Why sexy costumes are so popular among women on Halloween

“In Girl World, Halloween is the one day a year when a girl can dress up like a total slut and no other girls can say anything else about it,” says Lindsay Lohan’s character in Mean Girls, delivering one of the most memorable lines from the film, along with what has become a leitmotif: “On Wednesdays, we wear pink.” Fashion historian Victoria Steele explained to The Face that although Hollywood costumes did not begin to be mass-produced until the 1930s, it was in the 1970s that sexy designs became popular. “That was when the sexual revolution of the 1960s reached people and there was women’s liberation, sexual liberation, and gay liberation,” says Steele, who stresses that costumes have always helped people transgress social norms. She cites as an example the Countess of Castiglione, a mistress of Emperor Napoleon III, who used disguises to show more skin than she might have done in her everyday life without the costumes involved.

In both horror and true crime films, women are often represented as attractive females on the verge of death. This can be another starting point when looking for inspiration. It is pop culture itself that has created a sexual imagery that relates attractive women with terrifying situations.

Costumes are not only an expression of creativity and fun, but they also play a crucial role in reproducing the dominant ideological beliefs in society. By choosing a particular costume, gender expectations are perpetuated and in doing so, it is evident how individuals adhere to social norms through self-control and conformity. Although, of course, each person can choose their desired costume, it is evident that the range of costumes intended for women is often characterized by sexy models. “The fact that costumes for women are usually sexy is one more behavior that perpetuates gender stereotypes, in which women are seen as a sexual object and in which their value is linked to physical appearance,” says Cecilia Martín, director of the Psicode Psychology Institute and author of the book Amor Orgásmico (Orgasmic Love, 2024). “In our culture, the sexualization of women is normalized and Halloween is no exception. In my opinion, an empowering act is to feel free to dress however you want and have different options to choose from, without the pressure of having to meet a sexualized standard, but the current costume industry does not contribute to that. Women’s costumes are almost always sexy and there are not many options to dress differently,” she says.

Martín says that although costumes are a form of self-expression and creativity, if there were more diversity in the market, both men and women would have more options to choose from and thus show themselves authentically, reclaiming their personality. However, the options are limited because the sexualization of women is the norm. “If we take it to the field of sexuality, women are socially imposed to be objects of desire,” she explains.

Silvia Rubies, head of communications for Gleeden Spain and Latam, a platform specializing in non-monogamous dating relationships, says that Halloween is a time when people tend to let go. “It remains ‘within the party and behind the costume,’ without women feeling more watched, judged or stigmatized. It is as if the fantasy that is inside them, the lack of inhibition, the freedom to be whoever they want to be and to exploit their sexiest and most feminine side, came out for once and under a perfect excuse,” she says. “The male gaze, unfortunately, and although it is slowly fading, is still there, but we could say that it is a way of standing up to it and empowering oneself. Why shouldn’t a woman be able to dress up as whatever she wants, whether it be a sexy nurse or a banana?”

According to a survey conducted by ZipHealth among 1,012 people, 22% of respondents have had sex on Halloween wearing their costume, and 15% plan to go for a sexy design this year. “Halloween is one of the few times of the year when social norms relax. Feeling confident about your body is important for physical and mental well-being, not just during Halloween, but all year round,” Dr. Ashwin Sharma, head of communications at ZipHealth and MedExpress, tells EL PAÍS.

Martín stresses that the most important thing is that women can consciously select their costume, so that if they choose a sexy design from a position of freedom and authenticity, it can be an act of empowerment and reaffirmation of their autonomy. However, if the choice of costume is motivated by social pressure to fit into a stereotype, it becomes something negative. “Given the culture in which we are immersed, with costume options that sexualize women and reduce them to their physical appearance, dressing sexily on Halloween is not a feminist act, but quite the opposite,” she points out. While there is no doubt that for many women, going for a sexy costume on Halloween can boost their confidence and be a fun act to transgress social norms, there is undoubtedly debate about the culture of sensual costumes and what surrounds the practice.

With society having conditioned women to associate their self-worth with their sexual attractiveness, the question arises as to whether sexy Halloween costumes can actually be a form of empowerment or are just another nod to the need for validation and to respond to patriarchal norms. “Women and girls have been socialized to believe that the most important thing about them is their looks and their sexual attractiveness. For women, their looks are linked to their popularity. We live in a culture that says that the most important thing for teenage girls and women is to be sexy,” explains Dr. Sophia Choukas-Bradley in Pixel Flesh (2024), a book in which journalist Ellen Atlanta comments that women have been socialized to see themselves as objects designed to satisfy the male gaze.

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