By: Sabine Ashworth and Lillie Norton

Celtic Europeans celebrated Halloween nearly 2000 years ago to mark the end of the harvest and the start of a new year. Now, in 2023, Halloween is a nationally celebrated holiday for kids, adults, and pets. Although it has modernized over thousands of years, the holiday has lost no impact on the communities that celebrate it. But what is it that everyone looks forward to each October? You guessed it: Halloween costumes! In America, celebration through costumes was popularized in the mid-1800s. The range of costumes at that time was much smaller than today, but whether you were portraying a witch or just putting on your funkiest outfit, people have always dressed up to celebrate Halloween.

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A Coven of Costumed "Witches" in a Halloween Portrait, 1910

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This is the 21st century. The options for Halloween costumes widen yearly based on what's trending in the media, on television, or in music. Here are some recommendations for this year's season and predictions on what we will be seeing most:

 

Barbie has been a classic for years, and Greta Gerwig's adaptation of the film series and wardrobe has been trending. Thankfully, it's not a hard look to recreate. This costume is expected to be seen a lot this October, especially in couples costumes with the iconic Ken and Barbie.

 

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    Easy “Barbie” Costumes to Recreate

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If Barbies are not your style, let's take a look at some costumes with a more horror ambience. Thousands of Halloween movies have created classic costumes that never go out of style. Don’t want to buy multiple items for a costume? Get yourself some sweats and a “Jason” mask. Against dressing up as Jason? How about Michael Myers? Get yourself some sweats and a “Michael Myers” mask.

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Jason and Michael Myers

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Some people would rather go the comedic route for Halloween. If this speaks to you, you can dress up as random objects like soap, food, toilet paper, an inflatable tube guy, or anything along those lines.

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Inflatable Tube Guy Costume and Carrot Costume

 

Although these are all great costume ideas, chances are no one will take them into consideration for their 2023 costumes. What you will most likely see this year instead of a toilet paper costume is some sort of jersey and sweatpant combo, with kids calling themselves basketball or football players. Others will choose between The Joker, an angel, a pirate, or some costume involving a corset and animal ears.

 

Regardless of what you choose to dress up as, Halloween is a tradition that brings people together and teaches the importance of giving. It’s often assumed that the older you become, the less fun Halloween is, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Let's make this year a great one!

 

Image Citations: 

(1.) Digital Media Solutions

(2.) Spirit Halloween

(3.) Walmart

(4.) National Geographic

(5.) TipsyElves

(6.) Den of Geek

(7.) CharTour

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