earned her the distinction of first pop star in space. Before she planted a kiss on terra firma upon her return, Perry held up a single daisy from Earth during a broadcast of the mission. To re-create this historic moment, you’ll need a blue jumpsuit, a single daisy, a silver manicure, and a blissed-out expression.

The Pitt, and its resuscitation of Noah Wyle as a more grizzled but just as sexy leading man, would make for a fantastic and easy group costume. Stock up on stethoscopes and navy blue scrubs, and then get a pair of dark olive cargo pants and a zip hoodie for whoever’s going as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch.

It’s no spoiler that Carrie Bradshaw ends the final season of And Just Like That … single. Fans of the show may have had mixed feelings about her breakup with Aidan, but we can all rest easy as she still has her New York family: Miranda, Charlotte, Seema, Lisa Todd Wexley, Anthony, and her cat named Shoe. There are so many outfits to choose from, but we particularly like the simplicity of this peach-colored sequin jacket and pleated cream skirt, especially when paired with a realistic kitten doll as a Shoe stand-in.

Season three of The White Lotus gave us all sorts of memorable moments, but we’re partial to the scene in episode five, “Full Moon Party,” when Aimee Lou Wood’s Chelsea spent a night away from her much older boyfriend Rick (Walton Goggins) to cut loose with fellow hotel guests Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon) and brothers Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and Lochlan (Sam Nivola). Maybe more eye-opening than the night’s kissing game — let’s pretend we didn’t ever learn what happened afterward — was Chelsea’s eyeshadow. Some self-adhering glitter balm should do the same trick. You can make your own version of the character’s commemorative alien-head tee (designed by artist Scooter LaForge) with a blank oversize shirt and fabric paint. But of course a dupe is out there, too.

If you spent the summer engrossed in the psychosexual teen drama of The Summer I Turned Pretty, take some Halloween inspiration from the bachelor-bachelorette party hosted by Belly and Jeremiah (who may be be the human embodiment of Britney Spears’s “Dump Him” T-shirt). The event went less than swimmingly, mainly because of the While You Were Sleeping plotline of the groom’s brother, Conrad, being in love with the bride. To be Belly, you can wear Solid & Striped’s bowed Iris bikini top and bottoms — a collaboration with the show — for “something blue.” Just top it with a veil and you’re set. Optional: The Catbird Diamond Fizz engagement ring that Jeremiah presented when he proposed.

Wednesday’s second season was packed with plot twists and new characters, including a short stint from Lady Gaga as Rosaline Rotwood, a deceased teacher awakened from the dead to be Wednesday’s new spirit guide. Gaga’s character is a relatively easy costume to pull off and a good one for accompanying a kid dressed as Wednesday: You just need a long white wig, a shiny satin blouse, and trusty sidekick Thing.

Though his A-minor line was certainly attention grabbing, halftime-show headliner Kendrick Lamar’s bootcuts may have been more so. (“Kendrick Lamar’s Bootcut Jeans Stole the Show,” declared one New York headline.) By Celine, they’re $1,200. But Levi’s 527 Slim Bootcuts are available for a lot less. If you’d like to channel the rest of Lamar’s Super Bowl look, accessorize with a bomber jacket (his was a custom Martine Rose), a T-shirt, and a baseball cap. You might get some gloves while you’re at it — this Halloween night might be chillier than the SoFi Stadium in February.

On the heels of the Sydney Sweeney–American Eagle jeans ad controversy came Gap’s “Better in Denim” campaign with girl group Katseye. Set to the tune of Kelis’s seminal “Milkshake,” it reminded us of those great early-aughts Gap ads with Sarah Jessica Parker (who danced to “Lady” by Lenny Kravitz) and Juliette Lewis (who danced to “Digital Love” by Daft Punk). Helpfully, there’s a guide on the Gap site to nearly every Gap-branded item that Yoonchae, Daniela, Manon, Megan, Sophia, and Lara are wearing in the commercial.

The new pope, formerly known as Robert Francis Prevost, is a Chicagoan! Maybe he saved big money at Menards (or at least sent in for a rebate). Maybe he watched Villanova Wildcat games. We certainly can’t remember another Bishop of Rome who’s known by “Bob” to friends or “Rob” to family. Canonize this historic moment by dressing up as the first American pope with a Villanova hat, a Menards shopping bag, and the vestments of the Catholic Church. And if you want your Pope Leo XIV to follow his predecessor Pope Francis, be sure to don white socks from Gammarelli, which has been in the ecclesiastical-garment business since 1798.

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