The Coolest Pop Culture-Inspired Halloween Costumes For 2023

There’s no denying it’s been Barbie’s year, so paying homage to her this Halloween only feels appropriate. Hey, $1.4 billion at the box office! Sure, you can expect to see a lot of Barbie costumes this year, but don’t worry: you can still stand out from the pink crowd. Thanks to the sheer variety of Barbies and their styles, there are a ton of ways to go with this costume.

Guys don’t need to feel left out this Barboween! We get the sense there’ll be plenty of Kens roaming around at parties. Plus, Barbie and Ken together would make the perfect couple’s costume! But which Ken style to choose? Much like Barbie, you’re not short on options.

After Queen Charlotte made her debut in Bridgerton, the character got her own widely popular show in 2023. If you feel like going a little bit fancy to Halloween this year, this could be the costume for you. She is the epitome of 18th-century extravagance, so don’t hold back.

Just over a year on from the release of Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, the notorious serial killer is still making waves in pop culture today. Right or wrong, folks continue to talk about this show: the 13 nominations at the 2023 Primetime Emmys might have had something to do with it.

The latest of Disney’s live-action remakes, 2023’s The Little Mermaid earned close to $570 million at the global box office. It wasn’t the biggest of Disney’s hits, but don’t let that stop you from putting an Ariel outfit together at home; you’ll be instantly recognizable.

Taylor Swift crushed 2023. Her Eras tour saw unprecedented success; it’s been called one of the biggest cultural phenomena of the 21st century, and it even boosted the local economy at its stops by helping businesses and tourism. Mirroring a recognizable T-Swift outfit could be the perfect look at Halloween this year, then.

Speaking of popular music concerts this year, that brings us to Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour. The superstar sported a ton of truly mesmerizing outfits during these shows that would make great costumes. Our favorite has to be her iconic bee look, but copying that one could be a little challenging to pull off — unless you have a helmet with giant antennae lying around.

With 12 Primetime Emmy nominations to its name and a huge new fanbase, Wednesday has totally reignited The Addams Family franchise. This first Halloween since the show’s release in November 2022, so you can expect to see plenty of Wednesdays at your office parties!

Regan MacNeil, Carrie, Annabelle: the horror genre is home to some iconic female villains. And in January 2023 a new name joined the ranks: of course, we’re talking about the dancing and dicing A.I. toy M3GAN. 

Kylie Jenner dominated the headlines of 2023’s Paris Fashion Week thanks to her truly bizarre outfit. Yep, we’re referring to the lion’s headdress. Things got even crazier when Irina Shayk rocked the same get-up on the runway, with Jenner’s reaction in the crowd causing an even bigger online stir.

It’s been a big year for the British royal family. Following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles III was crowned on May 6, 2023. And boy was the coronation an event to remember. We witnessed history in the making!

Barbie was crammed with memorable sequences, but some of the best stuff in the movie involved the instantly iconic Weird Barbie. As played by Kate McKinnon, her chaotic style was completely at odds with the rest of the Barbies, and it worked a treat. 

When back in the fall of 2022 Elon Musk splashed the cash to purchase Twitter, no one could’ve predicted what would happen next. The social media website has had a tumultuous time since, even losing its name in the process. We’ll never get used to X!

After Elvis wowed film fans last year, the singer’s famous widow is getting her own biographical movie in 2023. Yep, Priscilla is due to be released this November, just days after Halloween. But don’t let that stop you from rocking up at the office party in your best Priscilla Presley costume. 

Following five glorious years on the small screen, we bid a sad farewell to Succession in 2023. TV just won’t be the same without the Roy family! So here’s an idea: you could both celebrate and mourn the show’s ending this Halloween.

Thanks to her unique style, Portia instantly became one of The White Lotus’ most notable characters. How could you not love someone who dresses up in such crazy outfits? The sweater and bikini top combo was especially eye-catching!

While there’s always a lot of interest in the Super Bowl halftime show, 2023’s effort was especially noteworthy. Yes, Rihanna took to the stage and knocked her performance out of the park. But that wasn’t the only reason why she got social media buzzing.

It’s hard to remember a reality TV scandal that tops the truly insane “Scandoval” incident on Vanderpump Rules. To recap, it involved Tom Sandoval, who started a relationship with Raquel Leviss behind Ariana Madix’s back. And to say the latter was furious when she found out would be an understatement.

Compared to other Halloween monster costumes, zombies are arguably the easiest to create at home: all you need is a little makeup and you’ll be set. But The Last of Us could change the game this year. The Cordyceps ghouls in that show are utterly horrifying, and there is more than one type.

