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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle
Alice Hughes

Halloween costumes: Batman, Stranger Things and Kanye West among Britons’ top ideas

Warner Bros / Shutterstock

Britons’ most-wanted Halloween costumes for 2022 include Kanye West, Batman and Stranger Thingscharacters, according to a poll.

A survey of 2,000 adults also discovered Will Smith, Lady Gaga and Pete Davidson are among the ‘go-to’ looks.

Marvel character get-ups were popular, including Spiderman, Dr Strange and Black Widow.

Despite pop culture clearly being favoured this Halloween, a classic witch came in first place in the top 50 list.

More than one-fifth (21 per cent) said they felt 31 October was an opportunity for them to express the quirky side of their personality, while 18 per cent put a lot of time and thought into their spooky look.

When it came to duos, Stranger Things’ Eleven and Mike, Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy following the Wagatha Christie drama and loved-up Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker featured.

Pollsters also found that despite no longer being PM, Boris Johnson came in at number 12 in the list of people Britons planned to dress up as.

The research was commissioned by wine brand 19 Crimes.

Among the most influential TV shows and films for Halloween costumes, which will inspire the looks on offer at the 19 Crimes events, were Stranger Things, House of the Dragon and Top Gun: Maverick.

Ben Blake, a spokesperson for 19 Crimes, said: “It’s great to see how many people are planning to go all out for Halloween this year and express their quirkier sides through creative fancy dress.

“The results show it is clear pop-culture has had a big impact on outfit options, whether it’s politicians, fictional characters or celebrities.”

The survey found only 43 per cent of people planned to celebrate Halloween this year.

This included attending or hosting a house party (25 per cent), going on a night out (22 per cent) and taking younger relatives trick-or-treating (21 per cent).

Almost one-fifth said they thought outfits should be funny (19 per cent), while 33 per cent preferred a scary look.

Four in 10 adults claimed they were fans of fancy dress and typically spent £28.50 each on outfits and more than an hour – 62 minutes – perfecting their look for an event.

Almost half went on to share photos of their Halloween appearances on social media. One-third even preferred fancy dress as an adult, compared to 23 per cent who enjoyed it more as a child.

People typically looked at films (23 per cent), TV shows (21 per cent) and Instagram (18 per cent) for inspiration, with 27 per cent believing social media trends influenced looks today.

Other ways respondents thought fancy dress outfits had evolved over the years included off-the-shelf outfits being more available (29 per cent) and people being more creative (28 per cent).

Of those polled via OnePoll, 44 per cent tended to buy a ready-made outfit while 39 per cent typically made their own.

Halloween costume ideas favoured by Britons for 2022

1. A witch

2. Wednesday Addams

3. Beyonce

4. Kanye West

5. Spider-man – Marvel

6. The Joker

7. Dr Strange – Marvel

8. Batman

9. Carole Baskin

10. Thor – Marvel

11. A member of Hellfire Club – Stranger Things

12. Boris Johnson

13. Black Widow – Marvel

14. Will Smith

15. Beth Harmon – Queen’s Gambit

16. Spice Girls

17. Eleven – Stranger Things

18. Dali – Money Heist

19. Emily in Paris

20. Billie Eilish

21. A dinosaur

22. Lady Gaga

23. Cruella de Vil

24. Kim Kardashian

25. Buzz Lightyear

26. A clown

27. Donald Trump

28. Maverick – Top Gun

29. Johnny Depp

30. Daemon Targaryen – House of the Dragon

31. Harley Quinn – DC

32. A Handmaiden from The Handmaid’s Tale

33. Sandy – Grease

34. A Squid Game contestant

35. Lil Nas X

36. Rihanna

37. The Wordle grid

38. Britney Spears

39. An airhostess

40. Julia Fox

41. Tiger King (Joe Exotic)

42. Elvis

43. Female footballer (Lionesses)

44. Vecna – Stranger Things

45. RuPaul

46. A Hogwarts student

47. Emma Raducanu

48. Cassie – Promising Young Woman

49. Pete Davidson

50. Miley Cyrus

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