The 12 Best (or at Least the Most Reasonable) Halloween Costumes of 2021

We've trashed the worst. Now it's time to sing the praises of the perfectly fine!

Four images photoshopped side by side of women's Halloween costumes: left to right it's non-licensed versions of Aquaman, Chucky, Cinderella, and Wilma Flinstone. — Screenshot: Starline, Leg Avenue, Yandy, ForPlay

Whenever we write our annual round-up of the Worst Halloween Costumes of the Year, we try to make clear we’re never trying to shame anyone who wants to wear a sexy costume, we just want to make fun of bad costumes full stop. So this year, we thought we’d put our metaphorical candy where our mouth is, and celebrate the Best or at Least the Most Reasonable Costumes of 2021!

One quick protip: In researching this, we discovered Dreamgirl Costumes, which seems to have a plethora of great costumes available. If you’re actually looking for one, go give it a peek. If you’ve already got something in the works, please share it in our annual Halloween Costume Show post!

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Wife Life Sexy Cartoon Character Costume

Image for article titled The 12 Best (or at Least the Most Reasonable) Halloween Costumes of 2021 — Image: Forplay

Many sexy “Wilma from The Flinstones” outfits go too far by turning the dress into a two-piece to expose the midriff, which makes it harder to tell it’s Wilma (she only has a few visual signifiers, after all, especially if you have a completely un-Wilma-like wig on). The curve of the shoulder strap exposes some flesh without being ridiculous, which is subtly accentuated by the smallness of the stone necklace. Likewise, the bottom of the dress rides higher on the leg, but not so far it stops being a dress. (Forplay, $89)

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Player One Sexy Video Game Character

Yeah, this is meant to be Scorpion from the Mortal Kombat games, and this has possibly been taken out of Forplay’s storage bins and dusted off because of the recent Warner Bros. movie. But millions of crossplayers have shown, it is entirely possible to take male pop-culture characters and turn them into something great. If you’re not a cosplayer, well, you could do much worse than “Player One Sexy Video Game Character.” (Forplay, $68)

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Under Construction Sexy Construction Worker

When I ran this choice by io9's Editor-in-Chief Jill “Fantasy” Pantozzi, she asked me why I has chosen a costume of a non-nerdy construction worker. I told her it was an incredibly subtle Minions costume. The denim blue shorts, the yellow safety jacket, the safety glasses—I truly believe from the bottom of my heart this is meant to evoke Minion-ness without being obviously a Minion. Maybe my brain is so broken from years of perusing “sexy” costumes in general and Sexy Minion costumes in specific and now I see them where they aren’t. However, let me posit this: there is and never has been a Sexy Minion. It’s an oxymoron, as they are two utterly incompatible ideas. So the only way someone could make a genuinely sexy Sexy Minion costume was by taking so much of the Minion-ness out that 99% of people don’t recognize it—only broken people like me. (Forplay, $69)

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Atlantis Queen

Speaking of crossplay, this Aquaman approximation is the perfect marriage of pop culture and allure. Of course, you might think she should be wearing a Mera costume instead of Aquaman, to which I say that’s dumb. She can dress like Aquaman if she wants to, especially since Mera wears a giant green Spandex bodysuit, and the more you carve out of it the less it’s recognizable as Mera. There’s absolutely no question who this is despite the briefs (which were a superhero tradition anyway) and plunging neckline thanks to the perfect colors, the great scales on the top, and the simple trident accessory which, shockingly, is included with this one. (Yandy, $67)

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Eternal Queen

At first, I thought this was a Princess Fiona from Shrek costume, and it could work well for the character. Obviously, it emphasizes the décolletage, but the sheer fabric of the dress over the legs is an inspired idea. But here’s the thing: The more I looked at it, the more I realized it reminded me of someone else. Then it hit me—that’s Queen Marlena from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe! See for yourself! And she’s called Eternal Queen because He-Man takes place on the planet of Eternia! The only problem is that it is bananas to think of someone in 2021 making a Queen Marlena costume, because although ‘80s cartoons are goldmines for costume makers, that someone would make Teela, Evil-Lyn, the Sorceress, or She-Ra costumes—the four most prominent female characters in the cartoon—way, way, way before He-Man’s mom, who only appeared in a handle of episodes anyway. So I have no idea what’s happening here, but I personally am a fan. (Yandy, $64)

