Martha's Best Halloween Costumes Through the Years

Floating into view on a cloud of pink tulle, Fairy GrandMartha holds her glittery wand at the ready. Like the costumes, this dramatic ensemble is very easy to construct. The tulle is stitched only at the neck; a bodysuit and leggings provide coverage underneath the gossamer layers. Senior stylist Marco Maranghello from John Barrett pinned Martha's hair into a loose updo and then added in extensions and lots of sparkling accents. For a fantastical look like this, he says, "The more hair gems, the better."

One look at Martha's captivating costume dispels any notion that practicing sorcery means looking like a wicked witch. Bedecked in crystals and stars for the cover of The Best of Martha Stewart: Halloween Handbook, Martha radiates spectral sophistication as a spellbinding sorceress. Her ruched gold stole requires some sewing, but is made of easy-to-find materials; her jewelry is made from Christmas ornaments and crafts-store supplies. Martha wears her own gown; scour vintage or thrift stores for something similarly sparkly.

In 2017, Martha reimagined herself as one of Roy Lichtenstein's iconic comic book women and gave us a behind-the-scenes look in her column for the October issue: "I wore an amazing platinum-blond wig and outlined a plain white shirt with black stripes. Red half-gloves, a bright-blue scarf, and exaggerated makeup added the more cartoonish touches."

With a flutter of silk-chiffon wings, a dazzling apparition emerges from the shadows to seek her place in the spotlight. Martha graced the cover of the 2011 Halloween special issue as a Motha, the winged wonder. Inspired by a vintage illustration and pieces from Alexander McQueen collections, she paired a cape and faux-fur collar. Thanks to her platinum-blonde bob wig, flirty butterfly lashes, and enigmatic smile, this chic lepidopteran is naturally luminous.

Martha was instantly transformed into a haunted horsewoman for the cover of the 2009 Halloween issue. This spirited costume is inspired by the fashion of Edwardian England. Martha's grand cape swells behind her as she rides through a twilight gloaming. Her pale eyes stare from beneath red-rimmed lids. Although the cape looks elaborate, it's constructed with just a few folds and seams in a long piece of taffeta. A top hat veiled with black netting is trimmed with gray ribbon and an ostrich feather. Rutger, Martha's midnight steed, wears an ornately plaited mane.

For season five of The Martha Stewart Show, which aired in 2009, Martha presided over a Monster Bash as Queen of the Wild Things. Her furry costume was inspired by the beloved Maurice Sendak children's book Where the Wild Things Are.

Martha was turned into an autumnal goddess for the "Good Things" cover of the 2007 Halloween issue, draped in a diaphanous wrap of gauzy silk-organza strips and wearing golden leaves in her hair. For the wrap, you can achieve a similar look with a plain, sheer shawl pinned with the brooch. An urn filled with gold-leafed or painted pomegranates, apples, and leaves helps to set the scene.

Medusa, the Greek monster whose gaze could turn people into stone, was Martha's on-air costume of choice in 2008. An intricate and regal headpiece of snakes crowned her stone-colored costume. The show featured a mausoleum of audience members set in bronze, stone, and marble.

Dramatic black makeup went perfectly with Martha's glampire getup for the "Bad Things" cover of the 2007 Halloween issue and season three of the show. Her dramatic cape is made from black silk woven with metallic threads. Fasten it to a black dress with safety pins, and slip on long satin gloves. Martha's stylist at the time, Eva Scrivo, trimmed a black wig into textured layers, then gave Martha a pale face, dark eye makeup, and—fittingly—blood-red lips.

In 2006, Martha made a fierce-looking feline with this head-to-toe black ensemble: a furry obsidian-black coat, pointed ears on a headband, and a rhinestone collar.

Martha loves her farm animals including her five donkeys Rufus, Clive, Billie, Jude "JJ" Junior, and Truman "TJ" Junior—and here, they inspire her costume. At a "Hulaween" gala hosted by Bette Midler, Martha donned a donkey-inspired look with a soft gray hoodie and matching sweatsuit.

For the very first Halloween special on The Martha Stewart Show in 2005, Martha dressed up as Jane of the Jungle. Accompanied by a stuffed chimpanzee, she made a grand entrance by swinging on a vine to start the show. Martha has long been a fan of author Edgar Rice Burroughs's Tarzan series.

During a costume-creating segment on Martha Stewart Living in 2003, Martha donned a black Halloween spider veil she created using hat veiling, pom-poms, and chenille sticks.

Sporting a bright-orange bandanna and matching wig, Pirate Martha and her mates took over the Martha Stewart Living set (or rather, ship) in 2003.

Dressed as a Black Widow for the cover of the 2000 Halloween issue, Martha shows Halloween makeup at its most glamorous and spine-tingling. Her look, achieved with makeup techniques and prosthetic features, was topped off with a swarm of spiders and a set of menacing black nails.

Martha, dressed here as a surfer in 1998, regularly attends Bette Midler's Hulaween gala, benefiting the New York Restoration Project. That year, she wore a form-fitting wet suit, touted a pair of boogie boards, and styled her best beach hair—as if she just stepped out from the ocean.