10-21-2025 11:11am

The Top Costumes

These Are The Top Halloween Costumes Of 2025

Taylor Swift is a billionaire, but her costumes and others inspired by pop culture can be fashioned for a song at thrifts.

Dressing up for Halloween isn’t just kid stuff.

Kids’ parents, aunts and uncles, and even their grandparents are going all in this year. Collectively, they are expected to spend $4.3 billion on Halloween costumes alone, according to a retail industry trade group survey.

In fact, the generations can show up as Wednesday, Morticia, Gomez and the Thing, members of the eccentric Addams Family clan, thanks to the popularity of Netflix’s “Wednesday.”

Pop culture is a wellspring of inspiration for Halloween costumes that allow both little and big kids to temporarily abandon reality and embody aspirational characters, heroes and villains from the worlds of film, television, music, video games, literature, and internet phenomena.

Below are some of the top picks this year.

Taylor Swift Everywhere All At Once

No one puts the pop in culture quite like Taylor Swift, whose powerful and devoted fans span generations.

Expect a non-stop Las Vegas-style revue of glittery showgirl costumes inspired by Taylor Swift’s latest album, “Life of a Showgirl.”

And also expect a parade of Travis Kelce impersonators in a Chiefs NFL jersey. Couples may even recreate the Tay-Trav power couple’s engagement ensembles — if they can find a replica of the Ralph Lauren striped silk-blend dress she wore quickly sold out after their engagement was announced on Instagram, according to reports in People, Harper’s Bazaar and social media.

Wicked Fun With Elphaba And Glinda

It won’t be all Swifties everywhere all at once. Also expect costumes inspired by Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo, who parlayed their fame on Disney Channel shows into successful music careers.

Other prominent pop culture references in costumes are expected to conjure the spirits of Elphaba and Glinda from “Wicked”; the HUNTR/X group from “KPop Demon Hunters”; Aunt Gladys from “Weapons”; or Steve from “Minecraft.”

Plenty of costumes are inspired by “Wicked,” released last year, and “Wicked: For Good,” which opens in theaters on Friday, Nov. 21. (Shutterstock

“Lilo & Stitch” costumes are expected to get a boost this year with the live-action remake of the classic children’s film released in May.

Superman costumes have long been a Halloween classic, but may get a boost this year from the latest Warner Bros/DC Comics release. Spider-Man and various related costumes, including Miles Morales and Spider Girl, are another perennial favorite. And “Fantastic Four: First Steps,” inspires fresh takes on Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman.

And it wouldn’t be Halloween without Pennywise the Dancing Clown from Stephen King’s “It.” A new TV series, “It: Welcome to Derry,” a prequel to “It” and “It Chapter Two” is set to premiere on HBO on Oct. 26, giving Pennywise an update.

That’s the consensus on trends stirring the cauldrons of Halloween 2025 among morning news-talk shows such as ABC’s “Good Morning America,” the Spirit Halloween specialty store, USA Today and Good Housekeeping.

Tariffs Felt In Costume Prices

Channeling a Halloween alter-ego costs more than ever this year because of tariffs. Costumes are mainly made in China, Japan, Vietnam and other Asian countries. Depending on when retailers ordered merchandise, the prices could reflect retaliatory tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump.

Americans are expected to spend a record $13.1 billion this Halloween, including $4.3 billion for costumes, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual Halloween spending survey. It showed about 71 percent of Americans answering that survey said they planned to dress up.

Another survey, this one from the Halloween Costume Association, found adults plan to spend an average of $60 and change on costumes this year. That survey showed just over half (51 percent) of adults plan to wear a costume this year. Among them, millennials (38.5 percent) and Gen Z (26.7 percent) are the most likely to dress in costumes.

Tariffs are without question a key reason for higher spending, according to experts like Michael Hicks, a Ball State University economics professor.

He told Indiana Public Media that if merchandise was ordered after the tariffs took effect, a costume for an 8-year-old that cost $30 in 2024 could cost up to $48 this year.

Related: Scary Halloween Prices And More Ways Tariffs Are Haunting Americans

Find Inspiration At Thrifts

The tariff-influenced Halloween prices are scaring some consumers away from costume shops and chasing them to their nearest thrift store. Craft stores have the supplies for costumes, too.

A new Goodwill Halloween Survey found that saving money is a priority for 70 percent of Americans who plan to dress up this year. The survey found about two-thirds of U.S. households have at least one member who plans to dress up this year, an increase from 58 percent in 2024.

Thrift stores are a top destination for the 6 in 10 Americans who prefer DIY costumes, according to the survey. Clothing racks are jammed with items that can be used for costumes for pop culture characters, traditional ghosts and zombies, or characters of the consumer’s own imagination.

Swifties can scour thrift and vintage stores for flapper-style dresses, feather boas, gloves, rhinestone-embellished dance shoes or heels, corsets, gloves, and enough bling to use the leftovers in a DIY statement headpiece. Or, trick up more basic finds. This Sparkly Belly video, “How to Rhinestone Dance Costumes,” offers tips on turning tights, leotards and other clothing into showgirl costumes.

Men who plan to go to Halloween as Ted Lasso, the relatable mix of optimism, kindness and vulnerability in the TV series of the same name, have it easy. All they have to do is search the store for light blue button-down Oxford shirts, navy or royal blue sweaters, khaki pants and white sneakers. Or, they can go as Coach Ted Lasso in an AFC Richmond tracksuit. The only thing a thrift store is unlikely to have is the signature mustache.

Cheeky viral moments are also a source of inspiration for Halloween costumes. Resale clothing racks are full of the blue polo shirts and black high-neck tanks needed to recreate the couple whose embrace was caught on a Coldplay concert jumbotron, leading to the disgrace and resignation of the tech company CEO caught with a woman who was not his wife.

Social media feeds are jammed with similar sources of inspiration.

Resale shops are also a great place to find versatile basics like black blazers, black dresses, and accessories such as hats, scarves and jewelry to embody everyone from Indiana Jones to classic witches and vampires. Thrifters can find decade-themed outfits with basics like ’70s-style bell-bottoms and love beads. Or, they make choose to make a unique Halloween statement with eclectic finds from these stores.

All it takes is imagination.