We asked six Halloween enthusiasts about their most memorable outfits from past celebrations—from self-made costumes to custom gowns.
Halloween weekend starts tomorrow, and although celebrations have been compromised since 2020, we can’t help but be in the festive mood—even though we’re trading in Halloween balls and costume parties for watching thriller films and indulging in sweet treats at home.
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However, it’s a great time to look back to past ensembles where people dressed up as their favorite movie characters, villains, or even out-of-the-box looks.
Whether you’re looking for costume inspiration or want to reminisce on seeing creative looks, we asked six Halloween lovers about their most memorable costumes to date.
Kiana Valenciano
Admittedly, Valenciano loves to embody villainous characters for her Halloween costumes. The singer and songwriter mention three favorite looks.
Firstly, X-Men’s Mystique where Valenciano did her own hair, makeup and beaded the blue suit herself. Secondly, as she grew up watching cartoons, Harley Quinn enjoyed embodying the DC comic book character. And lastly, Catwoman Michelle Pfeiffer played in the 1992 film.
Janeena Chan
Chan recalls four favorite Halloween looks to be her most memorable. “Last 2019 was the most full and festive Halloween for me. “[I dressed] up in three looks: Giselle from Disney’s Enchanted, a Marie Antoinette-inspired fluffy opulent look for the Opulence Halloween ball, and finally as Cat Woman for Tim Yap’s party,” the events host shares.
She also suited up in a Tetris video game-inspired look by a custom gown by Chynna Mamawal. “She even gave me sequined blocks for my hair! The theme was pop-culture, so I went kind of retro-pop with this one, as I hosted for the E! Pop Gala,” Chan added.
Chan says she’s unsure about her plans for this year’s Halloween celebrations, considering the pandemic is still ongoing. “But in case I do, it’ll be as a gesture of celebrating life to the fullest,” the model shares. “Perhaps whip something up and improvise from my closet, and be inspired by pop-culture references. I’d love to have a quick [weekend] out-of-town trip by the beach too if my work schedule permits.”
Sean Go
For Go, originality is key. “I didn’t want to bump into anyone with the same costume, which I’m sure we all agree has gotten harder and harder throughout the years,” he shares. “So I thought the best way to achieve this was to make one entirely myself.”
In line with this, he dressed up as a “bather” on Halloween 2018, complete with sculptural bubbles made of balloons. Go says his self-made costume was the “funniest and most creative costume” he’s ever worn.
“Especially since people kept popping my balloons wherever I went, so I was almost down to my knickers by the end of the night,” he says with a laugh.
Bianca Yuzon-Henares
As an Anime lover, Yuzon-Henares shares that Attack on Titan is one of her favorite series from the genre, and she decided on dressing as character Mikasa when she was living in the U.K. “I took the train (full costume and all) and met my friends in East London where we went bar-hopping,” she recalls.
The musician also considers celebrating Halloween as “handmaids” from the T.V. series Handmaid’s Tale, dressing up as Dr. Azumi Fujita from Netflix’s Maniac, and characters from the film “Us” with her husband Quark.
“The last normal Halloween I got to celebrate was in Tokyo’s vibrant Shibuya Crossing—everyone went all out with their costumes, and it felt like the whole city was out to play,” Yuzon-Henares fondly reminisces.
For this year’s celebrations, Yuzon-Henares is looking forward to “popping on a scary movie marathon, digging into some sweets, and possibly sleeping with the lights on after!”
Brian Poe Llamanzares
Although Poe Llamanzares tends to not celebrate Halloween festivities in “full costume,” he attended a pre-pandemic event as Poe Dameron from Star Wars for “obvious reasons.”
Natalia Ortega
When she attended a nineties-themed party in an intimate celebration, Ortega knew she had to dress up as Cher Horowitz from the well-known 1995 film Clueless. Although she’s not planning on a large Halloween celebration this year, Ortega already has a few ideas in mind for this year’s costume.
Banner photo courtesy of Kiana Valenciano