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Mad Gambler

While this costume is clearly inspired by the Joker, it has so much going on that I don’t think you could truly call it a Joker costume, and it’s certainly not Harley Quinn. If anything it’s a mash-up of the two characters, but not some mere amalgam. It’s taking inspiration from their various looks over the years to create something new and interesting! (FYI: I am well aware of the villain calling herself the Joker’s Daughter, and no, she never looked anything like this.) I love that the purple suit jacket coattails are part of the shorts underneath the... whatever that is. (Starline)

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WOW Girl

Hey, do you know what pop culture character has worn a traditional “sexy” outfit for that vast majority of her long career in comics? Why, that would be Wonder Woman! Even if you make the shorts a little short and drop her eagle emblem to expose the chest a bit, that’s fine. Or look for a costume closer to the one Lynda Carter wore in the 1970s Wonder Woman TV series. Don’t overthink it! (Starline)

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Poison Temptress

After the debacle that was the faux-Poison Ivy outfit that made this year’s Worst Haloween Costumes list, I knew I was destined the remind people that decent Poison Ivy costumes exist. Actually, you don’t really need to clarify Poison Ivy as “sexy” at all; she’s been depicted in countless provocative outfits in every medium Batman’s been in. It’s hard to get it wrong, frankly. This outfit isn’t stellar—it’s definitely a Poison Ivy Bikini, but it’s certainly authentic to the character. (Leg Avenue, $81)

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Devil Doll Killer

Chucky from Child’s Play. Easy. Get it. The overalls descend into tight-fitting short shorts. Love it. No notes. What I want to commend this outfit for is the Power Girl-style circle in her shirt, which makes no sense, is obviously inauthentic, and exists solely to let people get a better look at your cleavage. It usually spells doom for a decent outfit, but here it works. Why? Because the overalls cover up the tiniest bit of the boob window, and by trifurcating it the window becomes less obvious but not any less sexy. I don’t know how it works and I doubt it was intentional, but you go, Leg Avenue! (Leg Avenue, $65)

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Lost Slipper Princess

Pin-up versions of characters rule. The retro style can be elegant and titillating yet classy. Look, countless Disney princesses and female superheroes and fairy tale regulars get the pin-up treatment in costumes, comics, and more, so it’s almost a cheat to have a “new” take on Disney’s Cinderella in here. But let this be a PSA: you can do this kind of Disney Princess costume without a bare midriff or a boob window if you so choose. (Yandy, $86)

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Evil Burger Babe

“Sexy” costumes that are also great costumes are rare, but they’re not non-existent. It’s a great costume of Wendy’s mascot Wendy on a murderous rampage (sure, why not?), and the only “sexy” element from what I can tell is the tiny spot highlighting her cleavage. It’s like the anti-Sexy Costume—instead of being weird lingerie with a slight nod to the character it’s supposed to be representing, it’s vice versa. (Yandy, $62)

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Creepy Chicken Colonel

You may have noticed there are no other Best or at Least the Most Reasonable men’s costumes on this list, and Evil Colonel Sanders certainly isn’t either. However, in looking for reasonable men’s costumes, I have realized a terrible truth—there are only two types of costumes for men, and that’s 1) vaguely-themed stripper outfits and 2) costumes. Just... all the other men’s costumes available. So enjoy this quality Evil Colonel Sanders, one of the scariest people to walk this Earth while also creating excellent fried chicken. (Yandy, $68)

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The 12 Best (or at Least the Most Reasonable) Halloween Costumes of 2021

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The 12 Best (or at Least the Most Reasonable) Halloween Costumes of 2021

We've trashed the worst. Now it's time to sing the praises of the perfectly fine!

Wife Life Sexy Cartoon Character Costume

Wife Life Sexy Cartoon Character Costume

Player One Sexy Video Game Character

Player One Sexy Video Game Character

Under Construction Sexy Construction Worker

Under Construction Sexy Construction Worker

Atlantis Queen

Atlantis Queen

Eternal Queen

Eternal Queen

Mad Gambler

Mad Gambler

WOW Girl

WOW Girl

Poison Temptress

Poison Temptress

Devil Doll Killer

Devil Doll Killer

Lost Slipper Princess

Lost Slipper Princess

Evil Burger Babe

Evil Burger Babe

Creepy Chicken Colonel

Creepy Chicken Colonel

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