11 Times How I Met Your Mother Gave Us The Best Halloween Costume Ideas

Even though we don’t have the awesome concept of ‘Trick or treat’ in India, Halloween has become a big part of the party culture here. Every year, cafes, restaurants and offices host Halloween parties with costumes and themes to celebrate the holiday. Have a party coming up but your costume is still undecided? This Halloween, take costume inspiration from How I Met Your Mother like a bro (geddit? geddit?). Here are all the ‘Happy Halloween’ moments from the TV series that gave us cosplay ideas like no one else.

1. 1997 – Salt, Pepper and Cumin

It was their freshmen year (or what we call the first year of college in India) in 1997 when Marshall, Lily and Ted dressed as salt, pepper and cumin shakers for Halloween. It is a great costume idea for a couple as salt and pepper. They always come in a set, just like you and your bae.

#GetTheLook: Take a chart paper in white and black. Wrap it around your body to make a defined circle. You can write the words ‘Salt, Pepper’ on each if you want or just the initials like Marshall and Lily. Use a spaghetti strainer as headgear to complete the look.

2. 1998 – Lady and the Tramp and their bowl of Spaghetti

The year after, Lily and Marshall dressed as the cute doggies from the Disney movie, Lady and the Tramp, and of course, Ted dressed as their bowl of spaghetti that they share. Remember?

#GetTheLook: Get a grey dog costume and another one in brown from a costume rental store. Trade Ted for an actual bowl of spaghetti and make your cosplay truly romantic.

3. 2000 – Lewis and Clark and their Canoe

Lewis and Clark are famous adventurers who went on a two-year-long expedition across America, discovering sea routes for trade. That’s what Marshall and Lily dressed as for their first Halloween in the apartment. Ted couldn’t have picked a better object than their canoe. 

#GetTheLook: Get a 19th-century ship captain’s costume from a costume rental store.

4. 2001 – Sonny and Cher and Hanging Chad

2001 was the year when Ted’s Hanging Chad look made its first appearance. And the first time he met Slutty Pumpkin too! Marshall and Lily dressed as the entertainer duo, Cher and Sonny, where Marshall dressed as Cher and Lily as her husband Sonny.

#GetTheLook: For Cher, all you need is an OTT dress and her iconic ‘poker straight hair with fringes’ wig. For Sonny, a spread collar shirt with a west over it, vintage sunnies which are back in trend now and a moustache. For Hanging Chad, well, you can simply make it at home using a cardboard and rope.

5. 2005 – Captain Jack Sparrow and his Parrot, Hanging Chad and Barney as Top Gun/Devil/Penguin

This is around the time when Pirates of the Caribbean was all the rage. Marshall dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow, the most beloved pirate ever, while Lily dressed as his parrot. Although, Jack and his flask of rum sound like a better love story to me. As usual, Ted dressed as Hanging Chad in his quest to find the Slutty Pumpkin.

Barney, who had become a part of the gang by the time, had three Halloween costumes starting with Tom Cruise from Top Gun, followed by the Devil and a penguin. You can pick either of these costumes however, Devil is the most popular choice among cosplayers of these.

6. 2006 – Dr Frankenstein and his monster and a Scared Villager

The legend of Dr Frankenstein and his scientific experiment that unleashed a monster is new to no one and same goes for Marshall and Lily’s cosplay of 2006. Just when we thought how Ted would third-wheel this time, he dressed as a scared villager with his spear, a fake torch and a missing tooth. 

7. 2007 – C3PO, R2D2 and the Robot Luke’s Uncle almost bought from the Jawas

Every HIMYM fan knows how big Star Wars fans Ted and Marshall were. One Halloween, Marshall and Lily dressed as C3PO and R2D2. Ted, on the other hand, dressed as a robot who is as important to the Star Wars narrative as Luke’s uncle.

8. 2007 – Present and Thank You Note

This year’s Halloween costumes were inspired by a misunderstanding. Marshall wanted to remind Ted that he hadn’t given Marshall and Lily a wedding present. So, he dressed like one. Ted, wanted to remind Marshall that they hadn’t sent him a Thank You note in return for his wedding present, so he traded his Hanging Chad for a Thank You note. Needless to say, neither of them got it.

#GetTheLook: Take a cardboard box and make holes in it for your head and your arms to comfortably fit in. Gift wrap it pretty with a ribbon and voila! Wear simple black clothes underneath to not drive the attention away.

9. 2010 – The Matador and the Bull, Hot dog and Johnny Lawrence from The Karate Kid.

To the office party at Goliath National Bank where Barney and Marshall worked, Marshall and Lily chose a bull and matador costume, Ted wore a hot dog costume while Barney brought his all-time favourite movie character, Johnny Lawrence (the bad kid from The Karate Kid) to life. It is amazing how Marshall and Lily always coordinated their costumes on Halloween. #RelationshipGoals

10. 2011 – Apollo Creed, Vancouver Canucks Hockey player, and Hanging Chad

Just when Robin discovered that Barney is a quarter Canadian, she gifts him a Canadian Mountie costume to wear to the year’s Halloween party. But Barney being Barney, dressed as Apollo Creed, the boxer from the Rocky films. Robin dressed as a hockey player from the Vancouver Canucks, her favourite hockey team. Ted is finally reunited with the Slutty Pumpkin in this episode. It is the last time he wears the Hanging Chad costume (for reasons known to all).

11. 2016 – Lily as the White Whale/Moby Dick

The last Halloween has Marshall dressed as Ahab, a wicked Israeli king, and Lily dressed as Moby Dick or the white whale who chews off his leg on one of his voyages. Lily was pregnant with her third child in the series making the whale costume look weirdly hilarious.

#GetTheLook: Wear a white unitard from head to toe. Stuff it with a ball of paper around your tummy and tail. Paint the whale’s face on your tummy to complete the look.

Here are all the Halloween episodes from How I Met Your Mother:

1. The Slutty Pumpkin – Season 1 x Episode 6

2. Canning Randy – Season 6 x Episode 7

3. The Stinson Missle Crisis – Season 7 x Episode 4

4. The Slutty Pumpkin Returns – Season 7 x Episode 8

5. The Poker Game – Season 9 x Episode 5

6. Last Forever (Part 1) – Season 9 x Episode 23

You’re welcome and Happy Halloween, Y’all!

PS. Here Are 5 Beauty Products That Are ‘Bloody’ Awesome For Halloween!

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