History of CostumesNo. 7712 · The 2026 edition
Halloween Costume Trends (Google Shopping Blog, Halloween label archive)
Discover the most popular Halloween costumes from 2010 to 2014, based on Google Shopping search data!
Our own summary of the original — the full post and photos live at web.archive.org.
A look back at Halloween costume trends from 2010-2014, compiled from Google Shopping Blog posts. Covers popular characters, DIY ideas, and pet costumes, with search data revealing top choices each year.
Directions
- Keep an eye on search volume: build Halloween keyword lists and ad creatives covering costumes, recipes, make-up, decorations, party supplies and toys, and add general terms like 'costume ideas' and 'funniest costumes' as consumers start searching mid-October
- Watch out for rising searches: use Google Insights for Search and run Search Query Reports through the month to spot popular Halloween costumes and keywords, add missed keywords and filter out unrelated ones
- Highlight promotions and shipping cut-offs: emphasize shipping dates in ad text and feature promotions and discounts to capture last-minute sales before the 31st weekend
Tips
- Google Insights for Search reveals how blockbuster movie releases drive costume search spikes
- DIY costume searches on YouTube grew more than 200% in 2013 versus the previous year
- Nearly one in three Halloween costume searches on YouTube last year were for DIY costumes
- Searches for makeup on YouTube hit a high each October as people seek Halloween inspiration
- Searches for dog costumes trended nearly 15% higher than the previous year
- Retailers should build Halloween keyword lists and add general terms like 'costume ideas' and 'funniest costumes' as consumers begin searching mid-October
- Run Search Query Reports through the month to find popular Halloween keywords and filter out unrelated ones
- Emphasize shipping cut-off dates and promotions in ad text to capture last-minute sales
- YouTube offers video tutorials and inspiration for creating your own Halloween costume
The list
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01
Elsa (Frozen) 2014
One of three Frozen characters among top five trending costumes
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02
Olaf (Frozen) 2014
One of three Frozen characters among top five trending costumes
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03
Anna (Frozen) 2014
One of three Frozen characters among top five trending costumes
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04
Maleficent costume 2014
Rounds out the top five trending costumes
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05
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costume 2014
Rounds out the top five trending costumes
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06
Guardians of the Galaxy costume 2014
Takes place 6 of top trending costumes
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07
Captain America costume 2014
Takes place 7 of top trending costumes
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08
The Avengers costume 2014
Takes place 8 of top trending costumes
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09
spider dog (pet costume) 2014
Inspired by viral 'Mutant Giant Spider Dog' video; only pet costume in Top 10
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10
Assassin's Creed costume 2014
Video-game themed; one of two non-movie trends in Top 10
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11
Breaking Bad costume 2013
Featured on the earlier year's trending list before 2014
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12
What Does The Fox Say costume 2013
Viral-video costume on the prior year's list
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13
Big Bird costume 2012
Search spike after Presidential debate; HalloweenCostumes.com sold out in three days
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14
binders full of women costume 2012
Election-debate trend that outpaced Mitt Romney mask searches
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15
Mitt Romney mask 2012
Election-themed costume searched less than binders full of women costume
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16
sugar skull makeup 2012
DIY makeup tutorial look popular on YouTube
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17
zombie mouth makeup 2012
DIY makeup tutorial look popular on YouTube
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18
Psy (Gangnam Style) costume 2012
YouTube-star costume that saw an uptick in sales
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19
The Annoying Orange costume 2012
YouTube-star costume that saw an uptick in sales
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20
The Guild costume 2012
YouTube-star costume that saw an uptick in sales
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21
black swan costume 2011
Overtook Angry Birds; poised as most popular by Halloween
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22
white swan costume 2011
Alter-ego variation of the Black Swan look
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23
black tutu 2011
Related search for the Black Swan costume
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24
black corset 2011
Related search for the Black Swan costume
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25
angry birds costume 2011
Rising steadily; 10x more search volume than prior year
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26
pan am costume 2011
TV-show-inspired fastest-rising costume
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27
wilfred costume 2011
TV-show-inspired fastest-rising costume
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28
smurfette costume 2011
Movie-inspired fastest-rising costume
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29
tron costume 2011
Movie-inspired fastest-rising costume
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30
captain america costume 2011
Movie-inspired fastest-rising costume
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31
nicki minaj costume 2011
Pop-music-inspired; neck and neck with Lady Gaga costume
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32
monster high costume 2011
Fastest-rising costume from pop culture
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33
lady gaga costume 2011
Led Nicki Minaj overall in 2011 but less popular than in 2010
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34
Rebecca Black costume 2011
YouTube-star costume people dressed up as
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35
pig costume 2011
Top-10 fastest-rising search; several related searches for Olivia
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36
Olivia (cartoon piglet) costume 2011
Three of top rising pig-costume searches covered this cartoon piglet
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37
Sophia Grace and cousin costume 2011
Suggested tribute to the YouTube 'Super Bass' duo
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38
dog costume 2011
Huge search volume; ewoks and dinosaurs fastest-rising related looks
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39
ewok dog costume 2011
Fastest-rising dog costume search
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40
dinosaur dog costume 2011
Fastest-rising dog costume search
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41
Wilfred dog costume 2011
Quirky rising dog-costume search; dog dressed in a dog suit
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42
pirate costume 2006
Pirates of the Caribbean sequel sent searches through the roof; top of six years
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43
vampire costume 2008
Twilight popularity pushed queries up 64% from prior year
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44
Lady Gaga costume 2010
Ranked lowest among costumes examined; Lady Gaga a lower-impact pop-culture choice
Facts from the original
- The Mutant Giant Spider Dog video generated more than 99 million views on YouTube since the beginning of September 2014
- Costume retailers invested more in mobile websites, video content and improved product pages to reach shoppers wherever they searched
- Google searches for 'Big Bird costumes' spiked more than 700% following the Presidential debate
- HalloweenCostumes.com sold out of its Big Bird costume inventory in just three days
- 'binders full of women' costume searches outpaced searches for Mitt Romney masks
- CafeMom's 'Binder Full of Women' DIY tutorial racked up over 35,000 views
- In 2011, searches for angry birds costume showed 10 times more search volume than the prior year
- As of mid-October 2011, black swan costume overtook angry birds costume in search
- In 2006 the Pirates of the Caribbean sequel sent 'pirate costume' searches through the roof, topping all six years among the five costumes examined
- Vampire costume queries rose 64% from the previous year around Twilight's 2008 release
- Candy corn search volume was nearly twice as high as for other candy choices in the last 30 days
- Per capita, Alabama searched the most for candy corn in 2011
- There was almost two and a half times more search volume for candy than for apples
- Average consumer Halloween spending has consistently increased since 2003 and reached over $65 per person
- In 2008, 64.5% of adults celebrated Halloween, up from 58.7% the previous year
- Consumers planned to spend an average of $66.54 on Halloween in 2008, totaling $5.77 billion, a 13.8% increase over 2007
- In 2008, 36.4% of Halloween spend went to costumes, 30.7% to candy, 27.4% to decorations and 5.5% to greeting cards
- In the last 30 days of 2009, 'halloween,' 'costumes' and 'halloween costumes' rose to become three of the top ten searches in the shopping category
- With more than half of their traffic coming from Google, BuyCostumes.com tailored its search advertising around top costume trends
- It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown celebrated its 45th birthday on Halloween 2011
- The game of bobbing for apples still spikes dependably every October
Where to buy
- BuyCostumes.com Open
- HalloweenCostumes.com
More photos
Photos hosted by web.archive.org.
