By Erin Bond
Is it just me, or has anyone else ever been curious about the history of Halloween, especially what kind of Halloween costumes women wore in the past? If you did, here is a list of the most popular women’s spooky season costumes from each decade of the century.
1910s:
In this decade, homemade papier-mâche clown, witch, or fairy masks worn with everyday clothes were popular.
1920s:
Throughout the 20s simple witch costumes were all the rage. With an ugly mask, pointed hat, an old broom, and your regular clothes you were ready to go and were sure to have a blast at any Halloween party.
Also in this decade, Halloween started to become more closely associated with mischief and pranks.
1930s:
For the first time ever, there were mass produced Halloween costumes due to broadway costume designers Benjamin and Nathaniel Cooper opening Ben Cooper in 1937. They obtained licensing rights for Walt Disney characters such as Minnie Mouse and Snow White which were very popular during this time.
1940s:
In the 40s, modest costumes were no more. Traditional costumes like witches were still trendy but with fishnet stockings, short skirts, high heels, and heavy makeup – you were sure to make jaws drop at the time with these pin-up girl twists.
1950s:
With an increasing number of households owning their first TV sets, costumes started to mimic TV characters. Popular western TV characters, like Miss Kitty in Gunsmoke and Annie’s Oakley heroine, inspired many women to dress up as cowgirls.
1960s:
Julie Newmar debuted the Catwoman character on Batman TV series in a skin-tight catsuit she inspired many to dress as Catwoman for Halloween, a trend that is still popular to this day.
1970s:
Pop culture heavily influenced costumes throughout the 1970s, with Wonder Woman being one of the most popular choices of the decade. Also during this time, New York’s Halloween parade launched in 1973, organized by puppet maker Ralph Lee. The parade was initially a celebration just for Lee’s children and friends, but it has since grown to 50,000 participants.
1980s:
To this day Elvira, the Queen of Halloween, is one of the season’s top-selling costumes. Ironically, Cassandra Peterson’s, the actress that played Elvira, mother and aunt owned a costume shop.
1990s:
Halloween costumes continued to be mass-produced, however DIY costumes were once again embraced. School-girl looks inspired by the movie Clueless and Britney Spears’ “…Baby One More Time” music video soared in popularity.
2000s:
As tabloid magazines and paparazzi were on the rise, party-goers started to dress up like celebrities instead of fictional characters. Paparazzi photographs of Paris Hilton wearing her infamous Juicy Couture velour tracksuit popularized the brand and pointed to an instant classic costume.
2010s:
According to Google, Harley Quinn is the nation’s sixth most researched Halloween costume. (The number one costume is Fortnite, by the way.) Also 11% of all costume searches are comic book characters and Americans spent $9 billion on Halloween last year.
I hope you learned something from this list and maybe got some ideas for a retro-inspired twists on Halloween costume favorites! Have a spooky Halloween!
Southview Catalyst 