Fun as it may be to head to the office dressed as a Targaryen, Halloween is still mostly about the kids. And if you want to pick out the best costume for the trick-or-treater in your life but aren’t sure where to start, we’re here to help.
We talked to retail experts about the biggest trends and best Halloween costumes for 2019. The main takeaway? While you’re sure to see plenty of witches and pirates, the most in-demand Halloween costumes this year are tied to recent entertainment
“With pop culture having such a large impact on kids, especially today, we tend to see them sway towards picking out pop culture-related costumes versus traditional costumes,” says Ross Hewett-Smith of HalloweenCostumes.com. (This is a trend for grown-ups too: the best Halloween costumes for adults this year are heavily influenced by entertainment.)
Party City’s Bill Furtkevic, agrees: “Pop culture and top-performing entertainment” are what drive Halloween costume trends for kids and adults alike, he says.
Since you may not spend all your time glued to the Disney Channel, we’ve done the research. Shop 2019’s top trends and best Halloween costumes for kids below!
’Descendants 3’
With the Disney Channel trilogy’s third installment dropping in August, Mal and friends have become some of the most sought-after costumes of the year. Both Hewett-Smith and Furtkevic have seen interest in “Descendants 3” costumes soar, and while leading lady Mal is the most popular pick, Furtkevic says that Audrey has proven to be a breakout character as well.
Child’s Mal costume ($44.99; partycity.com
Child’s Celia costume ($44.99; partycity.com
Audrey deluxe costume ($39.99; hallweencostumes.com
Audrey classic costume ($29.99; fun.com
Evie classic costume ($29.99; halloweencostumes.com
Uma classic costume ($29.99; halloweencostumes.com
Astronauts, aliens and outer space
According to Hewett-Smith, space is on people’s minds this Halloween for two reasons: the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, and all the talk of a raid on Area 51. He says he’s seen a spike in astronaut costumes in particular and has seen “the interest in alien costumes nearly double.” The trend is also reflected by Pinterest’s 2019 Halloween Report, which shows a whopping 659% increase in searches for “alien.”
White astronaut jumpsuit ($34.99; halloweencostumes.com
Orange astronaut jumpsuit ($34.99; halloweencostumes.com
Astronaut NASA pilot with visor helmet ($39.99; amazon.com
Rocket ship ($24.99; halloweencostumes.com
Inflatable jet pack ($44.99; halloweencostumes.com
Kid’s oversized alien costume ($39.99; halloweencostumes.com
’Toy Story 4’
“Toy Story” has been a popular Halloween category ever since the first film came out over two decades ago. Now, with the hotly anticipated “Toy Story 4” on the horizon, expect to see a surge in interest for costumes of the beloved characters — including from kids who weren’t even born when the last installment premiered! It’s not all Woody, Jessie, and Buzz either, says Furtkevic: “Forky has proven to be a breakout character.”
Child’s Forky costume ($29.99; partycity.com
Child’s Jessie costume ($36.99, originally $44.39; halloweenexpress.com
Child’s Woody costume ($29.99; partycity.com
Boy’s Buzz Lightyear costume ($43.99, originally $52.79; halloweenexpress.com
Child’s Bo Peep costume ($34.99; partycity.com
Superheroes
Superheroes will probably never lose their status as a Halloween trend, according to the experts. “If they’re a superhero, they’re most likely going to be a hot costume,” says Hewett-Smith. And as with so many other costumes, the buzziest picks are tied to recent entertainment releases. Spider-Man is particularly popular, given “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” with multiple Spidey outfits dotting Amazon’s list of best-seling costumes for boys. Captain Marvel is another big Halloween hit. On that note, female superheroes — and supervillains! — have grown more popular than ever in recent years due to the slew of woman-helmed blockbusters. Both Wonder Woman and Harley Quinn are predicted by HalloweenCostumes.com to remain top-sellers in 2019.
Captain Marvel girl’s classic costume ($29.99; fun.com
Child’s ‘Spider-Man: Far from Home’ costume ($39.99; partycity.com
Rubie’s Wonder Woman child’s costume ($17.48, originally $39.99; amazon.com
Rubie’s Harley Quinn costume ($24.06, originally $36.99; amazon.com
Rubie’s ‘Avengers: Endgame’ child’s Captain America costume ($34.99; amazon.com
Disney throwbacks
“Toy Story” isn’t the only Disney classic trending in 2019. With this year’s live-action reboots of “The Lion King” and “Aladdin,” plus the forthcoming “The Little Mermaid,” it’s not surprising that many kids’ costumes look a lot like they did in the early ‘90s. (Probably not coincidentally, “mermaids” was the sixth most-searched female costume in Pinterest’s report.) Also expect plenty of Annas and Elsas, given the steadily building anticipation for “Frozen 2.”
Aladdin live action boy’s Genie costume ($29.99 to $49.99; fun.com
Aladdin live-action girl’s Jasmine classic costume ($29.99; halloweencostumes.com
Kids’ deluxe lion costume ($39.99; fun.com
Girl’s Anna costume ($24.99, originally 34.99; partycity.com
Girl’s Elsa costume ($19.99, originally $24.99; partycity.com
ReliBeauty fancy dress Elsa costume ($17.99; amazon.com
Girl’s Ariel costume ($19.99; partycity.com
Blue Seas Mermaid deluxe costume ($44.99; fun.com
’Star Wars’
Furtkevic says that, like superheroes, “Star Wars” is one of those Halloween trends that never seems to go out of style. (Almost 2 million kids dressed as characters from the franchise in 2018.) The release of a new movie nearly every year certainly helps, as does the impending release of “The Rise of Skywalker,” set to hit theaters on December 20. Halloween Express says we can expect to see lots of Reys, stormtroopers, and Kylo Rens.
’Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ classic Rey costume ($19.99 to $29.99; halloweencostumes.com
Rubie’s stormtrooper costume ($42.99, originally $51.59; halloweenexpress.com
Boy’s Kylo Ren classic costume ($29.99; partycity.com
Little kids’ cartoons
When it comes to little kids and toddlers, the experts predict this year’s costume trends to hold steady with 2018’s. That means you’ll once again be seeing characters from super popular kids’ cartoons like “Peppa Pig,” “Paw Patrol,” Vampirina” and “PJ Masks.”
’Peppa Pig’ ballerina costume ($24.99; fun.com
Rubie’s ‘Paw Patrol’ Marshall costume ($29.99; fun.com
Rubie’s ‘Paw Patrol’ Chase costume ($40.99, originally $49.19; halloweenexpress.com
’PJ Masks’ Catboy costume ($29.99; fun.com
’PJ Masks’ Gekko costume ($20.94, originally $29.99; amazon.com
Girls’ ‘Vampirina’ Vee costume ($34.99; partycity.com
’Baby Shark’
Our sincerest apologies if you’d finally gotten 2019’s ultra-viral earworm out of your head. We regret to inform you that you will likely be seeing many small sharks asking for candy on Halloween.
Toddler’s ‘Baby Shark’ costume with sound ($34.99; fun.com
Shark onesie for kids ($39.99 to $59.99; halloweencostumes.com
’Baby Shark’ unisex kid’s costume ($44.99; halloweencostumes.com
Note: The prices above reflect the retailers’ listed prices at the time of publication.
