Cruella de Vil
Balenciaga, Spring/Summer 2020
Clown
Gareth Pugh, Fall/Winter 2006
Ghost
Comme des Garçons, Spring/Summer 2012
Cheetah
Guy Laroche, Spring/Summer 1994
Mermaid
Thom Browne, Spring/Summer 2019
Skeleton
Moschino, Spring/Summer 2020
Mummy
Dior, Spring/Summer 2004 Couture
Pirate
Vivienne Westwood, Fall/Winter 1981
Pumpkin
Molly Goddard, Fall/Winter 2018
Robot
Thierry Mugler, Fall/Winter 1995
With Halloween approaching, Minnie Muse was naturally inspired by the October holiday’s notoriously extravagant archetype and penchant for costuming. The tradition of concealing oneself through a borrowed appearance – for however brief it may be – is a prominent theme relating to identity and self-presentation. Accordingly, we selected some of our favorite costume categories and personality types, pairing them with runway looks that best evoke their respective category and overall Halloween spirit. The ensuing costume guide takes an uncharacteristically analytical approach to the otherwise kitschy, trick-or-treating holiday, one that is as equally fashion forward as it is frightening.
To begin the Minnie Muse Halloween flow-chart, we first considered some of the principal categories associated with Halloween costumery: Characters, Animals and Classic ensembles. The following layer of our guide further examines these themes, breaking them into sub-groups such as: Blast From the Past, Film, Fantasy, Safari, Bird, Freaky and Festive. Our proposed costume ideas – if you’re looking to the below as a true ‘guide’ – were therefore birthed from these labels and then suitably linked to their respective runway manifestations, all while striving to broadly address the multi-faceted function of a costume.
To highlight a few essentials that ooze of Halloween spirit, Gareth Pugh’s Fall/Winter 2006 runway show took a classic clown costume to new heights, while Jeremy Scott’s Spring/Summer 2020 Moschino collection included a very literal approach to Day of the Dead formalwear – ie. a black gown painted atop with a white skeleton. Meanwhile, if looking for a more purist approach, John Galliano’s Spring/Summer 2004 Dior couture show included high-fashion-gauze-wrapped-models strutting the runway like mummies, while Comme des Garçons’ Spring/Summer 2012 all white collection read like a parade of avant-garde ghosts.
In short, these runway manifestations of traditional costumes reserved mainly for Halloween festivities delineate designer’s ironic, oftentimes far-reaching sources of inspiration. It is evident that tradition is tightly wound to creativity, forging the production and design of garments that denote themes of nostalgia, identity and transformation.
Happy Halloween and happy costuming. We hope our guide can aid in answering some of the holiday’s scariest questions!
References
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Flapper
Ralph Lauren, Spring/Summer 2012
Flapper
Louis Vuitton, Spring/Summer 2011
Flapper
Alberta Ferretti, Pre-Fall 2012
Flapper
Gucci, Spring/Summer 2012
Mermaid
Thom Browne, Spring/Summer 2019
Mermaid
Givenchy, Spring/Summer 1998
Mermaid
Rodarte, Spring/Summer 2015
Goddess
Valentino, Spring/Summer 2016 Couture
Goddess
Givenchy, Spring/Summer 1997
Goddess
Chanel, Resort 2018
Tiger
Zadig & Voltaire, Fall/Winter 2018
Giraffe
Burberry, Fall/Winter 2013
Zebra
Tom Ford, Fall/Winter 2013
Cheetah
Guy Laroche, Spring/Summer 1994
Hippie
Chloe, Spring/Summer 2019
Hippie
Viktor & Rolf, Spring/Summer 2019
Hippie
Anna Sui, Fall/Winter 2015
Robot
Balenciaga, Spring/Summer 2007
Robot
Givenchy, Autumn/Winter 1999
Robot
Thierry Mugler, Fall/Winter 1995
Pirate
Jean Paul Gaultier, Spring/Summer 2010
Pirate
Vivienne Westwood, Fall/Winter 1981
Pirate
John Galliano, Fall/Winter 2001
Sailor
Chanel, Pre-Fall 2018
Sailor
Jean Paul Gaultier, Spring/Summer 1997
Sailor
Christian Dior, Spring/Summer 2011
Hannibal Lecter
Gareth Pugh, Fall/Winter 2016
The Shining Twins
Undercover, Spring/Summer 2018
