31 Days of Halloween — Day 3, Seven Great Plus-Size Halloween Costumes, and One Terrible One

If you’re not into DIY costumes, it can be hard to find good ones to fit. The packaged ones in those pop-up Halloween shops are usually “one size fits all,” where “all” is smaller than a size 6. Even when they have “plus size” options, they’re rarely larger than a 12.

So what’s a bigger girl to do? Fortunately, a few of the plus-size retailers out there have gotten smart and started selling costumes. Unfortunately, like most of our clothes, these costumes are more expensive than the ones you’ll get in a package at your local Party City, and are subject to the same “sexy” grossness of straight-size costumes. But there are still options, which I suppose is better than nothing.

Seven great plus-size Halloween costumes:

1.  Snow White (Torrid, $45)

Maybe this is a holdover from when I was a fat kid and none of the costumes in the Disney Store fit me, but I love the idea of going as a character. Still waiting for plus-size Ariel, but this is a good start.

 2. Sailor (Domino Dollhouse, $55.95 + $9.95 for the hat)

This one could almost bridge the gap between costume and regular dress, depending on your personal style and the situation.

 3. Queen of Hearts (Hips and Curves, $64.95)

This is a lingerie shop, so many of their costumes are more revealing and involve corsets (also, eyeroll at their Fifty Shades of Grey merch). But this one is pretty cute and could go out or, nudge nudge, stay in.

 4. Dalek (Her Universe, $45)

This one isn’t exclusively plus size, but it goes to 3XL, and I have one of their dresses (Darth Vader) so I can say they run pretty normally, not like some brands that make a 3XL more like a L.

5. Princess Leia (Her Universe, $30-34)

Normally, I don’t support brands who practice pricing discrimination by arbitrarily tacking extra cost onto the top couple of sizes (if you’re concerned about nickel-and-diming us for fabric, shouldn’t each size be a different price and not just the biggest?) but this is already half price and goes to 4XL, so I decided to include it. Throw on a long white skirt for the full effect.

 6. Night Nurse (Torrid, $36)

For better or worse, the sexy nurse outfit is a classic, and Torrid offers a twist on it by making the dress black. Good for anyone looking to show plenty of boob.

7. Robin Hood (Plus Size Costume Shop, $125)

I just found this store, and it’s a bit on the pricey side, but they make costumes up to size 44W or 7X. This is one of their “value” costumes, and is super cute. They have a lot of character costumes and Ren Faire-esque styles, which look great.

And one terrible one you should definitely not buy:

I’m not even going to link to this one, because it’s just awful and you shouldn’t buy it. Torrid, what were you thinking? This is not an OK costume at all. It’s cultural appropriation. It’s racism. Dia de los Muertos is NOT “Mexican Halloween,” as many people unfortunately call it, it’s a sacred holiday with deep cultural roots. Bastardizing it is never acceptable. Don’t dress up as a sugar skull. Additionally, don’t wear a costume that stereotypes ANY culture or cheapens important symbols.