The ‘uncool’ celebrity Halloween costume trend - from Selena Gomez as a banana to Taylor Swift as a squirrel

We’ve all seen the iconic 'Mean Girls' scene that explains the psychology behind choosing the “right” kind of Halloween costume. In the scene, Lindsay Lohan’s character certainly doesn’t get the memo – as she ends up attending the popular kids’ party dressed up as anything other than sexy or cool.

Fast forward 20 years or so and being the girl who doesn’t care about conventional Halloween costumes has seemingly become a trend for celebrities from Taylor Swift to Selena Gomez. Taylor herself has continued the trend of uncool celebrity costumes for years now – from dressing as a full on squirrel to a bear resembling Florence Pugh’s Midsommar horror film.

As they say in Mean Girls, “In girl world, Halloween is the one night a year when a girl can dress like a total s***, and no other girls can say anything about it”. A far departure from this, the “uncool” Halloween costume certainly makes the celebrities who wear them seem more relatable. 

Whether that’s the intention behind these costumes, or whether these celebrities simply couldn’t be bothered to put something more complex together, we can’t say for sure. But here’s a look at the uncool celebrity Halloween costumes over the years.

Taylor Swift as a squirrel

Taylor Swift is known for her endless supply of hits as well as as being renowned for her style choices, donning sparkling and enchanting outfits every night of her world-famous Eras tour. In 2021, Taylor seriously shook things up by dressing up as a squirrel for Halloween, without any particular context behind the costume. 

She also dressed up as a bear for a New Year’s Eve party in 2021, ringing in the new year in style. A nod to uncool celebrity costume ideas, we’re sure Taylor shook off any negativity towards her costume.

Selena Gomez as a banana

Last year in 2022, Selena Gomez made noise by dressing as a banana for Halloween, sticking out like a sore thumb next to her model friends. Still, Selena seemed to have fun, and even poked fun at herself while speaking about the uncool costume.

She said to Jay Shetty: “This Halloween, I was a banana. And I genuinely just got the cheapest outfit, put it on and roamed around Times Square with my friends and had the best time. And everyone kept sending me these memes because everyone else went all out. Maybe I could have painted my face and done a little more, but everyone looked really sexy and fun and literally I was a banana. That to me says, ‘I don’t have to be perfect all the time’ – I’d rather be that girl.”

Heidi Klum as a worn

Heidi Klum pulled out all the stops by dressing up as none other than a huge worm in 2022. Impressively donned in prosthetics, Heidi certainly didn’t rely on her model looks that night as the worm costume covered her from head to toe.

Katy Perry as a Hot Cheeto

Attending Kate Hudson’s Halloween party in 2014, pop sensation Katy Perry was unmissable in a bright orange costume. She went dressed as none other than a Hot Cheeto – an American crisp brand – and was quite literally shaped as a crisp the entire night.