Can Halloween Be Chic? 6 Tastemakers on How to Throw a Kitsch-Free Spooky Season Party

It’s been my job to party. After years covering frivolities and fêtes as Vogue Parties editor, the following may come as a surprise: I loathe Halloween and everything about it. I dislike having to dress up in costume, I dislike being spooked, and I dislike the color combination of black and orange. There’s little about the holiday that appeals.

Part of what drew me to the world of parties was the glamour of it all. Events filled with floral arrangements rivaling a Jan van Huysum botanical tableau. Gorgeously pressed linens with more starch than a bucket of French fries. A room full of bodies dressed in black tie and clutching decorous minaudières. It’s just not right to carry a bag jumbled with life’s necessities; upon entering a fabulous party, those quotidian realities should be left at the door! And when it comes to Halloween parties, specifically, what’s also left at the door? Anything resembling chic.

I’m aware this is a less-than-popular opinion, so I welcome being challenged. Can a Halloween party somehow be chic? To make their case, I’ve enlisted a group of tastemakers with rather persuasive credentials: the elegant Zoë de Givenchy, whose tableware line draws on the taste of her great-uncle-in-law Hubert; Romilly Newman, the girl about town christened Gen Z’s Martha Stewart; Rebecca Gardner, proprietor of Houses & Parties; and Kelly Wearstler, the interior designer with a signature California-cool aesthetic. Joining them are English artist and designer Luke Edward Hall and Jon Gray, cofounder of Ghetto Gastro, the Bronx-born culinary collective bringing food, fashion, art, and music to the same table. Surely, between them, someone can make a case for October 31.

Their notes on how to have a chic Halloween party, below.

Vogue: Is it possible to host a chic Halloween party?

De Givenchy: Yes, if you keep it dark and sexy and glamorous. Think low lighting, your best silver, and killer cocktails.

Wearstler: Halloween is all about creating a mood with unusual color combinations and subversive decor moments for entertaining. I personally love a dramatic tablescape that plays with height, scale, and texture.

Newman: Of course! Create an environment with dripping candles, lace, moody lighting, and florals in deep colors. A good way to set the tone is to make a theme. Think Hitchcock, surrealism, witches, and so on.

Gardner: Halloween parties are silly and fun and spooky. You can be chic in your stylish witch costume topped with a pink satin witch hat or an homage to Isabella Blow in a spiderweb fascinator.

Hall: Absolutely—this is a very important moment in the year. Samhain marks the beginning of winter and the traditional Celtic New Year. I like to respect this ancient fire festival whilst at the same time embracing the glorious camp magic of Halloween.

Gray: Absolutely. Set a clear theme and invite interesting people, and the night takes care of itself.

What should be avoided if you’re aiming for a sophisticated celebration?

De Givenchy: Themed paper napkins and plastic decorations of any sort—eeeeek!

Wearstler: Don’t purchase anything premade. A personal touch goes a long way—whether making your costume or handcrafting your decor, both are sure ways to enrich the experience.

Newman: Some of the beauty of Halloween is that things aren’t quite right. I enjoy the weirdness and the unexpected. The best thing you can do is lean into it.

Gardner: It’s easy to get excited about Halloween with tons of candlelight, strong punch with dry ice, and a reason to dress in outrageous costumes. I would avoid disposable napkins, plates, and disposable cups. No adult wants to drink out of those.

Hall: Plastic!

Gray: Candy corn needs to be outlawed.

Are costumes mandatory? Or can you skip the dress code?

De Givenchy: Personally, my “nightmare bride” would be wearing vintage Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy in gothic black lace. And if I must be a spooky mummy, I would rather do it in a full-length Léger bandage dress. So costumes, yes, but make them beautiful!

Wearstler: Halloween is an opportunity to show off your personal style and interests. I think it’s a bit of a missed opportunity not to show your creativity.

Newman: They’re fun, and they make the room lively. But it’s important that you feel comfortable and confident. A mask is a good route if you’re costume-averse because you can always ditch it…

Gardner: I would never print “costumes mandatory” on a party invitation. Mandatory is not fun. I would encourage guests to dress up by adding “costumes” in the lower right corner. I’m lucky that my friends love to dress up.

Hall: I really think they are. I don't think there are enough opportunities to dress up these days. Any chance to get a costume on must be grabbed, in my book.

Gray: Commit one way or the other. Either it’s all costumes, or it’s a regular party where the people who want to go all out can.

If you skip a costume, should you show more skin than usual?

De Givenchy: For the exhibitionists’ favorite night of the year? Keep it glamorous, sexy, and dark in the best way possible.

