Martha Stewart's Best Halloween Costumes Through the Years

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Over the years, Martha has both spooked and delighted audiences and readers with her creative Halloween costumes. Which one do you find most appealing — or appalling?

Photography: Dominik Tarabanski

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"Poptastic" Roy Lichtenstein

This year, 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."

How to Make Martha's "Poptastic" Roy Lichtenstein Costume
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Motha

Martha graced the cover of our 2011 Halloween special issue as a Motha, the winged wonder. Inspired by a vintage illustration and pieces from Alexander McQueen collections, she wore a cape, faux-fur collar, blonde bob wig, and beautiful butterfly lashes.

How to Make Martha's Motha Costume
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Spellbinding Sorceress

Bedecked in crystals and stars for the cover of "The Best of Martha Stewart: Halloween Handbook," Martha radiates spectral sophistication as a spellbinding sorceress.

How to Make Martha's Spellbinding Sorceress Costume
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Shrouded Mystery

It's no surprise that Halloween is one of Martha's favorite days of the year. As for her annual showstopping costume, 2014 unveiled a new series called Shriek of Chic: Martha's Haute Halloween Challenge, which featured three contestants competing to create her costume.

Watch Martha's Shriek or Chic Series
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Fairy GrandMartha

This billowing gown comes together with surprisingly little sewing. Wear a pink bodysuit and leggings for coverage. 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."

How to Make Martha's Fairy GrandMartha Costume
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Photography: Craig Cutler

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Golden Goddess

Draped in a diaphanous wrap of gauzy silk-organza strips and wearing golden leaves in her hair, Martha became a stunning Golden Goddess for the "Good Things" cover of the 2007 Halloween issue.

How to Make Martha's Golden Goddess Costume
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Ghostly Equestrienne

With reddened eyes, a ghostly pallor, and her midnight steed Rutger by her side, Martha was instantly transformed into a haunted horsewoman for the cover of the 2009 Halloween issue.

How to Make Martha's Ghostly Equestrienne Costume
Photography: Craig Cutler

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Glampire

Martha transformed into a creepy Glampire for the "Bad Things" cover of the 2007 Halloween issue and season 3 of the show. Martha's dramatic cape was 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, Eva Scrivo, trimmed a black wig into textured layers, then gave Martha a pale face, dark eye makeup, and — fittingly — blood-red lips.

How to Make Martha's Glampire Costume
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Medusa

Medusa, the Greek monster whose gaze could turn people into stone, was Martha's costume of choice for season 4 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.

How to Make Martha's Medusa Hair
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Black Widow

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.

How to Make Martha's Black Widow
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Sophisticated Spider-Witch

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.
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Pirate

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.
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Jane of the Jungle

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.
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Queen of the Wild Things

For season 5 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."

How to Make a Wild Things Costume