10: 2020 and 2021 (TIED)

To no fault of Klum’s own, I’ve put her 2020 and 2021 costumes tied for last place. While Klum still went all out for the holiday, these years encompassed the COVID years, so for safety, she didn’t throw her iconic party. Instead, she made spooky short films, featuring some nonetheless elaborate costuming. Between the two films, she appeared as a zombie-mom, a cork board on a wall, and a bedsheet. The special effects and prosthetics are pretty impressive, and the films definitely showed Klum’s dedication to the holiday, but it just couldn’t be the same. 

9: 2017, Thriller Wolf 

In 2017, Klum dressed as the werewolf (or werecat) from Michael Jackson’s “Thiller” music video. Transformation-wise, it’s a pretty well-done costume; Klum disappears under layers of fake fur and Michael-Jackson-style loafers. The sheer reason I’ve ranked it this low is just that it’s honestly boring. While the “Thriller” element gives it a lick of creativity, werewolf is one of the most overdone, basic Halloween costumes. Since Klum typically astonishes in costumes nobody’s ever thought of trying, this costume simply pales in comparison. In the end, the costume reminds me more of Michael J. Fox in “Teen Wolf” than Michael Jackson, and I just can’t get behind it enough to rank it any higher than ninth.  

8: 2016, The Clones

In 2016, Klum showed up dressed mostly like herself, just with a gaggle of lookalikes trailing behind her. It’s pretty elaborate all things considered — there are five other women willing to dress up like Klum and pose with her all night. But what stands out more than that is just how creepy this costume is. With all the prosthetics and SFX makeup, all her “clones” look like half-melted wax figures — they’re really approaching that uncanny-valley territory. It looks like the start of some low budget body-snatcher horror flick. Further, it’s not like it’s a particularly impressive costume on Klum’s part. She just stood there. Really, it’s everyone else that’s in costume. If all the “clones” walked away, she’d simply be Heidi Klum, with no costume and no Halloween spirit. Between the creep-factor and the lack of real dressing up, her clone costume ranks pretty low on my list.

7: 2015, Jessica Rabbit

Between her face and body transformation, the dress, and the wig, in 2015, Klum delivered a pretty true-to-screen Jessica Rabbit costume. But that is sort of it. To be fair to her, she underwent a pretty full-body evolution, literally getting a new skin molded to her. However, it’s just a pretty basic costume — one of those you could easily find inspiration pictures for on Pinterest. Of course, Klum went extra with it given all the over-the-top prosthetics, but it’s still not all that original. It just doesn’t deliver the same jaw-dropping effect that many of her other costumes tend to.  

6: 2019, Alien 

Like Jessica Rabbit, Klum’s 2019 alien costume is cool, but nothing more than a twist on a cla

ssic. Although, as is typical for Klum, she underwent a full metamorphosis for this costume, becoming almost unrecognizable. She is caked head to toe in a second skin of ooey-gooey, rotting alien flesh. Given it probably took a whole lot of work and effort and is probably pretty uncomfortable, I have to give it the credit it deserves. It’s definitely more impressive than any alien costume I’ve seen on the sidewalk, but it still lacks a certain sense of ingenuity and isn’t as mind-bending as Klum has been in other years. 

5: 2025, Medusa

It almost feels like a shame to rank this Medusa costume at only five, but after all the hype and buildup I felt surrounding this year, I just didn’t find myself all that impressed. Again, from a transformation and special effects standpoint, it’s pretty epic. Klum graces the carpet with a long tail, animatronic hair-snakes, an entirely unrecognizable face, and her husband as a stone-turned victim of Klum’s Medusa. As bold and grand as it is, it doesn’t feel new. She’s done the ugly, slimly, scaly full-body thing already. At this point, it starts to feel like Klum is a one-trick pony. 

4: 2018, Princess Fiona

It may not be as impressive as other costumes, but Klum’s 2018 Fiona costume is a personal favorite. If there’s one thing Klum’s good at, it’s sticking to her source material. In this costume, Klum looks like she’s walked right off the screen and into her Halloween party. Once again, she is layered in some intense prosthetics, undergoing face, ear, hand, and body modification. Oh, and of course, she’s painted entirely green. For my age group, who grew up binging all three “Shrek” movies, the costume is the perfect balance of visually impressive and nostalgic. It’s like seeing your favorite princess at Disneyland; your inner-child can’t help but freak out a little bit. 

3: 2023, Peacock

In 2023, along with 10 Cirque du Soleil performers, Klum hit the carpet as a stunning peacock. Klum stood at the center in a velvety blue bodysuit, a beak, and intense eye makeup. Around her, acrobats formed a colossal display of contortion and stunting to create the illusion of a plume of peacock feathers. With the Cirque du Soleil aspect, it’s an above and beyond interpretation of a peacock. It’s not a costume, it’s performance art. It could be higher, though, if I felt like Klum contributed more to the costume as a whole. Like the clones of 2016, Klum is not the most impressive part of the costume. It would be nothing if not for the 10 other bodies surrounding her. Without them, she’d appear like a rather depressed, plucked peacock, which just doesn’t make this costume as stunning as others. Still, with it being such a spectacle, it feels only right that it should find its home in the top three.

2: 2022, Worm

If most of Klum’s costumes render her unrecognizable, then 2022 is a whole different beast. Lying despondent on the floor, all slimy and squirmy, Klum is entirely disguised in a worm costume. Aside from the way her eyes and mouth peek out from the center of her worm body, there is nothing that obviously pins Klum as the wearer. It’s another spectacle of full-body molding and months of preparation. To top it off, with her husband as a fisherman, this costume makes for the most appalling, but almost cute, couple’s feature. Truly, it’s a costume that speaks for itself. It’s as remarkable as it is disgusting. It feels like part of a twisted “Twilight Zone” episode. Aside from the way it disturbs me, the only reason this costume can’t top the rankings is sometimes she looks just as much like bacon as she does a worm. 

1: 2024, ET

In 2024, Klum hit the nail on the head. Her E.T. costume is the perfect amalgamation of all the best parts of other years. In another show of full-body transformation, Klum dons a perfectly-molded bodysuit. I want an x-ray scan of the costume to see just how Klum manages to hide herself beneath layers and layers of foam latex. But it’s not just her body. In order for the E.T. face to sit perfectly on Klum’s head — as it is worn like a hat — Klum underwent a face transformation that turned her face into ET’s neck. Like the worm, you can just make out her features amidst the rest of the costume. Not only is this costume a display of the lengths Klum is willing to go to for Halloween, similar to her Fiona costume, it brings an air of nostalgia as well. As her costume is such a screen-accurate depiction, I can’t help but be a bit of a fanatic about the idea of IRL E.T.