100 Halloween office costume ideas, from last-minute to Zoom

20 last-minute Halloween office costume ideas from the supply closet

Forgot it was Halloween? Each of these comes together at your desk from tape, paper, boxes and sticky notes.

1. Sticky-note monster: Cover an old shirt in sticky notes, ruffled up like fur.
2. Human highlighter: A bright yellow top and a paper cap shaped like the highlighter tip.
3. Here in spirit: A white shirt and a name badge that says “Here in spirit.”
4. The spreadsheet: Tape a grid onto a white shirt and fill a few cells with numbers.
5. The cloud: Cotton balls or white tissue paper taped to a white top, labeled “The Cloud.”
6. Fragile package: Bubble wrap from the mailroom, with a “Handle with care” label on the front.
7. Booked solid: A printed calendar page pinned to your shirt with every slot filled in.
8. The shredder: A cardboard box worn as a vest, with paper strips spilling out the top.
9. Copy machine: A box vest with a slot that hands out photocopies of your own face.
10. Return to sender: A giant envelope made of two flattened boxes, addressed to yourself.
11. Lost and found: Pin a single glove, a spare lanyard and a lonely sock to your shirt.
12. Error 404: A dark T-shirt with “Costume not found” taped across the front.
13. Loading bar: Tape a long bar across your chest and fill it halfway with marker.
14. Desk mummy: Wrap your arms and legs in crepe paper streamers from the party box.
15. Monday zombie: Messy hair, an untucked shirt, a giant mug and a slow shuffle. No fake blood.
16. Break-room owl: A paper-plate mask with two coffee cup lids for eyes.
17. Super admin: A tablecloth cape and your lanyard turned around to read “Super Admin.”
18. Desk plant: A green top and a paper-cup hat with paper leaves sprouting out of it.
19. Box robot: A printer-paper box body with bottle caps for buttons and dials.
20. Number two pencil: A yellow top and a pink sticky-note eraser stuck to a paper hat.

20 pun costumes that get a groan and a laugh

The best office costumes need a second to land. Wear the pun, then let people work it out.

21. Smart cookie: A paper cookie pinned to your shirt and your most serious glasses.
22. Ceiling fan: A shirt that says “Go ceiling!”, two pom-poms and a gaze fixed upward.
23. Social butterfly: Paper butterfly wings and a dozen name tags stuck all over.
24. Dust bunny: Bunny ears and a gray outfit dotted with cotton fluff.
25. Couch potato: A brown top, a small cushion under one arm and a TV remote in hand.
26. Piece of cake: A cardboard cake slice worn as a hat, frosting drawn on in marker.
27. Time flies: A paper clock on your shirt with a few toy flies stuck to it.
28. When life gives you lemons: Paper lemons pinned all over a shirt labeled “Life.”
29. Brainstorm: A headband with a cotton cloud and paper lightning bolts.
30. Early bird: A paper beak, a giant coffee cup and a badge that says “7 a.m.”
31. Tea-Rex: A dinosaur hat and a teacup held with your pinkie out.
32. Traffic jam: Toy cars glued to a shirt with a jam jar label in the middle.
33. Control freak: A dozen paper Ctrl keys pinned to your shirt.
34. Hard drive: A hard hat and a paper steering wheel.
35. Spelling bee: Bee antennae and letter cards pinned all over a yellow and black top.
36. Bookworm: A sock worm with googly eyes poking out of an open book.
37. Quarterback: A giant paper quarter taped to your back.
38. Firewall: A paper brick wall worn as a sandwich board, with paper flames on top.
39. Bug report: Bug antennae, a clipboard and a very concerned face.
40. Tea-m player: Tea bags hanging all over a sports jersey.

20 group costume ideas for the workplace

For teams and departments. Each one still works if two people call in sick, and most look great in a group photo.

