I have always been fascinated by the odd and unusual world of Tim Burton. The peculiar characters he creates, the outlandish worlds, and storylines he crafts are the perfect combination of spooky and whimsical. So it’s no surprise that my love of Halloween and Tim Burton’s characters would come together in my costume choices. I’m excited to share a look back at some of our favorite Tim Burton costumes. If you’re looking for costume ideas this might be the inspiration you need, whether you’re dressing up as a couple, family, or going solo!

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The Nightmare Before Christmas Family Costume

As a family of five it can get kind of tricky to find the perfect group costume. So, when we thought about dressing up as Nightmare Before Christmas characters we couldn’t wait to show off our looks. My husband and I dressed up as Jack & Sally while the kids dressed us as  Lock, Shock, and Barrel. The perfect costume for our mischievous trio. The costumes came together so easily too! We purchased masks for our Jack Skellington, Lock, Shock, and Barrel costumes. We decided to go with masks to create a cohesive look. I kind of regret not buying a mask for the Sally costume, but it still worked. I bought a fun sleep dress I found at Hot Topic and then did my makeup to the best of my abilities. For the Lock costume we bought a set of red pajamas off amazon. For Shock we bought a simple purple dress linked here. And for Barrel we bought our youngest a skeleton pajama set. I like the idea of buying pieces we will be able to use again. This was my all time favorite Tim Burton inspired family costume. 

  

Jack & Sally Couples Costume

Jack and Sally from the Nightmare Before Christmas make a super simple but cute couples costume too. For my husband’s Jack costume we just bought a mask and bow tie set like this one from Amazon and tied it all together with some black pants and a black tee. Like I mentioned above, for my Sally I bought a night dress from Hot Topic, I like being able to reuse pieces if I can so when I saw the night gown I knew that was the one for me, I found a similar one on Amazon, here is the link. There is a mask for Sally, but I did my makeup to save some cash. Makeup wasn’t perfect, but it worked just fine. But if you won’t have time for all that, here is a great Sally mask.

Lydia Deetz & Sandworm Couples Costume

I myself am strange and unusual, so dressing as Lydia Deetz from Beetlejuice was definitely a must. I thought about a Beetlejuice and Lydia couple’s costume, inspired by that scene where they’re about to get married. But I didn’t own anything to put it together so I decided to go with a Sandworm & Lydia couples costume. This couple’s costume was a hit! We got so many compliments when we were out and about! And all I had to buy was the sandworm costume for my husband. I linked it here to save you from scouring the internet for one. For the Lydia Deetz costume, I just used my favorite spooky season skirt, black top, my Dr. Marten Mary Jane shoes, and I used Stila eyeliner to draw in the bangs. I didn’t have bangs then so I had to fake it. I mention Stila because that stuff is durable and didn’t smear at all!

Barbara & Adam Couples Costume

For our final Tim Burton inspired costume, I present Barbara & Adam! We were flying out to Oak Harbor Washington this Halloween so we both decided to go with masks to complete the look. It was just more simple and effective for the busy schedule we had during our visit. Plus, I figured it would be easier than trying to pack a whole bunch of makeup and face paint. And as an added bonus, the masks were actually pretty good! For Barb I bought this mask and tried to mimic her outfit with things I had in my closet. For an added detail I tied it all together with this cute “Hand Book for the Recently Deceased” purse. For my plus one, we just bought the mask and tied the look together with a red flannel jacket. This costume was perfect for the crisp fall weather of Oak Harbor. 

As a parent I can tell you that those years of dressing up as a family fly by! Get all the family costumes in while they’re little! The Nightmare Before Christmas family costume was the last one I was able to get them to agree to. I hope our family and couples costumes help inspire your next Halloween costume. What’s your all time favorite Time Burton film?! Let me know in the comments below! Happy haunting ghouls!