Last updated: May 29, 2026·🔄 Product links checked and unavailable products replaced with current alternatives for 2026.· By Serdar

Halloween Costume Guide

Beetlejuice Halloween Costume Guide

Say his name three times. Then figure out what to wear.

Michael Keaton Gray Hair Horror Suit Villain
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Quick Answer: The Beetlejuice costume is built around the striped suit. The face makeup and wig handle the rest of the recognition.
  • Beetlejuice Striped Suit (essential)
  • Beetlejuice Wig (essential)
  • Beetlejuice Makeup Kit
  • Oxford Men Shoe

Beetlejuice is a freelance bio-exorcist who offers to haunt houses on behalf of recently deceased couples, and whose methods are the reason no one should ever hire him. The costume is almost entirely the black-and-white striped suit and the face, which means recognition comes fast. Michael Keaton plays the character in both the 1988 original and the 2024 sequel, spending under 20 minutes on screen in the first film despite being the title character (Wikipedia). This is one of the most widely recognized Halloween looks there is.

Items Total10 Items
DifficultyEasy
VibeChaotic Ghost Trickster
Cost$40–$100

Beetlejuice Halloween Costume Items

Beetlejuice Halloween costume guide infographic showing black-and-white striped suit, wild grey wig, white face makeup, and Oxford shoes for the 1988 Tim Burton character

Beetlejuice Costume Items

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Beetlejuice Tim Burton 1988 Film Ghost
  • 1 Beetlejuice Deluxe Men Costume (essential)The deluxe version packages the key pieces together and gets the stripe pattern right, which matters. A generic striped suit from a menswear store will not read the same way. The pattern needs to be bold, vertical, and the contrast between black and white needs to be sharp. This is the item that tells people who you are before you say a word.
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  • 2 Beetlejuice Wig (essential)The wig needs to look like no one has touched it in decades, because for Beetlejuice, no one has. Wild, grey, and slightly ridiculous is exactly right. Do not try to make it sit neatly. If it looks like it is escaping the head, that is the correct level of chaos.
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  • 3 Beetlejuice Men SuitA standalone striped suit option if you want to build the rest of the look yourself. Works well if you already have the wig and makeup handled and just need the base garment. Gives more flexibility on fit than the full packaged costume.
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  • 4 Beetlejuice Wedding Men CostumeThe version Beetlejuice wears during the forced wedding scene at the end of the film. If you are pairing with a Lydia Deetz costume, this is the more specific reference, and fans of the film will notice the distinction. Either version is recognizable; this one has a particular moment attached to it.
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  • 5 Beetlejuice Women’s Sexy CostumeA women’s cut that keeps the striped silhouette and makes it work as a shorter, more fitted look. Reads as Beetlejuice clearly. Pair with the wig and makeup and the character is there.
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  • 6 Beetlejuice Makeup KitThe face is the second half of the costume. White base, dark smudged circles under the eyes, and the general look of someone who has not slept since 1988. This kit includes the core pieces. Apply the white base first and give it a few minutes to set before adding the shadow underneath the eyes.
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  • 7 Women Beetlejuice CostumeAnother women’s option with a slightly different cut and styling approach. Worth comparing with item 5 before choosing, since the silhouettes differ and one may suit your build better than the other.
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  • 8 Oxford Men ShoeCheck your closet first. Any dark Oxford or lace-up dress shoe works. The shoes are not the identifier here.
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  • 9 Women Beetle CostumeA third women’s option that takes the beetle theme more literally. Reads differently from the direct film recreation but works as a Beetlejuice-adjacent look, particularly for groups where not everyone is doing a straight character costume.
    See on Amazon
  • 10 Stiletto Ankle Women BootA shoe option for the women’s costume builds. Pairs cleanly with items 5, 7, or 9 if the look calls for something with height.
    See on Amazon
Beetlejuice in his black-and-white striped suit sitting on a tombstone in a graveyard, with wild grey hair, pale skin, and dark makeup under his eyes

How to Style the Beetlejuice Halloween Costume

The suit is what people see from across the room, and it needs to look right at a distance. A suit that is striped but too fashion-forward or too neatly pressed will read as “striped suit” rather than “Beetlejuice.” The pattern should be bold and the suit should not look like it belongs in an office. If the face is not done, that problem gets worse. A clean-faced person in a striped suit is just a person in a striped suit. The white base and dark eye circles are what close the gap between “costume” and “character.”

There is a scene where Beetlejuice introduces himself as the ghost with the most, delivers it with total confidence, and immediately does something that undermines any claim to authority. That is the character at a party. He is not frightening exactly. He is the type of chaos that is funny until it is your problem. The costume has that energy built into it, which is part of why it still works after 35 years.

The white face makeup will transfer

White greasepaint comes off on everything: coat collars, other people’s costumes, door frames you lean against. Set it with a translucent setting powder after application. It will not stop all transfer but it reduces it significantly. If you are drinking anything without a straw, the area around your mouth will need touching up by midnight regardless. Bring a small compact with a bit of the white paint and a sponge applicator.

The wig will flatten over the course of the night

Beetlejuice’s hair starts chaotic and, through a very different process, so will yours. The wild volume at the start of the evening will compress as the night goes on. This is fine for the character, since a slightly deflated version still reads correctly. The problem is if the wig starts sliding, which some lighter wig caps allow. Secure it with a couple of bobby pins at the front before you leave the house.

