Group Halloween Costumes

Pick a Theme

To decide on group Halloween costumes, you'll first need to find a theme that lends itself well to multiple people. There are a couple of different possible approaches to this. Some people choose matching costumes, with slight variations in color or style. Others select complementary costumes. Still others decide to go in character and simply pick a famous group to emulate.

Time Period Themes

One fun and relatively inexpensive way to dress a group is to select a specific time period or cultural era. Then, each member of the group dresses in the styles of that period. Many of these costumes can be handmade from items found at thrift stores, garage sales, or the back of your closet. Popular time periods include:

• The Medieval times.
• The Renaissance.
• The 60s. Tie-dye, big wigs, and peace signs can create fun costumes at a discount.
• The Ancients. Early Greek and Egyptian costumes, such as this Cleopatra dress, open up all sorts of creative possibilities.
• The Wild West.
• The disco era.
• Early Hollywood. Bring out Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, and Elvis for a night of nostalgic fun.

Television, Books, and Movie Ideas

Princess Leia costume for your Star Wars group

If your group shares the same taste in movies and books, it should be easy to select a theme. Since most stories feature at least three central characters, they lend themselves well to group costumes. Some ideas include:

• Hairspray
• High School Musical
• Gone with the Wind
• Star Wars
• The Wizard of Oz
• The Three Stooges
• The gang from Friends
• Lord of the Rings
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• The Fruit of the Loom guys

Complementary Costumes

If you would prefer not to choose a movie, television show, or time period, you could choose a basic theme and have the group wear complementary costumes. This gives a bit more freedom and flexibility to the selection of individual outfits. Some ideas include:

• Deck of Cards. Dress as different cards in the deck. Got five people? Go as a Royal Straight.
• Six Pack. Join five of your closest friends and go as a six pack of soda or beer.
• Back-to-School. Bring back some of your favorite high school cliques and stereotypes by having: the jock, cheerleader, brainiac, teacher's pet, and band member. You could even add a naughty school girl to the mix.
• Spider family Halloween costumes allow everyone in the group to take part in creepy fun.
• Sexy occupations. Play out everyone's sexiest Halloween fantasies, by appearing as French maids, nurses, sexy soldiers, and flight attendants.
• Babies. Find your inner children by having the members of your group dress as babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.
• Carnival acts. Everyone enjoyed the carnival "freak shows" as children. Bring that memory to life on Halloween by dressing as the bearded lady, the two-headed goat, and the horse-man.
• Artwork. Dress as your favorite piece of art and form a gallery with your closest friends.
• Sports Team. You can have a great starting lineup for Halloween if you and your group dress as your favorite sports team.
• Dysfunctional Family. Create your own dysfunctional family with this fun and creative group halloween costume.
• Rock band. Dress as your favorite musical group, ready to take the stage.

Kids' Group Halloween Costumes

Dress as the Harry Potter gang!

Thanks to television, books, and the movies, there are many great possibilities for kids' group Halloween costumes. For example, for a Dora the Explorer theme, one child could dress as Dora, one as her cousin Diego, and another could dress as Boots or Backpack. In addition to the ideas from the adult section above, these television-inspired costumes work well for groups:

• Care Bears
• Power Rangers
• The Wiggles
• Rugrats
• Willy Wonka
• The Wizard of Oz
• Blues Clues
• The Incredibles
• Peter Pan, Wendy, and Tinkerbell
• Harry Potter and friends
• The High School Musical cast

Non-Character Specific Kids Themes

One thing to be aware of when planning a group theme for Halloween is that most kids want to be the star. You could have a problem with hurt feelings and temper tantrums and all the kids wanting to be Dora! One way to avoid this is to choose a broader theme with many possible variations. That way, the costumes are complementary and no one is the "star". Some ideas include:

• Disney Princesses. There are so many princesses that all of the girls should be able to have a different one, if desired, and all can feel special.
• Fairies. Try having each fairy with a different color and a different special power.
• Superheroes. Batman, Spider Man, Superman, Wonder Woman, Cat Girl... there are so many possibilities. Sure, they didn't all appear on the same show, but they make a powerful group!
• Animals or insects.

Related Halloween Costumes

• Teen Halloween Costumes
• Hot Halloween Costumes
• Halloween Costumes for Couples
• Superhero Costumes
• Adult Halloween Costumes