Who said Halloween has to be all fake blood and polyester wings? This year, skip the Spirit Store clichés and channel your inner fashion demon instead. From Jean Paul Gaultier’s nude illusions to Maison Margiela’s masked mystique, here’s how to make your Halloween costume runway-worthy — one fashion reference at a time.
Uncanny Illusion of Skin
For those who like their costumes barely there yet totally couture, look no further than Jean Paul Gaultier’s 2025 Couture show. His body-hugging, nude-toned creations blurred the line between fabric and flesh — a visual trick that’s equal parts sensual and spectral.
Think of it as dressing like a very disturbing ghost of a flasher: perfect to scare evil spirits away by irritating them rather than scaring them
How to steal the look: Layer nude mesh or sheer tulle, add structured corsetry, and play with light shimmer. You’ll look like an apparition that studied at Central Saint Martins.
Haunted Anonymity
Kim Kardashian’s 2025 appearance at the Academy Museum Gala redefined “faceless fashion.” In true Maison Margiela style, she wore a nude gown and a sheer veil covering her entire face — anonymity as the ultimate luxury. And it’s easy! This is your Halloween shortcut to mystery: a costume that hides everything yet reveals an aesthetic genius underneath.
Try this: Match a nude-toned slip dress with a delicate face veil, or a sheer stocking mask with exaggerated jewelry. You’re not hiding — you’re performing conceptual anonymity.
Killer Boots and The Thigh-High Power
It all began with Pedro Pascal, who broke the internet in Saint Laurent’s jet-black waders on the 2025 red carpet, proving that confidence is the only thing higher than those heels. Soon after, Brad Pitt followed in, and then came Alexander Skarsgård, strutting into the Cannes Film Festival in those killer boots. They really do look like they belong to a serial killer. Try wearing a yellow raincoat instead of a fancy jacket. You can walk into Halloween looking like a stylish psyco.
Halloween spin: channel the “dark couture cowboy.” Pair faux-leather thigh-highs with a long tailored coat or tux jacket, smudge your eyeliner, and let your posture say I’m here to rewrite menswear. Whether you go haunted rock-star or gender-fluid vampire, this look is equal parts rebellion and runway.
Surreal Dream Gone Wrong
Cardi B in Schiaparelli’s beaded, wing-like gown—complete with a raven -of course, perched on her gloved hand. It wasn’t just a fashion moment; it was the gothic witch look of our dreams. The look was equal parts priestess and predator, dripping in old-Hollywood glamour and occult symbolism.
This otherworldly spirit isn’t new to the house of Schiaparelli. Its founder, Elsa Schiaparelli, was the first woman to bring surrealism into fashion, collaborating with Salvador Dalí and Jean Cocteau in the 1930s. From lobster-print dresses to shoe-shaped hats, she blurred the line between art and dream long before anyone else dared.
Today, creative director Daniel Roseberry keeps that ghost alive—sometimes literally. His recent shows have featured glowing Himalayan salt-stone necklaces, anatomical heart pendants that actually beat. You can get all the spooky inspo you need from Schiaparelli’s designs like gold-sculpted toes peeking from satin heels, funereal armor fully inspired by Dante’s Inferno or a little trompe-l’œil action to deceive the eye.
Halloween spin: For your Schiaparelli-inspired costume, channel the surrealist siren. Think gold body parts as jewelry, sculptural silhouettes, and one dramatic prop—perhaps a raven, or your own glittering “heart” that won’t stop beating.
Victorian Séance of Style
Vivienne Westwood has always dressed the rebels, the witches, and the women who refuse to apologize for existing too loudly. Her Vive la Cocotte collection from 1995 was pure haunted elegance — corseted silhouettes, powdered faces, and a flirtation with the macabre.
But her Spring 1994 Ready-to-Wear show deserves its own spellbook entry. The models walked in crocheted and fringed mini-dresses that looked like they were woven by sirens or spun from leftover dreams — a perfect balance of naughty and necromantic. The best part? You can easily recreate it at home.
DIY tip: grab an old knitted top or crochet vest, cut it into tassels, layer with a sheer bodysuit, and pair with strappy heels. Add messy curls and a glassy stare, and you’re instantly channeling Westwood’s ghostly, boudoir goddess energy — part sea witch, part punk fairy.
Carry Your Haunting Melody
In one of the most delightfully absurd red-carpet moments of 2025, André 3000 showed up to the Met Gala wearing a Burberry jumpsuit and carrying a baby grand piano on his back. Equal parts surreal, self-aware, and theatrical.
DIY tip: Grab an oversized jumpsuit, attach a lightweight prop (maybe a mini keyboard, or carry your own haunted baggage on your back) and let your costume scream performance art.
Parisian Enchantress
Before “witchcore” was an aesthetic, Martine Sitbon was already there. Her Spring/Summer 1993 runway sent models down the catwalk in sheer black layers, floppy witch hats, and a moody aura that screamed “Parisian enchantress.”
It was part witch, part poet, part 90s heroine who reads tarot in cigarette smoke.
Wear it now: Layer black lace, add a wide-brim hat, deep lipstick, and a knowing smile. This is not your average witch — it’s a fashion witch.
A Head-Turner in the Most Literal Sense
At the 2019 Met Gala, Jared Leto quite literally brought himself — carrying a life-sized replica of his own head as an accessory. The Gucci look (crimson silk, crystal chains, saintly drapery, and a decapitated prop) was equal parts Renaissance art and psychological horror.
You don’t have to find an exact replica of your own head, just find one that fits under your armpit. It’s pure Halloween; surreal, symbolic, and slightly disturbing — the holy trinity of couture macabre.
Costume idea:
Channel this energy with a red robe, some crystal embellishment, and a “spare head” (a mannequin one will do). Add smudged eyeliner and an eerie calm expression — as if you’ve already seen too much beauty in this world.
Floral Apparition
Kim Kardashian once wore a similar head-to-toe floral look, and the internet wasted no time comparing it to curtains and living-room upholstery. Well, it seems men are finally catching up — Stormzy’s blue rose suit at the Met Gala proved that “fashionable furniture” is officially genderless.
Costume idea:
This Halloween, become the chicest armchair in the room. Find a bold floral blazer or even a thrifted tapestry jacket, pair it with dark boots and a poker face. Add a single rose to your lapel for drama. Who says home décor can’t haunt?
The Ghost of Gender Norms
When Marc Jacobs walked into the Met in a full black lace dress, he blurred the line between menswear and gothic lingerie — and fashion history applauded. It’s gender-fluid, provocative, and so unapologetically “I don’t care what you think” that it belongs in the Halloween hall of fame.
Costume idea:
A sheer lace shirt (or dress), black undergarments, and high-shine accessories. Pair with a clutch and a smirk that says, “It’s fashion, darling — not cross-dressing, it’s storytelling.”
Channel the Fashion Phantom Within
The secret to a couture-level Halloween costume isn’t a higher budget — it’s a better reference. Choose a designer moment that feels theatrical, strange, or wildly self-aware, then exaggerate it.
Think of it as witchcraft via wardrobe: conjuring confidence, commanding attention, and haunting the party — all while looking criminally chic.