41. Box of crayons: Everyone wears one solid color and a paper cone hat. One person is the box.
42. The solar system: One person is the sun and everyone else picks a planet.
43. Chat reactions: Each person wears a giant paper version of a favorite chat reaction.
44. A deck of cards: Sandwich boards, one card each. Whoever runs the meeting is the ace.
45. The weather forecast: Sun, cloud, rain, snowflake and rainbow, standing in forecast order.
46. Keyboard keys: One paper key per person, lined up to spell the team name.
47. A chess set: Black and white outfits with cardboard crowns, towers and horse heads.
48. Traffic light: Three people in red, yellow and green, standing in a stack.
49. The four seasons: Flowers, sunglasses, autumn leaves and a scarf with paper snowflakes.
50. Flower bouquet: Everyone is a different flower, and one person dressed in green is the stems.
51. Fruit bowl: Each person picks a fruit in its color, with a paper leaf hat.
52. Paint swatches: The same color in five shades, each with a paint-chip name card.
53. Rock, paper, scissors: Three people, three cardboard signs, and a rematch at every meeting.
54. The beehive: Worker bees in yellow and black, and one person in a crown as the queen.
55. Office superheroes: Capes and made-up hero names like “Captain Spreadsheet” and “The Inbox Defender.”
56. Alphabet soup: Paper letters that spell the company name, and one person as the bowl.
57. The pizza: Everyone is one cardboard slice, and the pie is complete when you stand together.
58. Bowling night: White shirts as the pins and one person in black as the ball.
59. Film crew: A director's chair, a paper clapperboard, a camera operator and a boom mic.
60. Calculator crew: The finance team as calculator buttons, with one person as the display.

Group costume or not, a parade goes better with something to do afterwards. Our Halloween games for work and a pumpkin carving contest keep the teams together after the photo.

10 Halloween costume themes for work

Give the whole office one theme and let every team interpret it. It makes the parade feel like one show.

61. Haunted house: Each team is the ghost of one room: the library, the kitchen, the attic.
62. Under the sea: Fish, octopuses, divers and one very calm lighthouse keeper.
63. Outer space: Astronauts, aliens, planets and a mission control desk.
64. Fairy tales: Characters from the old public-domain tales, one story per team.
65. Art museum: Recreate famous old paintings and pose inside a cardboard frame.
66. Carnival: A ringmaster, a juggler, cotton candy and the ticket booth.
67. Friendly monsters: Dragons, yetis and sea monsters, more cuddly than scary.
68. Mad science fair: Lab coats, goggles and a tabletop of colored-water experiments.
69. Enchanted forest: Trees, owls, mushrooms and a fox or two.
70. Black and orange: Everyone wears Halloween colors. Zero effort, great group photo.

20 Zoom Halloween costumes, shoulders up

Only the top third of you is on camera, so these put the effort into hats, collars, props and the background.

71. The portrait: Hold an empty picture frame in front of your face for the whole call.
72. News anchor: A blazer, a paper microphone and a newsroom virtual background.
73. Weather presenter: A weather map background that you point at whenever you talk.
74. Astronaut: A white top, a foil collar and a space station background.
75. Deep-sea diver: Swim goggles, a snorkel and an underwater background.
76. Ghost hunter: A headlamp, a clipboard and a dark hallway background behind you.
77. Frozen screen: Freeze mid-sentence with your mouth open every time you're spotlighted.
78. Talk show host: A mug, a desk and a city skyline background behind you.
79. Pilot: Headphones as an aviator headset and a cockpit background.
80. Box cat: Cat ears and a cardboard box cut open around the camera, so you peek out.
81. Mad scientist: Wild hair, safety goggles and a laboratory background.
82. The count: A tall stand-up paper collar and a candlelit castle background.
83. The witch: A pointed hat, a spellbook open on the desk and a cauldron mug.
84. Royal portrait: A paper crown and a ruff collar made of coffee filters.
85. Sock puppet co-host: Your sock puppet answers one question per meeting.
86. Mime: A striped shirt, a beret and an invisible wall. You were going to stay on mute anyway.
87. Pirate captain: A paper captain's hat, a toy parrot on one shoulder and a ship deck background.
88. Scarecrow: A flannel shirt, a bit of straw at the collar and a cornfield background.
89. Detective: A hat, a magnifying glass and an evidence board behind you.
90. Chef: A paper chef's hat, an apron and a kitchen background.