Newman: The great thing about Halloween is you can be whoever you want to be. It can be in the form of a costume, but it can also manifest as you wearing something you’ve always wanted to but never felt comfortable with. It can be a new fabric, color, or style. You don’t necessarily need to show more skin.

Gardner: I don’t care what guests choose as their costume or how they wear it. I applaud the effort, from Raggedy Anne to Icy Queentini.

Gray: Wear whatever you feel good in, and check the weather. In New York at the end of October it can be 70 degrees or 30. You never know.

What should be on the food menu of a Halloween party?

De Givenchy: Devils on horseback, pigs in blankets, caviar on potatoes, smoked salmon with rye bread. Guests will come and go throughout the night, so make it a lavish buffet served by silver candlelight.

Wearstler: Halloween is all about the sweets. I love cookies with dried edible flowers embedded, chocolate-dipped apricots, pineapples, and oranges, and a bowl of black M&Ms.

Newman: A fun thing to do is look at an issue of Gourmet magazine from the ’70s and recreate the recipes. They’re not what you typically see today and are very visually arresting (and delicious).

Gardner: Halloween includes trick-or-treating and usually children, so plan a menu that is easy and delicious and feels good in fall. I serve a cocktail buffet with chicken pot pie, a big green salad, and roasted vegetables. Then, I barter with the kids for Reese’s peanut butter cups and mash them on scoops of vanilla ice cream for the adults.

Hall: I like the idea of celebrating the season we're in—squash, apples, late blackberries. Pies, crumbles, tarts...

Gray: Caribbean patties, sweet potato pie, and plantain chips with caviar.

What should be on the drinks menu of a Halloween party?

De Givenchy: Cosmopolitans, Old Fashioneds, vodka.

Wearstler: Champagne is my go-to for getting into a festive spirit.

Newman: I do love a punch bowl. A signature drink pre-batched and served in a dramatic vessel is the way to go.

Gardner: Halloween is the perfect time to serve a cocktail in a big silver punch bowl with dry ice. I make big pitchers of Earl Grey bourbon punch (it’s like a bourbon sour) that I pour over a floating ice ring with orange slices, sprigs of thyme, and maybe floating eyeballs. Then, I convince a friend to jump out from behind the curtains in a clown mask.

Hall: Red drinks, purple drinks. Negronis and Aviations, I reckon...

Gray: You definitely need an espresso cocktail or some kind of caffeinated drink to keep the night going. And sorrel, because we gotta have red drank on deck.

What decor should you incorporate? Can you skip the pumpkins and ghosts?

De Givenchy: Pumpkins are for entrances, ghosts are for the children. Think gigantic branches of interesting blossoms, willow, fall leaves, and thorns (painted or not), ivy, hellebores, cyclamen, mosses, and rare tiny orchids. Low lighting is essential—ideally, candlelight and lamps only. Waiters in full livery, gruesome makeup, and a deadly soundtrack.

Wearstler: I like to blend holiday classics with contemporary twists. Rather than going with the cliché orange pumpkins, find white and green fairytale pumpkins and paint some of them black to create an edgy, elevated display.

Newman: Take inspiration from your favorite movies or art. You can create a David Lynch–inspired wonderland in shocking red. Or a Victorian backdrop with candelabras and dying flowers.

Gardner: I like old-fashioned hand-carved jack-o-lanterns with crooked teeth and pillar candles glowing from within. I do not like pots of mums. Regardless, when I walk around the West Village, I am always entertained by the creative Halloween decor and touched by the work that went into the pursuit of joy…for strangers.

Hall: Halloween calls for theatre, of course. I love the idea of big pewter platters, tall candelabra, witch balls. And a fog machine—fog is a must!

Gray: Skip them. Get a fog machine and let the costumes be the decor.

What should be on the soundtrack of the night?

De Givenchy: “Spooky” by Dusty Springfield. “Witchcraft” by Frank Sinatra. “I Put a Spell on You” by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. “My Family” by Migos, Karol G, Snoop Dogg. [Editor’s note: To make it easy, De Givenchy has her own Spotify Halloween playlist!]

Wearstler: Lana Del Rey and Stevie Nicks.

Newman: Obviously Stevie Nicks!

Gardner: I hope the night ends with candle wax dripping on the dining table and a spirited (cue the bourbon): “Love’s a little kooky with a spooky little girl like you.”

Hall: I have a playlist for Halloween that I return to every year—it’s a mix of Pagan folk, dungeon synth... and a lot of church organ.

Gray: “Thriller” by MJ, and I’d stay in that era with some Prince and New Jack Swing.