This is the most popular Halloween costume of 2021

Place your bets, folks!

The movie "Mean Girls", directed by Mark Waters. Seen here, Amanda Seyfried as Karen Smith wearing her Halloween costume. Pointing to the furry ears, she explains, "I'm a MOUSE. DUH."
(Image credit: Getty Images / CBS Photo Archive / Contributor)

As we flip to the October page of our calendars, see the leaves start to turn orange, and take a sip from our first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season, our minds can’t help but think of Halloween. The spooky season is well and truly here, and the costume planning must begin—and luckily for you, we know the most popular Halloween costume of 2021, so you’ll be right on-trend.

Whether you're feeling lazy and just want an easy Halloween costume for a night in watching the best Halloween movies, or you want to get creative with the best TikTok Halloween costumes, we've got you.

Fashion retailer Nasty Gal has done a deep dive into costume searches and found us all the most popular costumes for this year, full of cult classics and trendy options. So you’ll know which costume is the "It costume" of 2021, and if you want yours to stand out and be unique—you’ll know which to avoid!

 1. Harley Quinn 

The most popular costume is unsurprising and has been up there ever since Margot Robbie graced our screens as Harley Quinn, most recently seen in The Suicide Squad. Nasty Gal found that Harley costumes had received a massive 90,500 searches, so it’s fair to say you’ll see a fair few of this character running around come the 31st.

The costume itself is also super easy to recreate: you just need pigtails in red and blue; clown-esque make-up, including red and blue eyeshadow; and an ensemble of shorts, fishnets, and a baseball-style t-shirt. Plus, there are three versions of Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, so you can get creative!

2. Spider-Man 

Who doesn’t love your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man? This superhero costume was a close second to Harley Quinn and is likely due to the buzz around the new Spider-Man film coming, and not to mention Tom Holland's and Zendaya’s IRL relationship—we stan!

Spidey is also a straightforward one; you can order the full suit and find it in any Halloween shop.

3.  A Witch  

Ah, a true classic. Nothing says Halloween more than dressing up like a witch. There are so many options with this costume—you could go for a famous witch like the Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus, a Wicked Witch of the West moment, or just a spooky enchantress with a crooked nose. They all work, and all are iconic.

This is really the one with the least hassle. You can wear whatever really as long as you have the pointed hat—but c’mon put some effort in. It's only All Hallows Eve once a year!

4. A Cat 

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The black cat is synonymous with Halloween. It could be paired perfectly with a witch's costume if you were looking for a fun couple or BFF costume. You just need ears, a tail, and some whiskers. 

Or you could take it a step further and go as Catwoman. One might call that 'pulling a Monica'—get it?

5. Wonder Woman 

Of course, Wonder Woman needed to be in the top ten! Like Spider-Man, her costume will be easy to find, and you can’t go wrong with Diana's super alter-ego. 

6. The Joker

The Joker is another easy one—you just need green hair, clown make-up, and a purple button-down. 

You also have so many Jokers from which to draw inspiration, from Heath Ledger's Joker in The Dark Knight to Joaquin Phoenix's portrayal in Joker.

7. Harry Potter

Our inner child loved that Harry Potter costumes are still up there. They are ideal if you want to do group costumes, or just want the world to know you love the bespectacled young wizard. 

There are so many characters from the Potterverse to choose from—you could even have a whole Hogwarts-themed Halloween party!

8.  A vampire 

You could go classic Count Dracula or sparkly Edward Cullen—either way, a vampire is another classic that will always be one of the most popular costume options. 

9. Batman 

Superheroes are clearly having a moment this year—with 40,500 searches, Batman is the fifth most popular hero costume and there's no shortage of costume options.

10.  Playboy bunny 

The movie "Mean Girls", directed by Mark Waters. Seen here, Rachel McAdams as Regina George. Regina gets dressed for Halloween

(Image credit: Getty Images / CBS Photo Archive / Contributor)

No doubt this costume’s popularity is in part due to our nostalgia for films like Mean Girls, in which Regina George dresses up like a Bunny in lingerie for the Halloween party. 

Naomi Jamieson
Lifestyle News Writer

Naomi is a Lifestyle News Writer with the Women's Lifestyle team, where she covers everything from entertainment to fashion and beauty, as well as TikTok trends for Woman&Home, after previously writing for My Imperfect Life and GoodTo. Interestingly though, Naomi actually has a background in design, having studied illustration at Plymouth University but lept into the media world in 2020, after always having a passion for writing and earned her Gold Standard diploma in Journalism with the NCTJ.


Before working for Future Publishing’s Lifestyle News team, she worked in the Ad production team. Here she wrote and designed adverts on all sorts of things, which then went into print magazines across all genres. Now, when she isn’t writing articles on celebs, fashion trends, or the newest shows on Netflix, you can find her drinking copious cups of coffee, drawing and probably online shopping.