Hair Bows That Match This Year's Most Popular Halloween Costumes

Halloween planning in our house always starts with the costume, but the hair is what actually pulls it together once the camera comes out, especially for the littlest trick-or-treaters who won't sit still for anything more complicated than a clip-in bow. If you're still deep in the costume search, here's how I'd match the bow to whatever she ends up wearing this year.

The costumes everyone's asking about this year

This year it's all pop culture again. KPop Demon Hunters is one of the most-searched girls' costumes right now, right alongside Wicked. Elphaba and Glinda are a favorite for sisters or best friends who want to coordinate without matching exactly. Jessie from Toy Story is back in a big way thanks to Toy Story 5, and Greek goddess costumes (gold trim, a laurel crown) are having a real moment too, according to this year's costume-search trends. The classics never really leave, either. Ghosts, pumpkins, and witches are still some of the most reliable costumes for babies and toddlers, mostly because they're warm enough to layer under a jacket on a cold night, and nobody has to talk a one-year-old into keeping a headpiece on.

My advice for all of these: pick a bow that echoes one color from the costume instead of trying to match it exactly. For a Glinda costume, something soft and pink works. Our Coquette Girly Ghost Headband already leans pink and purple, and it reads as "dressed up" rather than "in costume," which is nice if she's wearing it to school before trick-or-treating even starts. For a witch or an Elphaba look, a solid purple bow clip keeps things simple without fighting the green face paint or a pointy hat. And for the ghost-and-pumpkin crowd, that's honestly what our Ghost & Pumpkin Headband was made for. If she's skipping a costume altogether, a plain black outfit and our Happy Ghost Headband reads as Halloween on its own, no getup required. It's not trying to be the whole costume, just the finishing touch.

Making the bow feel like part of the costume

Honestly, the bigger bow trend happening right now, bows as their own style statement instead of just a hair accessory, makes Halloween easier, not harder. The advice you'll see from stylists pushing the "coquette bow" look is pretty consistent: one statement bow per outfit, sized to the kid wearing it, no piling on extra accessories. That advice holds up for costumes too. A toddler already in a full costume with a mask, cape, or headpiece usually looks best in a smaller clip-style bow rather than an oversized statement headband, so the costume reads clearly in photos instead of competing with her hair. Save the bigger, more dramatic bows for the days she's just in Halloween-colored clothes without the full getup: daycare, a fall festival, that kind of thing.

If you're doing a sibling or mommy-and-me moment this year, and costume pairs like Elphaba and Glinda are making that especially popular, coordinate the bows the same way you'd coordinate the outfits: same color family, different exact bow, so it reads as intentional instead of matchy. A print like our Coquette Girly Ghost Headband works well as the "coordinated, not matching" half of a sibling pairing, for the one girl who wants something recognizably Halloween without wearing a full costume.

One more thing, since it comes up every year: whatever bow she's wearing needs to survive a few hours of walking, waiting in line, and getting tugged on by a mask strap. A soft, stretchy headband that hugs snugly stays on far better than a barrette does on fine toddler hair, and it won't leave the mark a tighter costume headpiece can.

However she's dressed up this year, the bow doesn't have to be complicated to do its job. It just needs to hold up, match the mood of the costume, and photograph well before the candy makes everyone impatient. Pick the one piece that pulls the whole look together, and let the costume handle the rest.