Arguably the most creative movie to come out of Hollywood in decades, Everything Everywhere All at Once is a backs-to-the-wall multiversal mash-up epic that sprawls itself right across multiple genres.

While Charles was crowned this year, his son Prince Harry has also had a pretty memorable 2023 thus far. Mind you, some would say that the royal has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons.

As the fifth entry in the series, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny hit theaters in the summer of 2023. It didn’t prove to be a runaway success, though, making just over $380 million off a near-$295 million budget.

You can always rely on the Met Gala to get social media buzzing. But this year it wasn’t a famous face that stole the spotlight at the annual event. In fact, the individual in question wasn’t even human! Yep, we’re talking about the cockroach that caught everyone’s attention on the red carpet.

Mario and Luigi have been pop-culture stars for decades now, but the characters are really getting their due this year. The Super Mario Bros. Movie came out in the spring, and it made seismic waves at the box office: the film earned over $1.3 billion across the globe! 

Want to get the jump on your pals by dressing as a surefire future pop-culture star at Halloween? Well, look no further than Willy Wonka. Yes, the character has been around for decades, but with the prequel movie due out this Christmas, he’ll certainly be making a comeback.

As TV’s favorite psycho, Joe Goldberg is the ideal character to inspire a Halloween costume. You’s killer lead is a unique monster compared to other villains in the pantheon of thrillers and horror. Yet unlike them, his go-to appearance is extremely simple to mimic at home.

Off the back of a superb opening season, The Bear returned to our screens earlier this summer with another round of highly intense episodes. And boy is the show reaping the rewards for its undoubted quality: it earned a whopping 13 Primetime Emmy nominations this year alone.

Top Gun: Maverick might’ve come out last year, but the legacy sequel is still making waves in 2023. Lest we forget, the film was nominated for six Oscars at this year’s ceremony, taking home the Best Sound gong. No one could’ve predicted any of this prior to the movie’s release: even Tom Cruise must’ve been somewhat taken aback!

It’ll be a sad day when Yellowstone finally concludes, but the time is drawing near. The second half of season five will mark the end, although no one knows for certain when it’ll air. So in the meantime, why not celebrate two of the show’s most memorable characters this Halloween? 

After showing years of promise, Coco Gauff finally realized her sporting dreams in September 2023. At the age of 19, the tennis star won the U.S. Open in stunning fashion, coming from a set down to secure the title.

Who says that glitzy couples have to dress to the nines all the time? In 2023 instead of slapping on some elaborate outfits for their U.S. Open visit, Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner opted for a more casual look.

We’ve seen our fair share of interesting trends this year, but the “girl dinner” movement has been particularly popular on social media. It all started on TikTok, as female users prepared “low-effort” meals to enjoy by themselves. From there, it skyrocketed.

“How often do you think about the Roman Empire?” That seemingly innocuous query has given birth to one of the most bizarre trends of the entire year. On TikTok, women have been posing that question to their partners, only to be baffled by the response.

The UFO debate ratched up in the summer of 2023 as Congress held a fascinating hearing. One of the speakers there was a guy named David Grusch, a former member of the United States Air Force. Now according to him, he’s chatted with higher-ups who have come into contact with “non-human biologics.”

When it comes to clashing outfits in the celebrity world, few will be able to beat Justin and Hailey Bieber’s effort from earlier in the year. She was dressed like an absolute star, rocking a gorgeous red dress. The same couldn’t be said for her husband, though!

After making a solid start two years ago, And Just Like That... made its long-awaited small-screen return in June 2023. “Trick or Treat” was among the standout episodes, as Carrie and company attended a Halloween party. So if you’re looking for inspiration this fall season, where better to turn?

We know how important it is to get noticed if you’re on a dating app. Having said that, a strange trend has been doing the rounds for a while now, where single guys share “fish pics” on apps such as Tinder. The snaps just show them holding a freshly caught fish.

When McDonald’s dropped the brand-new Grimace shake in June 2023 in honor of the character’s birthday, no one could’ve known what it’d lead to. Bizarrely, the beverage spawned a crazy TikTok trend where users filmed themselves drinking it, before cutting to a different shot that suggested it killed them.

Fans of the Real Housewives series have been having a ball in 2023. So many of those shows have aired this year! From the New York reboot to Orange County, it’s dominated the small screen. And there’s still more to come: Beverly Hills is due to drop in November.

Remember this story from 2021? While out on a hike with her partner, Ashley Olsen wasn’t exactly well-equipped for the trip. She was snapped on a woodland path holding both a giant machete and a glass of beer. On top of that, she was sporting a white outfit with a black cap.