photo courtesy of @spirithalloween on Instagram
BY MORGAN KILGER, NEWS ASSIGNMENT EDITOR
Every year, new Halloween-costume trends surface. 2023 provided excellent ideas for costumes, especially for women. Hit TV shows and movies mainly paved the way for these new trends, but some costumes should’ve stayed in the Pinterest boards.
The first up on our list of popular costumes is Barbie.
When the “Barbie” movie hit theaters in July 2023, it became an instant contender for Halloween costumes. People have been Barbie for Halloween in the past, but this year, it will be more popular with how successful the movie was.
I like the idea of going as Barbie since there are different ways to style the icon.
I’m hoping to see some iconic staples from the movie, like Weird Barbie and Classic Barbie, but also some original ideas that still pertain to Barbie, like firefighter Barbie, pilot Barbie and Skipper.
Next up is a mysteriously spooky teenager, Wednesday Addams.
Wednesday also has been a hit in the past but has been brought into the light again after the popular Netflix show “Wednesday” premiered last winter.
The part of the Wednesday costume that I adore the most is that the age of its wearer doesn’t change the costume. Most women’s costumes that have an age range alter the costume itself. The older you get, the shorter the costume becomes. With Wednesday, her iconic look stays the same with everyone dressing up as her.
Moving on to men’s costumes, there are a few that I can’t wait to see.
The first one I can’t wait to see is Spiderman. This past summer “Spiderman, Across the Multiverse” premiered. The movie ended up being a smash hit and also produced some contenders for Halloween costumes.
The movie presents different variations of Spiderman, including Spider-Punk and Spider-UK. These variations give the opportunity to be creative with the classic Spiderman costume.
Another men’s costume I can’t wait to see ties in with one of the women’s costumes I mentioned previously. I hope to see some Kens mixed into all the Barbies that will be walking around.
This one won’t be as popular with single men but more popular with men in relationships. Regardless, this is a fun one to do with a group or significant other.
Another men’s costume I can’t wait to see is Mario and Luigi from the Super Mario Bros. Movie that premiered in early 2023.
This costume is another one that has been done throughout the years, but has become more relevant with the movie. This costume can be a fun duo or group costume.
Moving on to the topic of costumes that could be offensive, there are a few costumes I think should not be worn this year.
First up, half of the costumes in Spirit Halloween’s inflatable-costumes section.
I will admit that there are a few costumes in this section that are funny, such as the balloon-animal dog or the boxed wine. Some of them, however, are disgusting and off-putting.
Others I don’t want to see are the Among Us characters.
This one isn’t offensive; it’s just not even close to trending anymore. I don’t know if people dressed up as these characters in 2020, but I feel that’s the only year where it would be appropriate to dress up like these colorful blobs. I don’t see why it’s making a comeback after being a dead trend for two years.
I enjoyed how pop culture heavily influenced Halloween costumes this year. Even though there were some questionable costumes that became trendy, there were still several good ideas.
kilgermi22@bonaventure.edu
