Spooky style: a recap of our in-store Halloween costume contest

The cobwebs came down a little earlier than expected this year, and so did the costumes. Across our Australian flagships, employees and shoppers alike turned the last week of October into a runway-meets-haunted-house moment, swapping denim try-ons for full theatrical transformation. Halloween may sit firmly in spring on this side of the world, but that didn't stop anyone from leaning into the season's darker aesthetic, complete with moody lighting, playlist tweaks, and themed displays that pulled double duty as photo backdrops.

The brief was simple: dress up, get photographed, and let our community decide who wore it best. Customers who visited any participating store between October 28 and 31 were invited to come in costume, while staff were encouraged to embrace the dress-up spirit as part of their shifts. Each location ran its own mini-competition with on-the-spot judging, and the top looks were then featured on our social channels for a nationwide vote.

What unfolded was a blend of high-fashion references, classic horror tropes, and very Australian humour. From a group of colleagues who coordinated as a "Melbourne tram and a Sydney Harbour Bridge" duo, to a customer who walked into our Brisbane store dressed as a giant magpie, the creativity felt distinctly local. This recap pulls together the standout moments, the winning looks, and the costume categories that dominated our racks and registers.

The contest concept and how it worked

The costume contest ran across five flagship locations: Sydney Pitt Street, Melbourne Collins Street, Brisbane Queen Street, Perth Hay Street, and Adelaide Rundle Mall. Each store hosted its own hourly mini-show where staff and customers could step into a designated corner, strike a pose for the in-house photographer, and earn instant bragging rights plus a spot in the running for the national title.

Voting took place in two waves. The first was a live in-store ballot, where shoppers could scan a QR code on the dressing room wall and rank their favourites from that day. The second wave was a public vote on our official channels, where the top three looks from each city were entered into a final showdown. The national winner received a year-long GUESS List loyalty upgrade, a styling session with one of our in-house trend experts, and a feature in our spring campaign preview.

We also made sure the dress code was inclusive and open. Costumes didn't have to be scary, and many weren't. We had everything from subtle pop-culture nods to full gothic glamour, plus a few who took the "treat" part of trick-or-treat literally by arriving in candy-coloured head-to-toe looks. The only rule was that everyone had to be able to shop safely, so masks that fully obscured vision were swapped for face paint or styled alternatives at the door.

Standout looks from Sydney and Melbourne

Sydney's Pitt Street location saw some of the most stylised entries of the entire contest. One staff member, inspired by the brand's recent denim campaign, dressed as a walking pair of ripped jeans, complete with safety pins and a frayed hem that dragged behind her on the shop floor. She took home the "Best Solo" award, and her photos quickly became the most-liked image on our feed that week. Another Pitt Street customer arrived as a modern take on a vampire bride, layering a black lace slip dress with chunky silver jewellery and a dramatic smoky eye that felt pulled straight from our autumn lookbook.

Melbourne's Collins Street entries leaned into the city's love of black-tie irony. A pair of friends who came in together won the "Best Duo" award for coordinating as a red carpet photographer and the celebrity he was snapping, complete with a miniature velvet rope and a working disposable camera. The energy was playful and very Melbourne — clever, self-deprecating, and just a little theatrical. For more on how we usually approach styled dress-up moments, browse our runway-to-retail guide and you'll see the same attitude carried through our seasonal campaigns.

Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide bring the fun

Brisbane's tropical October weather didn't stop anyone from going all in. One customer turned up as a giant sunflower, which felt perfectly timed given that spring in Queensland means jacaranda season and a wardrobe that already leans bright. She was awarded the "Most Colour" prize and walked out with a denim jacket voucher on the spot. Our Brisbane team also created a mini display of Aussie wildlife costumes that became an unofficial photo booth for the day.

Perth surprised everyone with a wave of retro-themed looks. The "Best Throwback" award went to a customer who dressed as a 1980s aerobics instructor, complete with neon leggings and a sweatband that matched our newest active collection. The Hay Street store reported its busiest costume day in three years, with the after-work crowd turning up in groups to compete. Adelaide's Rundle Mall team kept things elegant, with several customers choosing vintage Hollywood glamour over horror, proving that Halloween Down Under doesn't always have to mean blood and bats.

