The Halloween season has remained a staple of American culture for decades, allowing anyone to pull out all the stops and fully express themselves through their clothing, without any fear of judgment. Halloween costumes can act as a time capsule, showing what was trending at the time. Popular costumes follow pop culture trends, reflecting what is going on in society.
In 2010, Toy Story 3 made waves, grossing over one billion dollars at the box office. The following Halloween saw an unprecedented amount of Toy Story themed costumes. According to CNBC, “Buzz Lightyear will be one of the top costumes for 2010” (cnbc.com). Children and adults alike embraced the renewed popularity of the franchise, and dressed up as their favorite space ranger.
Just two years later, pop culture saw another massive influence on Halloween costumes. Marvel-themed costumes exploded in popularity due to the release of The Avengers, and people of all ages were dressing up as characters such as Iron Man, Black Widow, Thor, and Captain America (cnbc.com).
In the mid-2010s, Disney’s Frozen took the world by storm. Elsa and Anna costumes flooded parties and trick-or-treating routes. However, despite Frozen’s popularity, it still wasn’t able to win the title of most popular costume. According to NBC’s list of most popular costumes in 2015, “Harley Quinn, the Joker’s sidekick in the Batman comics and one of the main characters in next year’s ‘Suicide Squad’ movie, has the number one spot” (nbcnews.com). Despite the movie not being released yet, DC’s Suicide Squad was already creating enough of an impact to have Harley Quinn be the most popular Halloween costume.
According to CBS News, two of the top ten costumes in 2017 were political, and three were based on the show Stranger Things. In the late 2010s, Stranger Things started gaining traction, and as night follows day, Stranger Things-themed Halloween costumes became all the rage. The series’ simple-to-replicate outfits as well as its retro-horror aesthetic led costumes such as Eleven, Hopper, and The Demogorgon to be exceedingly popular. Conversely, following the polarizing election of 2016, costumes imitating presidential candidates like Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, and Hillary Clinton also saw a rise in popularity (cbsnews.com).
In 2020, the midst of the pandemic, Halloween saw its difficulties. Most traditional parties were shrunk, and trick-or-treating was kept to a minimum, but people still found creative ways to keep the Halloween spirit alive. The Los Angeles Times suggested COVID-themed costumes such as banana bread, sexy hand sanitizer, and mail-in ballots (latimes.com). These fun costumes were a good way to keep the mood light during a relatively dark time, and reflected the culture of the era.
Following 2020, the world was finally beginning to open up again, and Halloween costumes returned with an even bigger boom. Pop culture had more of an influence than ever, with Squid Game’s green tracksuits and pink guard uniforms being one of the most popular costumes of the year. In 2023, The Barbie movie was a viral success. According to a list of the most popular halloween costumes, Barbie placed number one (visualcapitalist.com).
Each year, whatever is trending in pop culture appears to have a big impact on Halloween costumes. From costumes like Frozen’s Elsa to sexy hand sanitizer, this past decade has seen a massive shift in pop culture, and Halloween costumes have shifted along with it. As we move forward, it’s very likely that streaming services, movies, and social media will continue to have a huge effect on Halloween.