It’s officially a tradition. Here is our annual post featuring sexy costumes that we think are just… bizarre. When sexy “overtakes all reason,” you can sexualize just about anything.
Sexy snowy owl:
Sexy gnome:
Sexy macaw:
Sexy tootsie roll:
Sexy skunk:
Sexy Ernie(submitted by Chrissy Y.):
Sexy hamburger:
Sexy Chinese take-out:
Costumes from Party City, Halloween Express, and Yandy.
Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Comments 49
Kalirush — October 31, 2012
I have actually worn a sexy gnome costume before. Not that one; one I made myself.
Umlud — October 31, 2012
Having studied ecology, evolution, and ethology, the sexy bird costumes are doubly absurd, since (among birds, as well as many other groups of animals) males are invariably the showier sex. That part of my brain sees these costumes and thinks, "Wow, people just don't get it or care."
hopeless shade — October 31, 2012
Sexy Ghost is the only possible sexy costume. All other costumes are inferior.
Yrro Simyarin — October 31, 2012
I, for one, do not find the trend of "wearing muppets' skinned heads as a cap" particularly sexy. I don't know who thought of that, but... gross..
9illy — October 31, 2012
The sexy hamburger is a rip-off of a 2005 crocheted dress by Artist Joy Kampia: http://joykampia.com/fashion/hamburgerdress.html
I like her Sundae Dress:
http://joykampia.com/fashion/sundaedress.html
Festive spirit | Ayzad — October 31, 2012
[...] Pictures collected from Holidash and The Society pages [...]
oofstar — October 31, 2012
is the idea behind these trends that women are actually always dressing 'sexy'? i mean, that is not an owl costume. she doesn't look like an owl. you could even look like a sexy owl and still look like an owl. these are just themed club outfits.
ipneorama — October 31, 2012
The only truly sexy Sesame Street costume.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dorsner/2822774896/
ViktorNN — October 31, 2012
I saw a study recently (I'll have to dig up the link) which showed that, on Halloween in many parts of this country a lot of people like to get dressed up in sexy costumes, go out to parties, get drunk and have sex. Shocking, I know!
Tamara Powell — October 31, 2012
We talked about "sexy Halloween" in my Communication and American Culture class today, inspired by this article: http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/10/killing-sexy-halloween-the-ethical-and-practical-complications/264212/#
Ninetenths — October 31, 2012
Sexy hamburger! You've found my one weakness!!!
Stephanie — October 31, 2012
I read an article last year, that I can't seem to find anymore, that said people have always worn sexy Halloween costumes. It's just that our definition of "sexy" has changed as our definition of "normal" clothing has changed. In Victorian times, women would wear shorter skirts on Halloween that showed off brightly colored striped stockings. At the time, this was scandalous and sexy. Today, that's pretty normal. Here's a link to a costume contest for women in 1947 (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Slick_Chicks_Halloween_1947.jpg). Some of those would be considered sexy even today.
Some of the costumes shown here are ridiculous, some have no real imagination, and most fall short of looking like whatever thing they were trying to make sexy. But is it such a problem? Halloween is one of the few times of the year that it's socially acceptable to put your sexuality on display like this. You don't have to, and their are plenty of other options to choose. It's not worthy of the pearl-clutching. We've been doing it for over one hundred years and society has yet to crumble.
mary_k — October 31, 2012
This year, I decided to parody of all this "sexy ___" costuming, and so I tried to come up with the most absurd instance of it (for me personally). I settled on dressing up as Sexy Wire Mother (from Harlow's attachment experiments in monkeys).
Hierophant2 — October 31, 2012
I love how some people come on this comments thread about absurd female Halloween costumes and basically complain "but what about teh menz??"
Gynomite’s Reading Room! « Gynomite! — November 5, 2012
[...] Weird, “sexy” versions of things for Halloween! Hooray! [...]
Costume Mirrors: Halloween and beyond | — December 20, 2012
[...] out this heterosexist “dreamworld” effect that is taking over, such as the annual Sexy What?. This is not to deny how great it can feel to sexy it up for Halloween, nor a lack of [...]
Festive spirit - Ayzad — July 11, 2013
[...] Pictures collected from Holidash and The Society pages [...]
Lo spirito delle feste - Ayzad — July 11, 2013
[...] Immagini raccolte da Holidash e The Society pages [...]
The Perfect Place: What’s Really Disturbing About Retailers Tracking Your Every Move | David A Banks — March 6, 2014
[…] stared at a pair of jeans, or even the grossed-out face you made at this year’s crop of creepy, hyper-sexualized Halloween costumes. The New York Times describes this as an attempt by brick and mortar stores to compete with […]
Emna Sophia — March 18, 2019
first one and the 2nd last is really sexy i love both of them and want to buy is this avail on your store ?