TikToks or it Didn’t Happen: The Art of the Halloween Costume Reveal

Written By Trisha Lim

Halloween will never be the same

As much as I’d hope otherwise, it isn’t socially acceptable for adults to go trick-or-treating. Soliciting sweets door-to-door, dressed up as some character or famous face, is an activity we shed like baby fat once we reach a certain point of tween-dom. 

Regardless, we need a way to celebrate Halloween; because so many other people are, because we would feel left out if we didn’t find a way to join in on the festivities. In a way, people still are trick-or-treating; but instead of doors, we’re showing up on FYPs; and instead of candies, we’re asking for online engagement.

So, what is the post-pubescent Halloween tradition? The Halloween costume reveal. This is more than a mere carrousel of posed photos on Instagram; these costumes require context, story-building, in some cases attention to detail, and more often than not, an encyclopaedic knowledge of pop culture.

Costumes can be anything from scary-sexy to genuinely terrifying; but nowadays, the style matters less than the performance. It’s all in how you reveal it to the world—or whomever the algorithm targets.

Instagram’s a classic, but TikTok is the epicentre of the costume reveal boom. It’s the online space that allows us to be goofy; where curating a manicured collection of content isn’t tantamount to gaining the most attention. If anything, quirkiness gets clicks. It’s a multiverse of running jokes and shortform skits. Personal TikTok accounts are miniature movie studios; just ask Francesca Scorsese, who may just be giving her famous father a run for his money with every video she posts.

Moreover, TikTok is fit check city; which makes it the perfect stage for a cheeky Halloween costume reveal. 

You could always show off an artful makeup look with a clever transition. But do you know what’s more entertaining? A group of twenty-something year old women dressed as Pitbull.

And it doesn’t stop at a bald cap and a suit. Take the Lorax, for example. A certain corner of the internet has an equal parts joking and sexual fascination with the Onceler, the animated film’s green-garbed villain. But dressing as the Onceler for Halloween would still look too normal, so naturally people opted for the movie’s bulbous, orange, bushy-browed protagonist. 

watch here: Katie [@realshadykatie] I love Halloween

Speaking of bushy brows, catch this guy’s hilarious impersonation of Cody from Surf’s Up

watch here: Kalden Trainor [@kaldentrainor] codys me bro…let me be me.

I’m weeping at this woman’s impression of Bumper from Pitch Perfect.

While the execution thereof is probably meant to look a smidge ramshackle; the effort is above and beyond. And more than anything, the performance is what makes the look.

Want to see what happens when effort meets execution in a coalescence of Oscar-worthy costuming? See this guy’s take on Cat in the Hat.

watch here: brayden [@crybrayden] dirty hoe 

Alternatively, this gender-swapped take on the Cheetah Girls. From the costuming to photo editing, they really capture the essence of the beloved aught’s girl group. 

watch here: Trillian azul [@trillianazul] Type shit 🐆💜💗🧡💙 

Aside from fictional characters, which arguably occupy the lion’s share of the Halloween costume market; the celebrity parody has gained so much traction in recent years. Whereas some people go for likeness (I have seen about a Googleplex Ariana Grande’s in my time), others live for the laugh.

This eerily uncanny Justin Bieber spoof, told perfectly through the slideshow, is kind of blowing my mind.

watch here: erixmith [@erixmith] erixmith

What do you mean, your group is dressing as Alvin and the Chipmunks? And what do you MEAN, they aren’t celebrities?!

watch here: maisiearollins [@maisiearollins] Results are in we got 3rd!!

And although I cringe at the mere thought of a couple’s costume; I would be lying through my teeth if I said I haven’t thoroughly enjoyed every single reenactment of that Justin and Hailey Bieber car door moment.

Especially when the couple are dressed as the partner of the opposite sex. There’s something about seeing a very tall man, squeezed into a bodycon mini, clambering out of a tiny car, fighting for his life as he tries to catch up to an unamused woman who looks like she’s on the wrong end of a hangover. 

Some couples get silly with it, like TikToker Rico Taquito (who feels like a long distance friend in my head) and his partner dressing as Willy Wonka and an Oompa Loompa.

watch here: Eric Sedeño [@ricotaquito] Happy halloween ❤️

Then, in a supernova of Halloween micro-trends and macro-trends coalescing, emerges the celebrity Halloween costume. With both the means and the motive—their jobs are, after all, an ongoing performance— they could do to be a little OTT about costumes. 

Heidi Klum has long held the position of Person Doing the Most on Halloween; but even in their own, less ostentatious ways, other celebrities are doing their most.

Kristen Chenoweth kind of ate down as M3gan, and did so in full service of the chronically online crowd: a woman who has long served as an icon for theatre gays everywhere, cosplaying as the latest horror gay fixation? A bit of a serve for the girls, gays, and theys, I fear.

watch here: Kristin Chenoweth [@kristinchenoweth] This is the part where you run…

My personal favourite, however, came from Jade Thirwall, who put in a masterful turn as Mr. Bean.

But the Halloween “costume” of the age, and the reason why TikTok has become a Halloween hub of sorts, is the pop culture moment.

You know how stans always say “she is the moment” any time their fave so much as twitches a finger? In this case, the person wearing the costume and acting out the bit literally is a moment. If anything, the commitment to the bit, for however long the TikTok lasts, is the central component of the costume. Because you could wear the outfit; but if you can’t sell the character, you’re literally just some guy.

Ariana Grande and Liz Gillies probably started this trend with their very well-acted recreation of a scene from the 2000 mockumentary, ‘Best in Show’.

watch here: Elizabeth Gillies | @lizgillz | Happy Halloween. We did this in May.

And to think, they did it in May.

Since then, people all over, creators or otherwise, have come out with their own Halloween skits.

TikToker Max Balegde pulled out this subtle James Charles bit that always hits.

watch here: Max Balegde [@max_balegde] Happy Halloween sisters

These girls dressed as a watershed moment in my career, the filming of Bella and Werewolf Jacob in Twilight: Eclipse.

watch here: minionlover69 [@tcemily] jacob & his loca 🐺❤️

THE Regina George monologue, played out by an uncanny look alike in a pitch perfect recreation of her painfully 2000s outfit.

Remember the Lizzie Mcguire Movie? Of course, you do. Rememer Ms. Ungermeyer? 

Now you do.

This cat fight between Santana and Quinn from Glee, one of many scenes that have been etched into my brain forever.

watch here: sklim [@crocs.inc] #gleek

Esteban, everyone’s favourite Tipton Hotel bellhop, performing That séance from That Halloween episode of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody

And to round it out, one of the most memorable X Factor auditions of all time—and the reason why I ruminated over Halloween costumes this year.

I can’t believe I’m typing this, but Halloween costumes aren’t all about the looks anymore. What was once a lookalike competition has now become a talent contest. It is all in how you perform your Halloween costume. Thank TikTok for that, I guess.

It’s a scientifically proven fact that receiving likes online is an unrivalled dopamine hit. And if we aren’t getting a sugar rush, at least we’re finding other ways to get some happy hormones during the spooky season.

 

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Trisha Lim
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