Halloween isn’t always a contest, but it can always be won. To help you stand out among the masquerading masses, the Styles desk humbly offers the following 11 suggestions for the trendiest, zeitgeistiest and generally 2026-iest costumes of the year.
We’ve provided a key to sift through the options: 
= a couples costume, 
= a group or family costume, 
= high-concept or crafty, 
= celebrity and 
= nostalgic. And remember: A wig is the rare investment that will always pay dividends.
Nathan Fielder and Elizabeth Holmes
What you’ll need: Salt-and-pepper wig, blond wig, blue contact lenses, copious blush and an unwavering conviction that you did nothing wrong.
Halloween is supposed to be scary. If you really want to unsettle people, dress up as the convicted fraudster Elizabeth Holmes and the comedian-slash-airplane pilot Nathan Fielder. Take cues from the teaser for Fielder’s forthcoming documentary, “You Can See Everything,” in which the two maintain laserlike eye contact while Holmes bounces a baby’s rocker with her foot. On the off chance you get caught stealing candy, try out a line like “Of course I’m not deceiving you” or “I’m always being real.”
Wilted Rose Emoji
What you’ll need: Large papier-mâché petals to hang over your head, a bright green bodysuit, a few spritzes of floral perfume and a frowny face. A mild case of tech neck will help sell the look.
The wilted rose emoji, which has come to signify heartbreak (or mock it), is enjoying its moment in the spotlight with Gen Alpha. If you’re among the roughly 69 percent of American adults who are dissatisfied with the way things are going in this country, the wilted rose might be the perfect costume to symbolize our national ennui.
2016 Girlie
What you’ll need: A Morphe or Naked eye shadow palette for an elaborate cut-crease look; a metric ton of Anastasia Beverly Hills brow pomade for eyebrows that look drawn on with a Sharpie; layers of crusty matte lipstick that flake off when you speak. Pair with skinny jeans, your best going-out top and at least one choker necklace. Make sure to capture the look with a Snapchat filter.
Halloween is a holiday for wild makeup looks, so why not tackle the most outlandish of all: the stuff people were wearing every day in 2016.
Gloria Steinem
What you’ll need: Chunky belt, flared pants or a miniskirt, aviator glasses, Wonder Woman-esque cuffs and long nails. A long, center-parted wig with blond streaks is essential.
The face of the feminist movement, who died last month at 92, was once dismissed for being nothing more than “the miniskirted pinup girl of the intelligentsia.” But that description, for those who admired her lifelong advocacy on behalf of women’s rights, is exactly what made her an icon of the 20th century.
Erling Haaland and Raccoon
What you’ll need: Blond wig, sunglasses, a formerly alive raccoon (a plush toy is acceptable/arguably preferable), the largest tote bag you can get your hands on.
Raccoons have had quite the year (see: Jimothy and this patron of a Virginia liquor store). Perhaps the most distinguished yet has been the taxidermy travel companion of the Norwegian soccer star Erling Haaland. The raccoon, which Haaland bought for $750 at a western store in Dallas during the World Cup, is clasping an empty bottle of booze in his paws. If your Halloween plans include a B.Y.O.B. gathering, this costume will be both fun and functional.
The ‘Yesteryear’ Family
What you’ll need: A brood of six or more “children” with matching shoulder-length hair and neutral clothing; a patriarch donning a cowboy hat; and, for the tradwife influencer, a purple apron and a homemade herby boule.
For the lit-minded, you could do worse than look for inspiration in the novel that Stephen King described as “sharp enough to draw blood.”
Caro Claire Burke’s “Yesteryear,” which pushes the tradwife phenomenon to its extreme, twisted conclusion, landed with a thud in this year’s culture wars and seemed to haunt those who once embraced that lightning rod of a label.
And as the age-old saying goes: If Anne Hathaway has signed up to cosplay as the book’s protagonist, Natalie Heller Mills, why not you?
Bad Bunny Sugar Cane Bush
What you’ll need: Synthetic palm fronds, lots of them. Hot-glue gun to stick the faux plants on a wearable outfit and a hat to hide your likeness. The ability to name all the countries in Latin America and a rhythm for reggaeton.
If being perceived gives you the ick, we have a Halloween solution that requires no makeup. You, too, can be part of a major event (then, Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LX halftime show; now, Halloween 2026) without disclosing any part of your identity. Simply standing there will do.
A Kalshi or Polymarket Bet
What you’ll need: A trip to Staples and buckets full of imagination.
If one were to gaze out over the year’s cultural landscape, anywhere your eye could fall would be clouded by a Kalshi- or Polymarket-shaped thought bubble. The feud over at “Summer House”? Bet on it. Do aliens exist? Bet on it. Will the unexpected romance between Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau lead to something more serious? Bet on it. You get the idea. Go as any cultural moment or public figure and throw on a handmade trade tracker. A whimsical choice would be to create elaborate, functional slider levers that can move up or down a Yes and No track. Or, you could go old-school, with a classic tally chart over your costume.
Taylor and Travis
What you’ll need: Blond wig, sparkly bodysuit, football jersey and a big diamond.
Look, this is not a costume that will win you any contests. But perhaps it will make you new friends when you arrive at the party and discover that you are one of several Tayvises in attendance. You can reminisce about the celebrity wedding of the year with your fellow jocks and pop stars who also did not spend very much time thinking about their outfit. Bonus points if you mix genders.
Natalie Portman (as Imagined by Rachel Cusk)
What you’ll need: Black leotard, tutu, feathered headband and dramatic black eye makeup; if you’re feeling ambitious, you can add bloodstained wings sprouting from your back. And of course, carry a copy of Rachel Cusk’s “Life of M” to brandish as a “trick” during trick-or-treating.
This costume has layers — not just tulle, but metafictional ones. Dress up as Natalie Portman’s psychotic ballerina from “Black Swan,” and then enjoy correcting people who assume they recognize your character by telling them you are not, in fact, Natalie Portman playing a ballerina mid-breakdown, but instead Portman’s character as imagined by the experimental novelist Rachel Cusk.
Various Sheep
What you’ll need: High-pile fleece, a Letterboxd account, cud (for chewing).
Everyone, and I mean everyone, is talking about how it’s been a breakthrough stretch for sheep in cinema. Those who plan to swaddle themselves in fleece on Halloween night have plenty of options to choose from in the twee mystery “Sheep Detectives,” including Lily, Sebastian and that miserable-looking winter lamb. You could also throw in some sheep from “The Odyssey” and “Frankenstein,” and then spend the night acting offended that your so-called cinephile friends can’t even distinguish between sheep as conceptualized by Christopher Nolan and Guillermo del Toro. Embarrassing!
Reporting was contributed by Alexandra Alter, Kendall Blomfield, Gina Cherelus, Sandra E. Garcia, Alisha Haridasani Gupta, Callie Holtermann, Madison Malone Kircher and Kellina Moore.
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