As Halloween is approaching, the search for the perfect costume becomes more and more difficult and just plain old stressful. Trust me, I’ve been there. I spend all year coming up with ideas, I save it to my Pinterest, and then once the week of Halloween rolls around, I either hate all my ideas or even worse, the costume is sold out.
There’s so many directions you can go with your costume. You can go the classic route and dress as a cowgirl or playboy bunny, pay homage to your favorite celebrities (Beyoncé Halloween costumes will never go out of style, BTW), or do the “lazy” route and wear all black with animal ears. However, if you’re like me, you would opt out of wearing a costume anyway and spend the holiday watching spooky movies. But wait, what if there were costumes that not only were unique but had your friends dying of laughter at first sight?
Why yes, there are. I present to you four meme Halloween costumes coming straight from your 2023 X (formerly Twitter) feed to your next Halloween party.
- Selena Gomez and her blanket
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The first costume has to be one of my favorite memes of the year. It all started when an off-duty photograph of Selena Gomez hit the X streets. The “Single Soon” singer was photographed by her friend, Dominic J West, posing in a patio chair, wrapped in a blanket and staring off into the distance. The internet absolutely exploded at the photo once it was posted to West’s Instagram Story, and immediately reposted the photo with their funniest captions. Internet star Trisha Paytas even went as far as to recreate the photo of Gomez with the exact same blanket. How did she manage to find it? Who knows, but I’m sure you can find something similar as a comfy option for Halloween.
So, to achieve this look, all you need is a blue patterned blanket, a no-makeup-makeup look, and a look of complete and utter contentment for this year!
- Grimace
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This next costume pays homage to the birthday celebration of a fast food chain’s icon. This past summer, McDonald’s celebrated the birthday of one of its characters, Grimace. Grimace is one of the many characters in the McDonaldland media franchise as one of Ronald McDonald’s friends. With Grimace being more of a background character to Ronald, it came as a shock when this furry purple friend appeared on the official McDonald’s X feed.
An X post teased the “takeover” of Grimace, with a full rebrand to accompany the Grimace birthday era. The McDonald’s profile picture and layout was changed from their famous golden arches to “selfies” of Grimace as the fast food chain geared up for the birthday celebration.
Thus, the Grimace Meal was launched at the fast food chain, featuring a purple milkshake that set the internet ablaze. But what stuck out the most is Grimace himself. The blob-like purple figure with abnormally large eyes took social media by storm with differing views, a few laughs, and most importantly, endless memes. And in my opinion, the perfect Halloween costume.
For this look, you would simply need a purple furry outfit head to toe. I would recommend some type of faux fur two-piece or jacket, depending on the weather. And to top it all off, grab your favorite meal from McDonald’s before you go out!
- This Barbie Is….
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The next costume surfaced during the preliminary promo for Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie. These promo posters gave us the first glimpse of the characters within the movie as each character posed behind a glitter mattel logo with a phrase that goes “This Barbie is…” with a brief title in relation to the character. For example, Issa Rae’s character, President Barbie, had a poster that said “This Barbie is President.”
These promo posters not only took the world by storm due to the excitement for the movie, but excitement also came from some famous actors who were announced to be in the film. One celeb that I was most excited to see was Dua Lipa. Spoiler alert, her appearance in the movie was very brief, but I still loved it nonetheless.
It’s safe to say that the internet took this and ran with it. Soon after, many more “This Barbie is..” poster edits appeared with famous actors, figures, and even oneself. And the Barbie tagline was either in relation to the character or just plain funny. Even later down the line, a website emerged with a “This Barbie is…” generator in which you can create your own edit (and turn it into a costume)!
So to turn this into a costume, it’s pretty simple. First, dress like either a Barbie (or yourself). Then, use cut out letters or a poster to create your own “This Barbie is… “ tagline. I’ll admit, this meme costume isn’t that practical for parties but it will make for some amazing pics!
- Taylor Swift at the 2023 VMAs
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This last meme costume emerged at the 2023 Video Music Awards. If you were like me, I wasn’t that excited to watch the VMAs this year. A lot of my favorite singers were not in attendance or nominated, but I still watched it anyway (for the culture). One thing that made me feel better about tuning into the award show despite my despair was the audience cam. The audience cam shoots videos of celebrities during the show and performances to catch reactions. One of my (and everyone else’s) favorite reactions came from Taylor Swift. Miss Swift exhibited what it meant to be the No. 1 fangirl in the audience, as she was caught verbally praising each performer and dancing like nobody was watching. These clips flooded the timeline, calling T-Swift an Icon and adding relatable captions to the Midnights singer’s reactions.