Costume trends that defined the night

A few clear trends emerged across all five locations. The first was denim reimagining: team members and shoppers alike were reinventing classic jean jackets and cut-offs with paint, distressing, and patches to create looks that felt both costume-y and on-brand. The second was the rise of "fashion horror," where guests took real runway references — think gothic romanticism, vampy eveningwear, and Y2K revival — and pushed them into costume territory with bold makeup and accessories.

The third trend was distinctly Australian: animal costumes. From magpies to kangaroos to a particularly fluffy koala that walked into our Melbourne store on all fours, native wildlife was everywhere. The fourth was the "celebrity at the airport" look, which appeared in three out of five stores, involving oversized sunglasses, a hoodie, and a wheeled carry-on. And finally, group costumes were hugely popular, with several friend groups coordinating entire ensembles before they even arrived.

Category	Sydney	Melbourne	Brisbane	Perth	Adelaide
Best solo	Walking ripped jeans	Red carpet photographer	Giant sunflower	80s aerobics instructor	Vintage Hollywood starlet
Best duo	Vampire bride escort	Paparazzi and celebrity	Magpie and kookaburra	Aerobics class reunion	Old Hollywood power couple
Best group	Denim "jean-ius" squad	Aussie icons ensemble	Aussie wildlife parade	Retro aerobics crew	Black-tie ghosts
Most colour	Vampire bride look	Pastel macaron queen	Sunflower in bloom	Neon 80s vibe	Champagne sparkle
People's choice	Walking ripped jeans	Tram and Harbour Bridge	Sunflower	Aerobics instructor	Champagne ghost

The People's Choice winner was ultimately the Melbourne tram and Harbour Bridge duo, who edged out the Brisbane sunflower by just 47 votes in the final online tally. Their prize includes a feature in our next campaign window and a personal styling consultation at their home store.

Behind the scenes with our stylists

Our in-house stylists played a bigger role than usual this year. Many of them offered mini consultations in the lead-up, helping customers pull together looks from existing wardrobe pieces. One stylist at our Sydney flagship turned her own costume into a styling demo, using layer-cake skirts and a leather corset to show how a single dress can be styled three different ways for three different occasions.

The teams also ran quick "costume rescue" stations for anyone who arrived in something that wasn't quite working. These stations became unexpectedly busy, with stylists re-pinning hems, adjusting hemlines, and helping with emergency makeup fixes using testers from the beauty counter. It was a reminder that the contest was less about the perfect outfit and more about the experience of getting dressed up together, which is a feeling we try to capture in our style guides year-round.

Staff morale hit an all-time high across the five stores. Multiple team leaders mentioned that the event gave newer employees a chance to bond with longer-standing colleagues, and several customers said they had come in specifically because they had heard about the contest from a friend. One Perth staff member summed it up best when she said it was the first time she had seen the whole team laughing between fitting rooms in months.

Winners, prizes and what made it special

When the final votes were counted, five regional winners and one national winner took home the top prizes. The national title went to the Melbourne tram duo, with the Sydney vampire bride taking second and the Brisbane sunflower in third. Each winner received a GUESS List loyalty upgrade, a $500 store credit, and the chance to be featured in our next in-store visual campaign.

The prizes were generous, but the real reward seemed to be the photos and the memories. Across all five stores, our photographers shot more than 1,200 costumed portraits over the four-day window, and the online gallery pulled in over 38,000 unique views in the first 48 hours. The contest also translated into a measurable lift in foot traffic, with three of the five stores reporting their busiest Halloween-period Saturday on record. None of this would have happened without the energy of our staff and the willingness of our customers to play along, dress up, and walk into a GUESS store in full costume.

Registration for next year's in-store costume contest opens early in the new year via our event calendar, the GUESS List newsletter, and across our socials. Loyalty sign-ups receive first access to styling slots, behind-the-scenes content, and the official launch announcement before public tickets go live, so it pays to be on the list early.