The Best Pop-Culture Halloween Costumes of 2021

Halloween was maybe the only activity sartorially unaffected by Covid-19 last year. While indoor costume parties had to move to the backyard (with appropriate distance, of course), there were plenty of face-covering outfits to make the occasion not feel too out of place. This year, the indoor costume party is back on. And while you’ve had a whole year to think of creative pop-culture costume ideas, you’re probably just gonna buy something cheap at the last minute anyway. Some habits never change.

Sure, you can go online and figure out every single piece of Rip Wheeler’s Yellowstone wrangler outfit, or individually buy every bit of cloth to complete your Winter Soldier getup, but let’s be honest: you’re not going to do that. You just want an all-in-one purchase that will impress with basically zero effort. This isn’t Martha Stewart craft hour. This is Halloween. And you’re just getting drunk in this costume anyway, so who cares?

Well, we got you, fam. Whether you want to channel your favorite TV show character or movie hero, there are plenty of pop culture Halloween costumes out there that won't require you to buy a glue gun or learn to sew. Best of all, most of them don't break the bank. After all, you really can only break out that Falcon costume once a year without scaring people off. It has to be budget-friendly. Here are 20 easy-to-buy and wear culturally-hip Halloween costumes. Squid Game included.