Halloween is the perfect time to experiment with costumes and styles!
Here, I will explore a few vintage Halloween costume ideas. Many of these costumes can be created easily through the use of color and cleverly placed accessories. However, these looks can also be elaborated upon to create a more detailed costume. It is up to you how much time to spend on creating a Halloween outfit.
As the autumnal months approach, Halloween is almost here. Part of the allure of Halloween is the fact that clothing and costumes are encouraged to be as outrageous as possible. On the 31st of October, the conformity of daily life can be cast aside. Showgirls, ghosts, witches, cats, kings, and queens — all these personas and more may be embraced for this single October night.
For lovers of the vintage style and genre, it may be argued that with a daily style influenced by the past, why get dressed up for Halloween? Well, because it is fun, and any opportunity to explore characters and personas through costume may gladly be taken advantage of!
Vintage Halloween Costume Ideas – Glamorous Ghost
For this glamorous ghost costume, as inspiration I have chosen Elvira from the 1945 movie Blithe Spirit. Throughout the movie, Elvira wears a beautiful 1940s nightdress. The nightdress, with its diaphanous layers, perfectly evokes an otherworldly aura. In the collage, the nightgown from Betty Blues Loungewear is a beautiful piece with perfect vintage details. Shop more vintage robes and nightgowns.
Create a glamorous Old Hollywood ghost Halloween costume with vintage robes and nightgowns, makeup and classic hairstyles.
To add a ghostly look to the costume, makeup may be considered for a spectral countenance. This look can be easily achieved with light layers of fabric in pale ghostly shades. Generally, the stereotypical ghost costume is a simple white sheet – which, of course, could also be used.
Elvira from Blithe Spirit, the most glamorous ghost of all!
For more ghostly Halloween costume ideas, see 8 classic vintage Halloween costumes.
As a costumier, Lauren’s costumes are amazingly accurate, with incredible attention to detail – plenty of Halloween inspiration to be found!
Vintage Halloween Costume Ideas – Dolores Umbridge
In the popular Harry Potter series, Dolores Umbridge was a professor at Hogwarts. Later, her character went on to become headmistress of the school. Despite her fluffy, pink, and approachable appearance, she concealed decidedly evil tendencies.
Dolores Umbridge from the Harry Potter series. Her costumes favored an early 1960s silhouette, in her signature shade of pink.
The character of Dolores is strangely fascinating, and at the same time, repulsive. Dolores is an avid cat lover, thereby filling her office with pictures and figurines of cats. For the cat enthusiasts and Harry Potter fans out there, Dolores is the perfect choice for a Halloween costume.
Create a vintage Halloween costume inspired by Dolores Umbridge with pink early 60s dress, hat, purse and cat accessories.
To recreate the style of Dolores Umbridge, varying shades of pink may be worn. The silhouette of Dolores’ costumes tends to be mostly early 1960s, however some of her outfits have a 1930s influence. Of course, cats also feature prominently throughout the costume.
Vintage Halloween Costume Ideas – Pumpkin
Pumpkins come into season around October, as a result of this they are synonymous with Halloween. The tradition of carving into pumpkins to create lanterns dates back years. For pumpkin Halloween costume ideas, the costume can be as simple or as elaborate as you wish.
The carved pumpkin is a popular Halloween image.
The color pairing of orange, green, and black immediately evokes pumpkins. The costume can be as easy as teaming an orange skirt with a green top and black accessories. However, if you wish to echo the shape of the pumpkin, wear a full skirt with a petticoat underneath in order to create volume.
Using orange, green and black a pumpkin Halloween look may be easily achieved. Shop 60s dresses, skirts, petticoats, belts, shoes and cardigan.
Easy pumpkin costume with this poncho
Vintage Halloween Costume Ideas – Carmen Miranda
A fashion icon, a Carmen Miranda vintage Halloween outfit may be easily created. In the collage, I have teamed a simple black crop top with a plain black skirt. The outfit may be as uncomplicated or as outrageous as you wish. Using the black top and skirt as a ‘backdrop,’ the accessories are allowed to stand out.
Carmen Miranda is a perfect choice for a vintage inspired Halloween outfit.
Carmen famously adored platform shoes. Watching her sing and dance in movies such as The Gang’s All Here is astonishing – particularly if you pay attention to her feet and the enormous platform heels she wears!
Team a simple black top and skirt with colorful tropical accessories for a Carmen Miranda style. Shop shoes, jewelry, hair flowers, skirts, and tops.
This look is all about the vibrant accessories. Team a turban with plenty of hair flowers and fruit clips. Finish the look with vibrant lipstick, fruit jewelry, and platform heels.
Vintage Halloween Costume Ideas – Fairy
A fairy or butterfly is another vintage inspired Halloween costume idea that is easy to create. The key component for this look is of course a pair of wings. I sourced the wings featured in the collage from Accessorize. Look out for wings in the children’s departments of shops too, or general costume stores. Alternatively, try making your own wings with this tutorial by Pretty Prudent (substituting the measurements for a child with your own):
Team a feminine dress with fairy wings for a pretty Halloween costume idea.
To make the style more ethereal, opt for a layered, light gown such as those from Nataya brand dresses. Enhance the fairy look with glitter make up, and perhaps butterfly wings and false eyelashes.
Vintage Halloween Costume Ideas – Mary Poppins
For couples, Mary Poppins and Bert are a great choice for an easy Halloween costume idea. Again, this look can be as detailed and accurate as you wish. Likewise, it may also be as simple as you wish. To create a period-accurate style, the Mary Poppins movie was set around the year 1910.
For an easy to create costume, follow these key points:
For Mary – team a simple white blouse with a black or navy skirt as a base for the look. Then add a red ribbon bow at the neck and a red belt at the waist. Finish the look with a bowler hat – pin flowers and faux berries onto the hat for a more recognizable style. Add an umbrella, boots, and a carpet bag to finish the look.
Create a Mary Poppins Halloween costume with these vintage inspired pieces.
For Bert – the base of this outfit is a dark shirt with dark trousers. To make the look evoke the character of Bert, add a flat cap hat, suspenders, and a scarf at the neck.
Take inspiration from Bert for a Halloween 1910s vintage inspired style.
Vintage Inspired Halloween Clothing
If for Halloween you prefer to wear vintage inspired Halloween clothing rather than costumes, there is an abundance of styles available.
Unique Vintage, Modcloth, and Hot Topic all carry perfect Halloween inspired clothing. Many of the garments could be worn throughout the year to compliment an existing vintage wardrobe. Other styles are more Halloween specific, featuring pumpkin or cobweb prints. Shop vintage inspired Halloween themed clothing.
Debbie Sessions has been teaching fashion history and helping people dress for vintage themed events since 2009. She has turned a hobby into VintageDancer.com with hundreds of well researched articles and hand picked links to vintage inspired clothing online. She aims to make dressing accurately (or not) an affordable option for all. Oh, and she dances too.
