Browse through all of the classic Halloween costume and cosplay guides. These are the looks that have defined the holiday for generations — carved pumpkins and jack-o’-lanterns, red devils, winged angels and roaring dinosaurs — and each one can be built from ordinary clothes and a few targeted buys. You can dress as a Pumpkin, a Devil, an Angel or a Dinosaur, and turn any of them into a full Halloween costume or a family group theme from our titles index. Every guide breaks the outfit down item by item, so you know exactly what to buy.
Dinosaur is the classic DIY Halloween costume you build from a green hoodie and green sweatpants. Add a stuffed tail, a pair of green claw gloves and light green felt cut into a belly patch and a row of spikes, then pin or stitch them on. The hoodie’s hood becomes the head, so there is no mask to buy and nothing to paint. It is warm, comfortable and genuinely cheap, and it suits kids and adults alike — the spikes and the tail read instantly as a dinosaur, even from across a room.
An angel is one of the simplest classic Halloween costumes, and you can build it from clothes you may already own. Start with a cream midi dress or simple white separates, then add the two pieces that define the look: a pair of white wings and a halo. Finish with pearl flower clips, a gold satin sash and gold ballet flats for a soft, glowing effect. Every part comes straight off the shelf, and the white-and-gold palette photographs beautifully at any Halloween party, solo or in a group.
Classic Halloween costumes are the easiest theme to get right, because the ideas are already familiar and the pieces are simple. Start with a shape and a colour — orange for a pumpkin, red and black for a devil, cream and white for an angel, green for a dinosaur — then add one or two props that make it obvious: a pumpkin headband, a pair of horns and a tail, a halo and wings, or a felt tail and claw gloves. Our horror costume guides cover the scarier end of the holiday.
Everything people ask before building a classic Halloween costume — what the traditional looks actually include, where the holiday’s customs come from, how to make a devil, angel, pumpkin or dinosaur outfit for Halloween without spending much, and how to turn one idea into a group or family theme.
Classic Halloween costumes are the traditional looks that have been worn for the holiday for generations: ghosts, witches, vampires, devils, skeletons, angels and jack-o’-lanterns. They stay popular because they are easy to recognise and simple to build from ordinary clothes and a few cheap props.
Halloween is celebrated on 31 October. It traces back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people lit bonfires and wore costumes to hide from, or ward off, wandering spirits. The pumpkin lantern came later, after Irish and Scottish turnip-carving crossed to North America.
Pumpkin carving became popular in North America because pumpkins were plentiful and much easier to hollow out than the turnips originally used in Ireland and Scotland. A carved, lit pumpkin is called a jack-o’-lantern, and it is the single most recognisable symbol of the holiday.
A classic devil costume is built around red and black: a red dress or shirt-and-trousers look, a red cape, and the two accessories that define it, a pair of glitter devil horns and a long red tail. A small toy trident and a red bow tie finish the look.
An angel costume is a set of cream or white clothing, most often a cream midi dress or white separates, finished with the two pieces that make it read as an angel: white wings and a halo. Pearl flower clips, a gold satin sash and gold ballet flats add the soft, glowing detail.
To make a DIY dinosaur costume, start with a green hoodie and green sweatpants, then add a stuffed tail, green claw gloves and light green felt cut into a belly patch and a row of spikes. The hood becomes the head, so you do not need a mask or any face paint.
A pumpkin costume is usually an orange tunic or dress with a matching pumpkin headband, worn over black leggings or a black long-sleeve top and black shoes. A black face-paint kit and a few green felt leaves turn a simple orange outfit into a jack-o’-lantern.
Build a classic Halloween group costume by mixing the traditional characters so each person has a different look: a pumpkin, a devil, an angel and a dinosaur together cover both cute and creepy. Choose a shared colour rule, such as black and orange, to tie the group together without dressing identically.
The angel is the easiest, because it is a cream or white dress with wings and a halo and nothing technical to assemble. The pumpkin is a close second, since an orange tunic and a headband cover most of the look.
Halloween falls on 31 October, and its costume tradition stretches back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people lit bonfires and wore disguises to ward off wandering spirits. Carving lanterns began in Ireland and Scotland with turnips, which were swapped for pumpkins once the custom reached North America. Trick-or-treating later made the costume the centre of the holiday, and the classic canon — ghosts, witches, vampires, devils, angels and jack-o’-lanterns — is still the most popular pick every year. Costumes are now worn by children and adults alike, at parties and on the doorstep. Our guides cover four timeless choices: the pumpkin, the devil, the angel and the dinosaur.
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