Unusual Celebrity Costumes to Use as Inspo For Halloween

These celebrities threw out the Halloween handbook, so why can’t you?

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Spooky season is here and it's time to decide what to dress up as for Halloween. Of course, there are the expected costumes to choose from: superheroes, characters from TV (how many people this year are going to put on a tracksuit and call it an homage to Squid Game?), or the classic sexy nurse, or Playboy Bunny, or It clown—but those are boring.

It's been predicted on TikTok that a lot of people will use TV shows like WandaVision or events like the Met Gala as inspiration for this year's Halloween, but at the end of the day, it's the creative and unusual costumes that’ll stand out at the party.

What better way to get inspired than to look through some of the best celebrity costumes over the years? Most of the time, their unusual costume ideas go viral or impress the media not only because they’re different or over-the-top, but because they’re actually replicable—and on a budget, too.

So, for this Halloween, here are some . . . interesting celebrity costumes and how to create a dupe version of them!

Katy Perry as a Flamin’ Hot Cheeto

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In 2014, Katy Perry chose to dress up as a Hot Cheeto for Kate Hudson's annual Halloween party. Not only was Katy a literally giant orange Cheeto stick, but she also complemented it with a Cheeto bag as a purse. The singer is known for her wacky Halloween costumes, but this was one of her best.

Here's how you can recreate it yourself: You're going to need an orange long-sleeved shirt and some orange pants, a small-ish cardboard box, some orange fabric, and red spray paint. First make a hole in the box for your face and then create a Cheeto-shaped frame. Then, cover it with the orange fabric, making little bumps to create texture, and spray it a bit with the paint to make it look more like a Hot Cheeto. And that’s it! If you want, buy a Hot Cheeto bag to use as a handbag. That's an accessory and snack all in one.

Emily Ratajkowski as Marge Simpson

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For Heidi Klum's 2015 annual Halloween party, Emily Ratajkowski chose an easy and accurate costume: Marge Simpson. For this, she covered her entire body with yellow paint (not much of a fan of the unitard, I guess), and also wore a wig of the iconic blue hair, the green dress and the red beaded necklace.

Here's how you can recreate it yourself: This one is easy! If you don't want to paint your whole body (I wouldn't), you just need yellow pantyhose and a long-sleeved shirt in the same bright yellow color, or a yellow unitard. After that, you would only need to paint the neck, face and hands. Top it off with a strapless green dress, red heels, and a blue wig—which are all easy to find on Amazon.

Megan the Stallion as a . . . Pumpkin Head?

Megan The Stallion Instagram

Earlier this October, Stallion turned into an October mood when she posted photos of herself with a pumpkin on her head and watching TV. Now we're not sure if this counts as a Halloween costume, but it so easily could.

Here's how you can recreate it yourself: Dressing up as a pumpkin is some (hot) spooky girl shit that anyone can remake this Halloween. Just don a full black outfit and carve out a pumpkin. Have fun with the expression you decide to carve—at the very least, you’ll need some eye holes to see through! You'll be the hottest pumpkin in the patch. (Just make sure you don’t end up with the pumpkin stuck on your head like Dwight.)

Jennifer Garner as a Mailbox

Jennifer Garner Instagram

In 2019, the actress chose to dress up as a mailbox in honor of the speech she gave at her alma mater, Ohio’s Denison University, where she said, “Why would you dress like a flirty nurse when you could be a mailbox?” She also added that she would always opt in favor of funny over sexy when it comes to Halloween costumes, and she definitely delivered funny on this one.

Here's how you can recreate it yourself: This is an easy and original costume. All you need is a box, some blue paint, and that’s it. The hardest part would probably be shaping the box on the top, but get creative! After that, you just need to paint. The best part—you can hide food and drinks in it. Cheap and smart!

Doja Cat as Tyra Banks

Doja Cat Instagram

During last year's quarantine, Doja chose to dress up as top model Tyra Banks. She posted the costume to her Instagram and TikTok pages, with the caption: HAPPY TYRAWEEN. Doja recreated two iconic Tyra meme videos for this: America's Next Top Model's "We were all rooting for you" clip, and a segment from another one of Tyra's old talk shows during which she reveals her beauty secrets. Doja Cat’s costumes both went viral because they were pretty accurate, and even Tyra Banks reposted them on her Instagram.

Here's how you can recreate it yourself: For the ANTM meme, all you need is a strapless black tube dress and a red wig. Try searching “women short orange red wig” on Amazon. To recreate the other costume, you’ll need a blue and yellow style of lingerie, but if you can't find that, wear a blue top and layer a yellow bra over it.

Lady Gaga as a Sheet Ghost

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Yes, in 2014, the Mommy Monster herself dressed up as an insanely low-effort ghost. This was not a high production costume, but literally a plain-white-sheet-with-two-holes-for-eyes kind of ghost. She obviously wanted to scare her fans with a last-minute costume, but she was ahead of her time—as always. Why? Because last year, this exact costume was all over TikTok, with creators hopping on the “Ghost Photoshoot” trend.

Here's how you can recreate it yourself: No explanation needed, right? This is a classic costume—so iconic that even Lady Gaga wore it—and all you’ll need is a white sheet and a pair of scissors.

There are many more unusual costumes celebrities have worn before, but these ones are iconic and easy to recreate for this year’s or any other year’s Halloween. Now, the question is: Which one do you choose? I would try them all, but whatever you dress up as, remember to do you boo-boo! Happy spooking!