Wednesday Addams
Prada, Fall/Winter 2019
Cruella de Vil
Balenciaga, Spring/Summer 2020
Parrot
Alexander McQueen, Spring/Summer 2008
Peacock
Prada, Spring/Summer 2005
Flamingo
Schiaparelli, Fall/Winter 2018
Skeleton
JC de Castelbajac, Fall/Winter 2011
Skeleton
Iris van Herpen, Spring/Summer 2019
Skeleton
Moschino, Spring/Summer 2020
Clown
Maison Margiela, Fall/Winter 2015
Clown
Dior, Fall/Winter 2011 Couture
Clown
Gareth Pugh, Fall/Winter 2006
Pumpkin
Molly Goddard, Fall/Winter 2018
Pumpkin
Giorgio Armani, Spring/Summer 2017
Pumpkin
Lanvin, Spring/Summer 2009
Ghost
Comme des Garçons, Spring/Summer 2012
Ghost
John Galliano, Fall/Winter 2009
Ghost
Ann Demeulemeester, Spring/Summer 2019
Mummy
The Blonds, Fall/Winter 2013
Mummy
Dior, Spring/Summer 2004 Couture
Mummy
Balmain, Spring/Summer 2019
Witch
Tom Ford, Spring/Summer 2019
Witch
Martine Sitbon, Fall/Winter 1993
Witch
Saint Laurent, Spring/Summer 2013
Devil
Thierry Mugler, Fall/Winter 1988
Devil
Gucci, Fall/Winter 2018
Devil
Alexander McQueen, Fall/Winter 1998
Scarecrow
Junya Watanabe, Spring/Summer 2014
Scarecrow
Dior, Spring/Summer 2020
Scarecrow
Moschino, Fall/Winter 2000
Scarecrow
Donna Karan, Spring/Summer 2014
References
Flapper
Ralph Lauren, Spring/Summer 2012
1 of 58
Flapper
Louis Vuitton, Spring/Summer 2011
2 of 58
Flapper
Alberta Ferretti, Pre-Fall 2012
3 of 58
Flapper
Gucci, Spring/Summer 2012
4 of 58
Mermaid
Thom Browne, Spring/Summer 2019
5 of 58
Mermaid
Givenchy, Spring/Summer 1998
6 of 58
Mermaid
Rodarte, Spring/Summer 2015
7 of 58
Goddess
Valentino, Spring/Summer 2016 Couture
8 of 58
Goddess
Givenchy, Spring/Summer 1997
9 of 58
Goddess
Chanel, Resort 2018
10 of 58
Tiger
Zadig & Voltaire, Fall/Winter 2018
11 of 58
Giraffe
Burberry, Fall/Winter 2013
12 of 58
Zebra
Tom Ford, Fall/Winter 2013
13 of 58
Cheetah
Guy Laroche, Spring/Summer 1994
14 of 58
Hippie
Chloe, Spring/Summer 2019
15 of 58
Hippie
Viktor & Rolf, Spring/Summer 2019
16 of 58
Hippie
Anna Sui, Fall/Winter 2015
17 of 58
Robot
Balenciaga, Spring/Summer 2007
18 of 58
Robot
Givenchy, Autumn/Winter 1999
19 of 58
Robot
Thierry Mugler, Fall/Winter 1995
20 of 58
Pirate
Jean Paul Gaultier, Spring/Summer 2010
21 of 58
Pirate
Vivienne Westwood, Fall/Winter 1981
22 of 58
Pirate
John Galliano, Fall/Winter 2001
23 of 58
Sailor
Chanel, Pre-Fall 2018
24 of 58
Sailor
Jean Paul Gaultier, Spring/Summer 1997
25 of 58
Sailor
Christian Dior, Spring/Summer 2011
26 of 58
Hannibal Lecter
Gareth Pugh, Fall/Winter 2016
27 of 58
The Shining Twins
Undercover, Spring/Summer 2018
28 of 58
Wednesday Addams
Prada, Fall/Winter 2019
29 of 58
Cruella de Vil
Balenciaga, Spring/Summer 2020
30 of 58
Parrot
Alexander McQueen, Spring/Summer 2008
31 of 58
Peacock
Prada, Spring/Summer 2005
32 of 58
Flamingo
Schiaparelli, Fall/Winter 2018
33 of 58
Skeleton
JC de Castelbajac, Fall/Winter 2011
34 of 58
Skeleton
Iris van Herpen, Spring/Summer 2019
35 of 58
Skeleton
Moschino, Spring/Summer 2020
36 of 58
Clown
Maison Margiela, Fall/Winter 2015
37 of 58
Clown
Dior, Fall/Winter 2011 Couture
38 of 58
Clown
Gareth Pugh, Fall/Winter 2006
39 of 58
Pumpkin
Molly Goddard, Fall/Winter 2018
40 of 58
Pumpkin
Giorgio Armani, Spring/Summer 2017
41 of 58
Pumpkin
Lanvin, Spring/Summer 2009
42 of 58
Ghost
Comme des Garçons, Spring/Summer 2012
43 of 58
Ghost
John Galliano, Fall/Winter 2009
44 of 58
Ghost
Ann Demeulemeester, Spring/Summer 2019
45 of 58
Mummy
The Blonds, Fall/Winter 2013
46 of 58
Mummy
Dior, Spring/Summer 2004 Couture
47 of 58
Mummy
Balmain, Spring/Summer 2019
48 of 58
Witch
Tom Ford, Spring/Summer 2019
49 of 58
Witch
Martine Sitbon, Fall/Winter 1993
50 of 58
Witch
Saint Laurent, Spring/Summer 2013
51 of 58
Devil
Thierry Mugler, Fall/Winter 1988
52 of 58
Devil
Gucci, Fall/Winter 2018
53 of 58
Devil
Alexander McQueen, Fall/Winter 1998
54 of 58
Scarecrow
Junya Watanabe, Spring/Summer 2014
55 of 58
Scarecrow
Dior, Spring/Summer 2020
56 of 58
Scarecrow
Moschino, Fall/Winter 2000
57 of 58
