Our Favorite Pop Culture and Queer Halloween 2024 Costume Ideas

Halloween is a time to dress up and celebrate all things creepy, lean into camp (more than usual), and get caught up in the horror of it all. While there's nothing like a costume that is blood soaked, jump scare-inducing, or horrifically iconic, we'll always love a pop culture party look. Some of these feel like they happened lifetimes ago (the Willy Wonka Experience catastrophe was this year, in February! "Mama, kudos for saying that, for spilling" happened in March!) which is why it's important to take the time to remember them with the highest honor there is: our Halloween costumes.

Recreating many of this year's pop culture moments requires rhinestones, so be prepared for that. All of our suggestions are achievable on both sides of the "time and effort available" scale. You'll be able to rock these whether you're looking for a simple, last-minute DIY, or you've booked out evenings for the next few weeks to work on your costume crafting. All of these can work for any gender, and – very importantly – can be worn as a casual, family-friendly fit, or a deeply, show-stoppingly slutty rendition. We'll leave the temperature of thirst trapping up to you. Have fun with these!

JoJo Siwa's rebrand

Whether you're in the mood to sparkle up a construction vest to wear with cargo pants (or tiny denim shorts) and boots, or you're more of a "sew teddy bears to your headband and bra" kinda girl, there's a world of possibilities with this costume. You will obviously have to master her insane, iconic, wild chopper-like dance, but there is the added bonus of carrying around a comically large bottle of alcohol, staying true to Siwa's preferred accessory since turning 21.

One JoJo Siwa costume you won't have to do the dance in, but will definitely make the show-stopping impact Siwa herself craves: the polarizing nude bedazzled look she wore on the LadyGunn magazine cover, matching a rhinestone chest plate with a rhinestone cup. A low-effort but highly effective way to pull off a JoJo Siwa look is simply pairing dancer-tight braids and a perplexing, uncoordinated, disproportionate outfit with one of her daring makeup looks (the "Guilty Pleasure" singer kindly provided a look back at some of these makeup highlights in this Instagram post).

Mama, kudos for saying that. For spilling.

Now, this costume can be as easy as getting the iconic phrase printed on a T-shirt and showing up to the party wearing it. But you can also make this costume a recreation of the "Drag Race" scene, (which can work solo and as a couples costume) by arriving with your makeup at its initial stages: unblended chin contouring, and brows-only status. However much you lean into this look, we love an opportunity to honor a viral moment that reminded us to celebrate how far we've come.

Tyla at The Met Gala

Like sands through the hourglass, so are the costumes recreating unforgettable fashion moments. This costume is gonna take work, but it'll absolutely be worth it when you walk into that party. This is a super creative, very sexy costume that we know you'll slay. Bonus points if you make it a couples costume and have the person rocking a black suit à la Balmain Creative Director Olivier Rousteing (seen in slide two). Cut the sand dress into a minidress for the afterparty – and, of course, film the moment for your IG costume reveal.

Timothée Chalamet as Troye Sivan on "SNL"

We can't guarantee you'll be the only gay at the party in this outfit, but we can assure you that everyone's gonna recognise it. The white vest is easily last-minute-DIY-able, and as long as you've got the red briefs, no one's gonna be looking too hard at whether your pants are striped or blue. The same can be said for the messy blonde curls. As long as you've got the just-woke-up (or just-f*cked) vibe about it, you're good. A few streaks courtesy of a temporary blonde hair spray would be a fun, easy way to complete the look, though. And of course, this costume comes with a built-in Instagram reveal pose: a quick flash of red for the 'gram.

GQ China's Heatstroke Hottie

You'll need someone with a steady hand to help draw the crop top outlines on your chest, but this is an easily accessible, incredibly hot look that the internet went wild for. We can guarantee that, whether it's a room full of your friends or a Halloween party at a club you've never been to, everyone who sees you in this sizzling babygirl-with-a-hot-body look will go wild for you, too. All you need is a little artfully placed blush, lipstick, or paint and a pair of headphones to have the room steaming up. No one's gonna notice or care what pants you're wearing when you're serving heatstroke hottie like this. Whether you show up wearing comfy sweatpants or tiny briefs, follow your heart, and know that's also where we'll all be looking.

Sabrina Carpenter

The pop princess has made her mark with playful lyrics, heart cutouts, and vintage lingerie-inspired outfits. This is a great option because as long as you can convey the Sabrina vibe, you don't necessarily need to wear any specific items she's worn before, and there are countless looks to choose from. Once you've got the blonde wig with bangs and voluminous curls, a monochromatic lingerie look (matching garters and other accessories easily made with lace from the craft store) will seal the deal. If you're wearing an airy nightie or a red corset, you don't even need her signature platform boots to make the fit recognizable. But you do need the album cover and tour outfit signature red lipstick kiss on your shoulder or inner thigh to make this look like a winner. If you've got a corset-style top (even a tight vest would work) that you're willing to Sabrina-ify, this is a great tutorial on the surprisingly easy process to create a heart-shaped cut-out. Another super-Sabrina costume that would stop traffic if you're ready to go all out is the sparkling bath towel reveal she's been doing at her Short n' Sweet tour.

Brat Summer

You already have multiple variations of this costume. If you want something straight-forward, it's gonna be a tight neon green crop top with the word "brat" across the front in the simple brat-specific font. You can also crowd-source from everything neon that you and your friends bought to wear over the Brat summer we just experienced. Alternatively, and perhaps most appealing, is the chance to wear the brat-coded outfit that got you the most attention. An opportunity to rewear your most successful thirst trap fit? That's exactly what Halloween is for!

Chappell Roan

If you've got the time and energy to DIY something as spectacular as the "Hot To Go" star would wear on stage, you'd be doing your community an incredible service. Oh, what a gift it would be to see a version of her Statue of Liberty bong reveal in person. You could recreate Chappell Roan's Midwest Princess album cover with a strapless turquoise dress, DIY satin sash, and a red wig piled on top of your hair, with curls tumbling around the tiara. Scroll through the It Girl's Instagram and you'll be inspired by the many, many options to rock a dazzling Chappell Roan costume. You really can't go wrong with sequins and her signature big red hair. The makeup is where the magic is! Go all out with that and you'll hit the mark.

The Oompa Loompa at the Glasgow Willy Wonka experience

The best part of this costume is that you really can't mess it up. Your wig is tilted to the left? That's intentional. Makeup smudged? That's accurate to the footage from the event. No amount of partying late into the night (or sneaking away to hook up before meeting the girls for group photos) is going to ruin the perfection that is this look. You'll need a green wig (badly cut into a bob with bangs), white gloves, a dark brown top (easily DIY-ed with scissors to be off-the-shoulder, and striped ribbon from the craft store sewed along the edges), and – most importantly – you need to convey profound disappointment with your face and posture. The sad oompa loompa herself has given you (in this interview about a musical production about the saga!!) directions on how to hit the iconic pose.

Paris 2024 Olympians

Whether you rock a gold and green t-shirt and cap to embody Australia's Raygun, pull out the Superman glasses you've had for years to become Pommel Horse Guy, or a leotard like the one-of-a-kind sparkling beauties that Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, and Brazil's Rebeca Andrade wore in their gold-winning performances, this costume is a perfect combo to show off your bedazzling skills and your banging body. DIY Olympic medals are a must (unless you're gonna be the Australian "breakdancer" Raygun, for which you will instead need to strike a ridiculous mid-dance pose for photos, with a straight face to show your commitment to the craft), but some cardboard, gold spray paint, and ribbon will do, and you'll be able to spend the night posing like the Olympians did, with their medals between their teeth.