Every year (well, every year since the advent of Instagram), the best part of Halloween is finding out what over-the-top, undoubtedly expensive costumes celebrities have chosen to wear to drink Casamigos tequila and ring in the end of spooky season. In the social media era, Hollywood Halloween is essentially the Oscars in October, with celebrities pulling out all the stops to accumulate likes and grace “Best Costume” lists. Lest we forget the time that Heidi Klum reportedly dropped $10 million to dress five models in matching outfits and prosthetics to look like her clones.
In the years since graduating from college, I’ve found Halloween in the adult world to generally be an exhausting disappointment on a par with New Year’s Eve and birthday brunches. You spend too much money to look like Margot Tenenbaum, justifying the purchase of a vintage striped polo dress with a weak, “I’m sure I’ll wear this again,” but knowing full well that by the end of the night, the frock will be covered in unidentifiable spilled liquids and glitter from your friend’s alien costume. Or you go the homemade route, scouring your closet for some item of clothing to help you embody an unfunny pun that you’ll have to explain to everyone you meet.
There are hiked-up cover charges for bars, there are tempting bags of candy haunting every Duane Reade aisle. There are viral photos of poor, unsuspecting toddlers whose parents dressed them as characters from sitcoms that were cancelled six years before they were born. Plus, as Chrissy Teigen pointed out on Twitter (“I have never seen a longer Halloween in my life”), Halloween falling on a Thursday this year essentially means two full weeks of festivities.
Without fail, though, the promise of social media feeds flooded with pictures of celebrity Halloween costumes gives me something to look forward to. And this year’s particularly lengthy Halloween has one obvious upside: double the delightfully absurd celebrity Instagram posts.
Here are some of the best ones so far, in no particular order.
Nina Dobrev as Billie Eilish
The Vampire Diaries actress was the spitting image of the 17-year-old singer at the annual Casamigos bash, down to the neon-green-dyed roots of her hair.
Stormi Webster as Kylie Jenner at the Met Gala
Kylie Jenner dressed her 1-year-old daughter with Travis Scott in a miniature replica of the lavender feathered Versace gown she wore to the 2019 Met Gala. The resulting Instagram picture is equal parts cute and creepy.
Demi Lovato as Marie Antoinette
Lovato exuded “let them eat cake” energy in her Marie Antoinette costume. Though her rhinestone beauty look is more Euphoria cast member than 18th century French monarch, she nails the voluminous powdered wig.
Ashley Graham as Jessica Rabbit
Jessica Rabbit is a tried and true Halloween costume, and Graham kept it classic with a red latex dress with a thigh-high slit, a red wig, and purple gloves.
Gabrielle Union as her Bring It On Character
Gabrielle Union-Wade reprised her iconic Bring It On role of Isis, head of the Clovers cheerleading squad and defender of intellectual property rights. She dressed daughter Kaavia in a matching green uniform and captioned the shot, “Brought It.”
Ciara and Russell Wilson as Beyoncé and Jay-Z in “Apeshit”
The singer and the Seattle Seahawks quarterback may have won Halloween this year with their uncanny take on Beyoncé and Jay-Z in the “Apeshit” music video.
Tracee Ellis Ross as Red from Us
Ross dressed up as Lupita Nyong’o’s chilling character from the horror film Us for an episode of black-ish, scissors and all.
Lisa Rinna as J.Lo
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star channeled her inner pop diva in costume as Jennifer Lopez at the 2000 Grammy Awards. With its plunging neckline, the green Versace dress is one of Lopez’s most recognizable looks.
Jessica Biel as NSYNC-era Justin Timberlake
After confessing in an interview with Jimmy Fallon last week that she was not always an NSYNC fan, the actress dressed up in one of her husband’s most regrettable outfits from his boyband days.
Evan Peters and Halsey as Sonny and Cher
Evan Peters and Halsey made their public debut as a couple dressed as Sonny and Cher at the American Horror Story party over the weekend.
Kourtney Kardashian as Ariana Grande
Though she was a couple weeks early (Chrissy Teigen would not approve), Kardashian looked like Ariana Grande’s twin posing in front of a piano and showing off a long, blonde ponytail.
Halsey as Marilyn Manson
The 25-year-old popstar went in a completely different direction from her Cher look with this Marilyn Manson costume.
Kylie Jenner and Anastasia Karanikolaou as Madonna and Britney at the VMAs
Jenner and her BFF payed homage to a classic pop-culture moment by channeling Madonna and Britney Spears’s headline-grabbing 2003 VMAs performance.