And now, you too can be a fangirl to all your friends during a night out on Halloween. To transform yourself into Taylor Swift at the VMAs, you will need a black dress with lots of jewelry, a chic updo, and most importantly, a drink in your hand to dance the night away (word to Dua Lipa).
- Ms. Biljana Electronica
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Yes, I’m talking about the “Planet of the Bass” icon. This ‘90s Eurodance parody by Kyle Gordon — sorry, DJ Crazy Times — was everywhere on X and TikTok, leading up to a live performance during a Jonas Brothers concert. Though there are several Biljanas, the original (Audrey Trullinger) is the internet’s favorite. And lucky for you, it’s easy to recreate her look, because she’s made TikToks showing off her outfit and how she did her hair for the role. Grab some sunnies, a curling iron, and remember: Life, it never die.
- Zepotha
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This is a more niche option, but if you were on TikTok this year, you might’ve seen some people raving about the 1980s horror flick Zepotha. But wait, what is Zepotha? Well, it’s a totally made-up movie… so it’s kind of whatever you want!
No, really: TikTokers decided to dupe people into thinking that there had been a super popular movie called Zepotha, rushing into the comments of other creators to tell them they looked just like that one Zepotha character (that doesn’t exist). This gives you a bit of freedom with the costume, because as long as you look like you were around in the ’80s, you can pull it off — and if people don’t get it, you get to pass the joke on to them by asking them why they haven’t watched Zepotha yet.
- Seemingly Ranch
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For a more recent meme, you can turn to Taylor Swift’s attendance at her rumored boyfriend Travis Kelce’s football games. At one game, Swift was shown backstage with a plate of chicken, ketchup, and “seemingly ranch,” a fan account’s turn of phrase that tickled the internet. Even brands got involved by making their own seemingly ranch memes. To do this costume, just dress yourself up entirely in white, and maybe label yourself as seemingly ranch with a poster or marker. Easy-peasy.
- Spy Balloon
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Yeah, this was 2023, believe it or not. A suspicious balloon fitted with surveillance equipment from the Chinese government was spotted flying over the U.S., with President Biden eventually ordering it to be shot down. Thankfully, nothing too dire happened, so we can laugh at the ridiculousness of this situation — and the many, many memes that followed. Saturday Night Live even covered the spy balloon news in a cold open, with Bowen Yang dressing up as the balloon itself. You can follow Yang’s lead by dressing up as the ballon with a white inflatable outfit.
- M3GAN
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Earlier this year, the horror film M3GAN captivated audiences because of the titular character’s dances that were instant meme material. M3GAN is a doll-like nightmare, but she’s known by her trademark red hair, stripy bow and sleeves, neutral beige dress, and white tights. You’ll also have to master your dancing skills and the intense, empty look in your eyes — those are sold separately.
- Barbenheimer
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Even though Barbie was meme-able in its own right, a lot of the memes around the film stemmed from the fact that it hit theaters the same day as the Christopher Nolan biopic Oppenheimer, which was… different in tone, let’s say. Fans were amused by the contrast, leading to the creation of many memes, shirts, and double-features at the movies. If you own some pink and black clothing, this costume can be pretty simple: Either go as Barbenheimer alone and dress one half of your body in pink, and the other in black, or do this as a couple’s or pair costume, with one person entirely in Barbie pink and the other in Oppenheimer black.
- Met Gala Cockroach
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The star of the Met Gala wasn’t a celebrity at all. Instead, it was a cockroach that snuck its way onto the carpet, causing a considerable amount of online chaos. The Met Gala also feels like a million years ago at this point, so people might consider your costume a fun throwback once you explain it to them. Just dress in all brown, attach some insect-type legs to yourself (you can use pipe cleaners or other crafty materials to get the job done), and strut around like you’re on a red carpet. You could even make this a couple’s or group costume, if you have some people willing to be the press photographers snapping pics of you.
- Shy Kevin James
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This meme just went viral, so it’s perfect for a topical costume. Shy Kevin James memes have started circulating around X for no apparent reason other than that the specific photo of him, taken back when he was on The King of Queens, makes for a great reaction pic. This costume is also pretty easy to put together, because you might have all the pieces in your closet already. You just need a plaid flannel button-down, purple tee, and some jeans with pockets you can stick your hands into. Don’t forget to hike your shoulders up and have a shy smirk on your face for the whole night, though.
All in all, memes that you find right on your social media timelines can make such funny and hilarious halloween costumes, drifting away from the Halloween norms and bringing such a fun, fresh perspective to the costume scene. So, looking for costume inspo? Simply scroll through your feed for ideas!