Halloween is a big deal for celebrities and others in the public eye. Combine the naturally hammy inclinations of the famous with the pressure social media puts on celebs to outdo one another and “win” Halloween, and you’ve got a flurry of elaborate-ass costumes on your hands. This year, though, a new trump card in the costume-stakes emerged: dressing as either someone you know or having someone dress up as you. Any old person with resources can be Marie Antoinette, but not just anyone can command the kind of clout it takes to pull this off. It’s kind of the ultimate display of power, to show people you’re either so hashtag-iconic that your look can be re-created (while your brand stays strong), or that you’re so tight with a fellow famous person that you’ll do her the compliment of copycatting her style. It’s also a cheeky provocation: Who else would dare?
Take Heidi Klum. Klum appears to absolutely live for Halloween (which she refers to as #heidiween), hosting an annual party and in years past dressing in such elaborate getups as a forbidden fruit, a many-armed Hindu goddess, and Cleopatra, among other showstoppers. This year she decided to go as … herself. The catch was that she brought along five clones, all of whom resembled her and were dressed exactly the same as her, in matching bodysuits and thigh-high boots. So she got to look great and feel relatively like herself, wielding a five-deep squad of models as human accessories. Rather than playing by Halloween’s rules, she bent Halloween to her will.
Eva Chen, the former editor of Lucky magazine who is now a fashion exec at Instagram, achieved a similar display of influence by dressing her daughter, Ren, as herself, Eva Chen, during Fashion Week. Because we all remember that time Eva Chen wore a slip dress and what a big deal it was. (Chen described it as “inside joke with myself” in a caption.) The costume is thankfully saved by how adorable Ren looks indulging her mother’s whims.
Elsewhere in costumes that make you go “hmm,” Taylor Swift dressed as Deadpool, the movie and comic book character. The context here is that Taylor Swift is a close, personal friend of the married couple Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, Reynolds being the actor who portrayed Deadpool, and she would like to remind you of that fact at every opportunity.
Taylor Swift’s not-close, not-personal ex-friend Katy Perry pulled a similar move by dressing up as Hillary Clinton, who she is fundraising for and is a very important part of the presidential campaign for, siren, siren, reminder to vote and to thank Katy Perry for saving the world.
Then there are Rob Kardashian and Blac Chyna, who seem to have dressed up as each other, or at least Chyna was Rob. A goofy commentary on their inability to escape media attention, perhaps, or a way to make fun of their tabloid personas while subtly reinforcing them? If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.
Trick-or-treat, celebrities. Only 364 days until you have to do this all over again.
