It’s not cool to dress sexy for Halloween anymore — this is what Brits are wearing instead

Sexy costumes were once all the rage, but are they now a thing of the past? (Credits: Paramount/Everett/Shutterstock) It’s 2004, you’re at a Halloween party, and almost every girl in the room is wearing a sexy costume that looks like it was pulled straight out of a scene from Mean Girls. Fast forward to 2007 and by this point, one in six Google searches for ‘Halloween costume’ include the word ‘sexy’. If you went to university in the 2010s, you’ll know that Halloween club nights were always packed with sexy cats, sexy nurses, and, of course, sexy bunny rabbits. The trend was so ingrained in youth culture that it even made an appearance in Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging back in 2008. In one scene, Georgia, dressed as an olive, questions her friends’ decision to ditch their hors d’oeuvre costumes, only to be reminded that ‘boys don’t rate girls for funniness’. But, times have changed. Demand for sexy costumes has hit an all-time low, plunging 74% to account for just one in every 24 Google searches. Sex still sells. But Halloween 2026 is all about picking a costume that’ll make your friends laugh. Sorry 2004, sexy is officially out To track the decline, escort platform Erobella recently compared UK Google searches for sexy costumes with searches for Halloween costumes, every month since 2004. They then focused on September and October specifically. The science isn’t exact… It wasn’t possible to filter out hen dos or non-spooky parties, so the final figures give us more of an approximate ratio. But, there were definitely some interesting findings. Ask Metro Use AI to go deeper into the stories you care about – powered by Metro and trusted publications. Out of the 18 most searched sexy costumes, 16 are down on their pre-pandemic level. Couples are joining forces to find funny costumes this year (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images) Comparing the Halloweens of 2023 to 2025 with 2016 to 2019, searches for a sexy nurse costume fell 49%. Perhaps sliding into a low-cut nurse’s outfit just doesn’t quite feel the same post-Covid…? Sexy devil and sexy angel costumes are also far less popular, down 50% and 58% respectively. Some could argue that this shift is linked to Gen Z’s increasing interest in religion. An online YouGov survey commissioned in 2025 found that the number of young people attending church in England and Wales has skyrocketed in the last six years.A quick look on TikTok also suggests trad wife culture could be impacting fashion trends. If anyone’s going to be sexy, it’s the men If you visit any party shop, costumes catered towards women are still considerably sexier. However, Erobella’s report also revealed that, for the first time in Google’s records, people searched for sexy men’s Halloween costumes more than women’s. The data shows that, in particular, Magic Mike costumes have become one of the most popular sexy searches — first taking off in 2022. 2026 might also end up being a rather pivotal year for men who want to embrace their sexy side at Halloween. First there was Heated Rivalry and now there’s the UK Pleasure Boys… What are Brits wearing on Halloween instead? While Hollywood has always been a great place to get inspiration, these days, the best inspiration is often found on social media. Deliciously camp and over-the-top, the term ‘gay Halloween’ is used to describe the phenomenon of turning viral moments into costume inspiration. This year, if you’re heading to a Halloween party, chances are you’ll spot at least a dozen people dressed as Kathryn Turner, Director of Product Development at M&S Food. The genius behind our favourite posh snacks — who better to dedicate an entire night to? Another costume you might encounter in the line for the loo is Molly, the $15,000 animatronic bird that Kelly Clarkson tried to purchase at an independent art store in Brooklyn. And on your way home, instead of exchanging numbers with a sexy nun, you might end up locking eyes with someone dressed as the limes from Dakota Johnson’s Architectural Digest interview. Happy Halloween! Arrow MORE: A frightfully good trip to Europe’s biggest Halloween festival Arrow MORE: Green wine is the drink you need for Halloween — it’s scarily good Arrow MORE: Last One Laughing’s Halloween edition proves why it’s the best show on TV