Beetlejuice Group Halloween Costume Ideas

Group Idea: The Neitherworld Waiting Room

Beetlejuice, Lydia Deetz, Barbara Maitland, Adam Maitland

Excellent group for anyone who watched the film more than once. All four characters have a strong visual identity, and the Maitlands in particular are underrepresented as Halloween costumes, which makes this group stand out. Recognition is high among Beetlejuice fans and low among people who only know the suit. At a general party this might land as “Beetlejuice and some friends.” At a horror-themed or film-focused event, it lands exactly as intended.

Beetlejuice Lydia Deetz Barbara Maitland Adam Maitland

Group Idea: Burton’s Gothic Misfits

Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Jack Skellington, Sweeney Todd

Excellent concept for a convention or themed party. All four are Tim Burton characters with immediately distinctive looks, and the visual contrast across the group is interesting. Edward’s scissor hands, Jack’s pinstripe skeleton suit, Sweeney’s barber whites, and Beetlejuice’s chaos stripes sit next to each other without any of them washing out. Someone in the group will need to commit to the Sweeney Todd build, which is more involved than the others.

Beetlejuice Edward Scissorhands Jack Skellington Sweeney Todd

Group Idea: The Michael Keaton Collection

Beetlejuice, Bruce Wayne / Batman, Adrian Toomes / Vulture

Strong concept if everyone in the group knows the actor connection, because that is the entire joke. Beetlejuice, Batman, and the Vulture from Spider-Man: Homecoming share no fictional universe, no shared trait, and no reason to be in the same room except that Michael Keaton played all of them (IMDb). At a general party, people will not get it. At a film crowd, it lands well. Riggan Thomson from Birdman was included in the original brief but that costume has no strong visual identifier, which makes the group harder to read. Three characters is cleaner than four here. Adrian Toomes has no dedicated CostumeRealm page, so that build is from scratch.

Beetlejuice Bruce Wayne / Batman Adrian Toomes / Vulture

Group Idea: Agents of Anarchy

Beetlejuice, The Mask, The Joker, Harley Quinn

Might work, but the internal logic is loose. The brief framed this as “Green-Faced Agents of Anarchy,” and that framing does not hold. Beetlejuice’s face is white, not green. The Joker’s face is white. The Mask’s face is green. Harley Quinn’s face in Birds of Prey is not particularly green at all. What these characters share is chaos energy and a certain theatrical menace, which is a real enough theme for a group costume, but it requires some explanation. At a convention this works. At a general party, the connection is not obvious from the outside.

Beetlejuice The Mask The Joker Harley Quinn
Beetlejuice in his maroon wedding suit with ruffled gold shirt, bow tie, and white boots, sitting next to a woman reading a book, referencing the film's wedding scene

Beetlejuice Halloween Costume DIY Tips

Building the Look

This is one of the more forgiving builds in Halloween costuming because the recognition is baked into the stripe pattern. Get that right and the rest is detail work.

  • Suit: buy the specific Beetlejuice version rather than a generic striped suit. The proportions and stripe weight matter more than people expect.
  • Makeup: white face paint over the whole face and neck. Dark grey under the eyes, smudged outward. Do not make it neat.
  • Wig: do not style it. Pull it slightly sideways once it is on.
  • Shoes: check your closet. Any dark dress shoe works.
  • Props: a “BETELGEUSE” business card or a small handwritten name placard is an easy addition that gives you something to hand people. Skip it if you do not want to carry anything.

Playing Beetlejuice at the Party

He does not introduce himself once. He waits to be introduced, because the whole trick requires saying the name three times. That is worth playing with.

  • “It’s showtime” works as an entrance line and people will respond to it even if they have not seen the film recently.
  • He does not explain things. He announces them. That delivery distinction is the difference between someone doing a costume and someone doing the character.
  • The suit handles most of the recognition, so you do not need to perform constantly. Let people come to you.
  • If someone says the name once: correct them. They need to say it three times. This is a thing that will either land well or not at all depending on the crowd, so read the room before committing to the bit.

Beetlejuice Halloween Costume: FAQ

Start with the black-and-white striped suit. Add the wild grey wig, white face base, and dark smudged circles under the eyes. The suit is the identifier from a distance. The makeup is what makes it read as the ghost with the most rather than a man in a striped jacket.

Yes, and more so than in 2023. The 2024 sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice brought the character back to a wide audience, and the striped suit is one of the most immediately recognized Halloween silhouettes there is. Most people will get it without any explanation.

The most quoted line is: “It’s showtime!” He also says: “I am the ghost with the most, babe.” And: “I’ve seen The Exorcist about 167 times, and it keeps getting funnier every single time I see it.”

Michael Keaton plays Beetlejuice in both the 1988 original directed by Tim Burton and the 2024 sequel. Despite being the title character, Keaton appears on screen for under 20 minutes in the original film.

The basic striped suit works if the wig and makeup are right. The deluxe version makes the build faster and gets the proportions correct from the start, but the costume’s recognition comes from the stripe pattern and the face, not from extra accessories.

There are two directions. A direct Beetlejuice costume cut for women follows the same striped suit concept in a fitted or shorter silhouette. A Beetlejuice-inspired look takes more creative license with the aesthetic. Both read clearly at a party with the right wig and makeup.

In the film’s climax, Beetlejuice wears a version of his striped suit for a forced wedding scene with Lydia. The wedding costume is a good choice if you are pairing with a Lydia Deetz costume, since it references a specific moment that fans will recognize.

No. The striped suit does most of the work. Add the wig and white face makeup and you are there. The makeup takes around 15 minutes with some practice. Nothing in this build is technically difficult.