The Most Cringeworthy Halloween Costumes Of 2021

The cool season is here, and Halloween is nearing with anticipation and excitement. This year's will be one for the books as people have been confined throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and will no doubt want to let loose for a night and have All Hallow's Eve consume them. Halloween is in large part about consumption, after all, and we can't wait for our fair share of candy and spooky cocktails.

This year, costumes will be especially delightful, eerie, and magical. We've previously compiled the best clever Halloween costume hacks and the costumes you'll see everywhere this year, and now more than ever, LGBTQ couples' costumes which will be particularly popular. You may even see some adorable pet and owner costumes as well! Still, some costumes miss the mark, becoming cringeworthy and therefore losing any intended effect. This is no good, but it's bound to happen. Some costume ideas are inherently cringeworthy, and we're here to break those down so you can avoid them this year.

While Halloween 2021 is a perfect venue to let loose some steam and have fun amidst the global turmoil we've all been experiencing, dressing as COVID-19 is nothing but cringeworthy (via DIstractify). Some have thought it funny to dress as the virus itself or to dress as a Corona beer bottle that's been disfigured to invoke the virus of the same name, but this is tacky in the end. After all, who wants to be the person that reminds others at the Halloween party of the global trauma we've all been through?

The most cringeworthy Halloween costumes are often ones that lean into discrimination of some form. COVID-19 has been weaponized against Asian and Asian American people, and at the same time, you shouldn't dress as someone with a mental illness this Halloween, per Good Housekeeping. Doing so is a form of mocking people who suffer from mental illnesses, and it feeds into societal stereotypes that blocks civilization from progressing forward. Therefore, everyone should avoid straightjackets and other stereotypes. Instead, dress as something whimsical or something you love!

The cringe doesn't end there, though. According to Hollywood.com, some people have opted to dress as a sexy version of Donald Trump, and this one is definitely a no-go. While it's often great to subvert negative experiences into positive ones, dressing as a sexy Donald Trump is not the way to reclaim normalcy after his presidency — and it's not a cute way for his supporters to express their love, either. No one wants to see Donald Trump at a Halloween party in any capacity.

Finally, as Caitlin Jenner continues to remain in the public eye because of her political career, people are dressing as her again this year, per Hollywood.com. However, it's important to understand why you shouldn't. Jenner is trans, and many attempts at dressing as her fall into transphobia, whether intentionally or not. Trans people already experience significantly harder lives than other humans simply because of their gender identity, so it's distasteful to dress as Jenner if you're not trans, too. While Jenner is wealthy and white, which grant her certain privileges over other trans people, all trans people experience discrimination and we should uplift them, not dress as them.