Four tips for costumes on camera

• Test the virtual background before the call. A plain wall and a light in front of you make the cutout cleaner.
• Big shapes read best on a small screen: hats, collars, ears and props held near your face.
• Rename yourself with the costume name so people get the joke in gallery view.
• Keep sound effects and moving filters off when someone else is talking.

10 ideas for people who don't dress up

One accessory is a full entry. It lets everyone join the photo without a costume.

91. Cat ears: A headband with ears, and nothing else changes.
92. Novelty glasses: Oversized, star-shaped or googly-eyed frames.
93. A costume name tag: A “Hello, my name is” sticker that says “Ghost.” Commitment optional.
94. A paper crown: Cut from a file folder and decorated in two minutes.
95. A glow-stick necklace: Best seen with the lights down at the party.
96. A spider on your shoulder: One toy spider that stays put all day.
97. A self-awarded sash: A paper sash that reads “Best Costume, Self-Nominated.”
98. A mustache on a stick: Hold it up for photos, put it down for meetings.
99. Halloween socks: Pumpkins, bats or ghosts, shown off on request.
100. An orange tie or scarf: One splash of Halloween color on a normal outfit.

How to run a costume contest or an online costume parade

A parade gives every costume its moment, and voting by category means more than one person wins. The office and online versions run on the same idea.

In the office

1. 1Pick a short slot. Fifteen minutes before lunch or at the start of the party, so nobody has to wear a costume all day.
2. 2Hand out number cards. Every entrant or group gets a number, so voters don't need to know names across departments.
3. 3Walk one lap. Music on, one loop around the floor or across the front of the room, and each person says their costume name.
4. 4Vote by category. A phone poll behind a QR code, or paper ballots in a box. Close voting at a set time, and have two people count paper ballots.
5. 5Announce at the party. Read the winners from the last category to the grand prize, then take one group photo of everyone.

Online costume parade

1. 1Rename before the call. Ask everyone to put the costume name next to their own name, so the parade explains itself.
2. 2Count down a camera reveal. Cameras off as people join, then three, two, one and everyone turns on at once.
3. 3Give each costume one line. The host reads the names in order and each person unmutes for a one-sentence backstory.
4. 4Poll by category. Use your meeting app's poll or a quick form with the costume names, and share the results on screen.
5. 5Ask before the screenshot. Take the gallery-view photo for the team channel only after everyone has had a chance to turn their camera off.

Categories and prizes

• Grand prize
• Took the room a minute to get
• Best matching pair
• Best entrance
• Best virtual background
• Most committed to the bit
• Best one-line backstory
• Crowd favorite

Small, silly prizes work better than big ones:

• A paper trophy made from the office's own supplies, signed by the judges.
• First pick from the candy bowl for the rest of the week.
• The winner picks the playlist at the next team event.
• A long lunch on the Friday after Halloween.
• Their costume photo as the team channel's banner for November.

Costume guidelines to send with the invite

Short and plain, so nobody has to guess. Adjust them to your dress code and building rules.

• Dressing up is a choice, never a requirement. One accessory, or nothing at all, is fine.
• Nothing that mocks a culture, a religion, a group of people or a real coworker.
• No realistic replica weapons: no toy guns, knives or swords that could be mistaken for real ones.
• Keep your face visible where your office requires it, including at reception and on client calls.
• Leave fake blood, gore and jump scares at home. Visitors and kids on video calls see it too.
• If you can't sit at your desk, take a call or use the stairs in it, save it for the party.

Want someone to run the party after the parade?

Halloween Trivia Time is a live, hosted hour of spooky trivia and challenges on Zoom (Teams, Google Meet or Webex on request), booked about 2 weeks ahead. Mask Decorating ships a craft kit to every home or desk, so everyone ends up with a costume piece, but it needs about 3 weeks: dates close to October 31 are tight, so ask us before you rule them out. See every option on our virtual Halloween party page.

Planning the rest of the day? Open the call with our Halloween icebreakers, borrow from this virtual Halloween party guide, or turn the whole week into a dress-up week with these spirit week ideas. Booking for a big team? Get a free quote with your date and headcount.