Last updated: May 19, 2026·🔄 Guide reviewed and refreshed ahead of Halloween 2026.· By Seckin Peker

Halloween Costume Guide

Alan, X-Ray & Stanley Halloween Costume Guide

Orange Coveralls  ·  Group Costume  ·  2000s Classic

Three guys in dirty orange jumpsuits carrying shovels. It sounds simple because it is, and that is exactly why it works.

Holes Movies 2000s Group Costume Hat Vintage
⛏️
Quick Answer: Wear orange coveralls, carry a shovel, and argue about who digs whose hole.
  • Orange coverall (essential)
  • D-handle shovel (essential)
  • Red cap and curly wig (Stanley)
  • Black undershirt and thick-framed glasses (X-Ray)
  • Banana tee and white bandana (Squid)
  • White work gloves

The boys of D-Tent spend every day digging five-foot holes in a dried-up Texas lake bed, supposedly to build character. The orange coverall is the one item that makes this group costume read from across the room. Holes (2003) has the kind of 2000s nostalgia that hits hard for anyone who watched it on a school projector, and most people in their 20s and 30s will recognize it immediately. Newcomers might not, but the shovels help.

Items Total9 Items
DifficultyEasy
VibeGrungy, Nostalgic
Cost$40–$100

Alan, X-Ray & Stanley Halloween Costume Items

Holes Halloween costume guide infographic showing Squid, Stanley, and X-Ray leaning on shovels with 9 numbered items including orange coveralls, layered t-shirts, red baseball cap, curly wig, work gloves, and a digging shovel

Holes Costume Items

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Holes 2003 Film Group Costume D-Tent
  • 1 Orange CoverallThis is the costume. Everything else supports it, but without the orange coverall, you are three guys in layered shirts. Get one that fits loose; these kids are not walking around in tailored jumpsuits. Check that the color is genuinely orange, not neon or rust, because both read wrong.
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  • 2 Banana Color T-Shirt (Squid)Squid’s layered look starts here. Wear it under an unzipped coverall or on its own. The yellow reads as worn-in and camp-appropriate without needing any other character marker.
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  • 3 White T-Shirt (Stanley)Stanley’s base layer, worn under the coverall or on its own. Check your closet first.
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  • 4 Black Undershirt (X-Ray)X-Ray’s base layer under the coverall. Worn instead of the colored tees. Pair it with thick-framed glasses and you have X-Ray’s look without needing anything else specific.
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  • 5 White Bandana (Squid)Squid’s detail. Tie it around the wrist or neck. It does not need to be neat; these kids are in a desert, not a bandana competition.
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  • 6 Curly Wig (Stanley)Stanley has a thick, curly mop of hair in the film. If yours does not, this is the fix. It pairs with the red cap, worn slightly back so the curls show around the edges. Without it, Stanley reads as just another guy in an orange coverall.
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  • 7 Red CapStanley’s most consistent visual in the film. Wear it slightly forward. The cap is what separates Stanley from the rest of the group in photos.
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  • 8 White Work GlovesPractical and accurate. Also useful if the shovel handle is rough. Most people do not own work gloves, so this is worth ordering.
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  • 9 D-Handle ShovelThe group prop that makes the costume obvious without explanation. The D-handle shape matches what the boys use in the film. It also gives you something to lean on at the party, which is its own social utility.
    See on Amazon
Exhausted, sunburnt Stanley Yelnats in a red cap carrying Hector Zero on his back across a rocky desert landscape, showing the dirty orange costume and worn red baseball cap from the Holes film

How to Style the Holes Halloween Costume

The orange coverall is what people clock first. If it is too clean or too bright, the whole group reads as prison workers rather than juvenile delinquents who have been digging in a Texas desert for months. Add a layer of fake dirt on the arms and face, not theatrical mud, just a light brush of brown face powder or actual dirt. The shovel sells the concept to anyone who does not immediately recognize the film. Without it, three people in orange jumpsuits is a guess.

Stanley needs the red cap. X-Ray needs thick-framed glasses and a black undershirt. Squid stays in the banana tee with a white bandana, which is its own kind of commitment. The curly wig under Stanley’s cap is the detail that makes his look specific rather than generic. Skip it if your hair already has volume, otherwise it is worth it.

The Shovel Logistics Problem

A full-size D-handle shovel is accurate and genuinely hard to manage at a crowded party. Check the venue before you commit. Some places will not let you through the door with a real shovel, and carrying a five-foot prop through a packed room means hitting someone every three minutes. A short-handled gardening shovel is less accurate but considerably less annoying.

Ordering the Coverall Fit

Size up on the coverall by at least one size. These are meant to fit loose over clothes. A coverall that fits like a fitted jumpsuit is technically the wrong silhouette and also uncomfortable by hour two. Check the inseam length if you are tall.

Holes Group Halloween Costume Ideas

Camp Green Lake Crew

Stanley, X-Ray, Squid, Zero, Armpit

Strong group dynamic for anyone willing to fill all five slots. The visual is consistent since everyone wears the same coverall, which means the group reads immediately even before people place the film. The weak point is Zero: carrying a small person on your back all night is a commitment most groups decide against fairly quickly.

