Costume or Couture? How to Trick-or-Treat in High Style
At a certain point on Halloween night, when your feet are sore and you’ve stuffed your pillowcase almost entirely full of candy, you’re forced to reckon with the fact that—as fun as trick-or-treating may be—schlepping up and down the candy wrapper-strewn sidewalks with a hefty sack isn’t exactly glamorous. For those who have the means to do so, however, there is one sure-fire way spruce things up: why not prowl the streets this Halloween in a bit of imaginative haute couture? (Unless you’re saving that Schiaparelli flamingo headgear or Viktor & Rolf wearable bed for some other occasion, in which case we salute you.) There’s no denying that a number of looks that make it onto the catwalks of couture week are outlandish at best—no matter how many hours of labor or thousands of feathers went into making them. From Jean Paul Gaultier to John Galliano’s Christian Dior, check out a roundup of the world’s most expensive costumes, here.
If you’re always late, but you still like candy. Viktor & Rolf Couture FW 2018. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
If you’re looking to out-slay Buffy. Valentino Couture FW 2018. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
If you’re really looking to be photographed. Viktor & Rolf SS 2019. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
If you hate walking. Viktor & Rolf Couture SS 2015. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
If you’re determined to be the chicest pumpkin in the patch. Valentino Couture FW 2018. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
If you’re also trying to ignore your boyfriend. Iris Van Herpen Couture FW 2013. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
If you’ve got a cross to bear. Christian Dior Couture Fall 00. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
If you’re determined not to let the cold ruin your Halloween night. Eymeric Francois Haute Couture FW 19. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
If you’re going to work at Goldman Sachs, but you’re minoring in Art History because you think it makes you look less neoliberal. Viktor & Rolf Couture DW 2015. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
If you’re going for a contemporary take on Ursula, or octopi drowning in pollution. (Thanks humans!) Maison Martin Margiela FW 18. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
If you’re still mourning the millennial pink trend. Schiaparelli Couture FW 18. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
If you’re determined to bring the #FreeTheNipple hashtag to the streets and enrage your neighbors simultaneously. Jean Paul Gaultier Couture FW 18. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
If you want to both eat and embody a lollipop. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
If you’re trying to be truly horrifying…. why not dress up as the nuclear family by wearing a house, emblematic of the patriarchy and suburban dreams? Christian Dior Couture FW 19. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
If you want to put everyone else to shame. Christian Dior Couture Fall 00. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
