If you ask me, the best words to describe fashion today are cosplay and drag, cosplay being “the practice of dressing up as a character from a movie, book, or video game,” and drag, in its purest form, being the art of impersonation. Because whether it’s something as specific as The Little Prince or the bride in that one short scene of The Parent Trap, or as general as nurses and, yes, pigeons, designers this year developed a real flair for characters and archetypes.
Which takes us to this Halloween weekend. If you’re anything like me and spend as much time on the Vogue Runway app as you do on Instagram or TikTok, your time has come. Culled from the many collections that we have covered in 2023, here are 52 looks to pull from the runways straight onto the dance floors of your Halloweekend parties. And fear not—most, if not all, of these looks you’ll be able to wear on any other day of the year, too.
Everyday Folks and Some People You May Know
Demna has. Here’s his chrome-laminated 3D printed bell-skirted suit of armor. “Maybe she wouldn’t have been burned at the stake for wearing men’s clothes if she was wearing that,” the designer told Vogue Runway.
You can be one of Yoon’s Ambush high-schoolers, inspired by Kinji Fukasaku’s cult 2000 film Battle Royale. Or if that feels a little too junior…just go as one of Miuccia Pradas’s Miu Miu librarians.
Dress for the job you want, they say. Remember: “A million girls would kill for that job.”
For spring at Saint Laurent, Anthony Vaccarello referenced Yves Saint Laurent’s iconic 1967 Saharienne jacket, famously worn on Vogue France by Versuchka. For fall, Miuccia Prada was thinking of “modest jobs, simple jobs, and not only extreme beauty or glamour,” hence the WWII-esque nurse looks.
Here’s a fancy pierrot clown, if so.
Or maybe you’ve just been really working on your fitness routine. Either way, why not go as a sexy pit-stop mechanic?
Made-Up Characters
And show up as Polly Pocket in this viral Loewe ensemble.
Make it a grunge, gender-bending Superman, or a Y2K–by–way–of–TikTok Avatar (or Smurf, either works).
Then look no further than this Thom Browne getup. You’ll be the most well-read person at your Halloween party.
Pick Morticia Addams over Wednesday, or just throw on your best bridal whites and reenact that one scene in The Parent Trap.
Creatures and Critters
With his faux taxidermy, Daniel Roseberry referenced the animals in Dante Alighieri’s Inferno. The leopard, seen below, represents lust. But your Halloween costume doesn’t have to be that deep—you can just look fierce.
A bunch of chicks, a pup, or maybe even a canary.
Found Objects
Erdem Moralioglu’s spring collection was an ode to the late Deborah “Debo” Cavendish, who, as the Duchess of Devonshire, famously took on the rejuvenations of the Chatsworth estate. The designer used some of the duchess’s own textiles. This Halloween, you could dress as one of Debo’s carpets, or as one of Crag Green’s “carpet-upholstery men.” Just don’t let anyone walk all over you!
You can set the table or be the table. Do make sure to take out the trash in your best Hefty bag couture.
How about a sexy Life Saver? Strawberry was always my favorite flavor.
Courtesy of Christian Cowan and Jacquemus. And this one Gucci look that doubles as a Troye Sivan costume—it’s the outfit he wore to run through the streets of Bangkok in his “Got Me Started” music video.
If you happen to be in a whimsical—or botanical—type of mood. Flowers and butterflies sold separately.
And If You’re Feeling Lazy
But please put your phone down at the Halloween party.
Oh, and If You’re Feeling Real Lazy…Just Say You’re a Creative Director