Stanley Yelnats X-Ray Squid (Alan) Zero (Hector) Armpit

Shia LaBeouf Character Universe

Stanley Yelnats, Sam Witwicky, Mutt Williams, Jerry Shaw

Conditional on the group knowing LaBeouf’s filmography well enough to recognize the thread. It reads immediately to people who will think it is brilliant, and completely to everyone else. Works best at a film-nerd party where someone is already prepared to explain it.

Stanley Yelnats (Holes) Sam Witwicky (Transformers) Mutt Williams (Indiana Jones) Jerry Shaw (Eagle Eye)

The Stanley Society

Stanley Yelnats, Stanley Ipkiss, Stanley Kowalski, Stanley Hudson

Conditional and requires a very specific type of crowd. The concept is clever on paper, but three of the four Stanleys need their own distinct costumes that bear no visual resemblance to each other. It will land at a party where people have time to read name tags. It will not land anywhere else.

Stanley Yelnats (Holes) Stanley Ipkiss (The Mask) Stanley Kowalski (A Streetcar Named Desire) Stanley Hudson (The Office)

Cursed Bloodlines and Family Legacies

Stanley Yelnats, Harry Potter, Matilda, Charlie Bucket

Conditional. The concept holds together: kids burdened by circumstance, bad luck, or someone else’s poor decisions. The group reads to people who know all four properties, which is most people. The harder part is finding someone willing to be Charlie Bucket when Harry Potter is an option.

Stanley Yelnats (Holes) Harry Potter Matilda Wormwood Charlie Bucket
Stanley Yelnats played by Shia LaBeouf, Armpit, and other Camp Green Lake campers laughing under a wooden shelter while wearing dirty orange prison jumpsuits in the Holes film

Holes Halloween Costume DIY Tips

What You Actually Need to Buy

Most people do not own an orange coverall. That is the one item that needs an order. Everything else is negotiable or already in someone’s closet.

  • Orange coverall: buy it, do not improvise
  • Red cap: check your closet, any plain red baseball cap works
  • White tee and black undershirt: almost definitely already home
  • Work gloves: worth ordering if you want to be accurate, skip them if the coverall budget is tight
  • White bandana: a white bandana costs almost nothing and takes the costume from mostly correct to fully correct
  • Curly wig (Stanley): buy it ahead of time, not the night before
  • Fake dirt: brown eyeshadow or theatrical makeup, not actual mud from your garden

Playing the Characters

Each of these three characters has a distinct way of carrying themselves. Leaning on the shovel and looking exhausted is accurate for all of them.

  • Stanley: deliver the Hector line to whoever you like least at the party
  • X-Ray: point at someone else’s shovel and explain why you should get the day off
  • Squid (Alan): say the “maybe my mom’ll stop drinkin'” line like it is nothing. The punchline is how flat it lands.
  • The shovel gives you something to do. Lean on it, dig imaginary holes, use it as a prop in every photo.
  • Do not try to do Shia LaBeouf impressions. Nobody does a good Shia LaBeouf impression.

Holes Halloween Costume: FAQ

The orange coverall is the essential piece for all three characters. Stanley needs the red cap and curly wig. X-Ray needs thick-framed glasses and the black undershirt. Squid wears the banana tee and white bandana. Add work gloves, fake dirt on the face and arms, and at least one D-handle shovel for the group. Without the coverall, you are just three people in different colored shirts.

  • ⛏ Stanley Yelnats: “Hector, I’m glad you stole those shoes and threw ’em on my head.”
  • 👓 X-Ray: “Like Mr. Sir said, we diggin’ to build some character.”
  • 🦑 Squid (Alan): “Maybe my mom’ll stop drinkin’ and my dad’ll come back.”

The Squid line is the one to use if you want to stop a conversation. Say it matter-of-factly, mid-sentence, like he does in the film.

Yes, and it is specifically good as a group costume. Anyone who was a kid in the early 2000s will recognize the orange coveralls and shovels, and the nostalgia for this film has only grown stronger over the past few years. It reads even to people who never watched it, because three people in orange jumpsuits carrying shovels is a clear enough visual on its own.

Three is the sweet spot: Stanley, X-Ray, and Squid. They cover distinct visual markers and are the most recognized trio. You can expand to five with Zero and Armpit, but past that you are just a crowd in matching jumpsuits and the character distinctions stop mattering.

A coverall is genuinely reusable. It works for themed parties, 2000s movie nights, and escape room events. The shovel is harder to bring everywhere, but the coverall alone is comfortable enough that you will not regret the purchase. According to IMDb, Holes was a notable hit and remains recognizable to most audiences in their 20s and 30s.

Camp Green Lake is a juvenile correctional facility in Texas where boys are sent to dig holes in a dried-up lake bed every single day. The Warden is using the digging to search for buried treasure. The lake dried up well over a century before the story takes place, which makes the name its own small joke.

Not required, but fake dirt makes a real difference. These boys have been digging in a Texas desert for months. A clean, bright orange coverall and a spotless face technically works for day one, and day one is not the interesting part of the story. Brown eyeshadow on the arms and cheeks is enough.