Halloween Costume Idea For Grandpas
Stan Pines runs the Mystery Shack, a roadside tourist trap built on fake cryptid exhibits and overpriced merchandise. The maroon fez with the gold fish emblem is what sells the costume, take it off and he’s just a guy in a rumpled black suit. He’s on screen in close to every episode of the show, so recognition doesn’t depend on anyone remembering a specific season.
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The fez and the pink nose are what people notice first, in that order, everything else is just a black suit. Skip the blush and the whole thing reads as an old man in a mobster suit instead of Stan. The bow tie has to sit loose and a little off-center, pull it tight and symmetrical and it looks like a waiter’s uniform instead of a suit he’s worn every day for thirty years.
Stan once bragged to his twin brother, “I’ve been to prison in three different countries! I once had to chew my way out of the trunk of a car!” delivered like it’s a resume line, not a confession. That’s the energy to copy, lean into any absurd claim about your past like it’s common knowledge.
Point with the cane instead of leaning on it
Use it to gesture mid-sentence rather than as a walking aid. The gesture reads funnier than the prop itself, and it gives you something to do with your hands while talking to strangers at a party.
Carry the blush with you for touch-ups
Cream makeup moves faster than you’d think once you’re sweating or holding a hot drink. Check the mirror around the ninety-minute mark, a half-faded nose just reads as a guy with a cold, not a costume.
Duo Idea
Excellent duo, since the twins are built to be told apart at a glance even though the show keeps insisting they’re identical. Stan’s fez and showman suit read as a swindler, Ford’s trench coat and glasses read as a scientist, and the joke of the series is that people still mix them up anyway. Anyone who has seen even one episode will get it immediately.
Group Idea: The Pines Family
Strong group, but it only works with all four of you there. Two Pines twins without the kids just reads as two older men arguing, it’s Dipper and Mabel who turn it into the show’s actual dynamic. Mabel carries the color in this lineup, so build her costume first and work the muted suits around her.
Most of this is things you already own or can find secondhand. The fez is the one piece worth buying new for accuracy.
He’s a hustler who genuinely loves his family, play both halves instead of just the con-man bit.
Start with the black two-piece suit and white dress shirt, then add the wine red string bow tie knotted loose and a little crooked. Put on the thick black glasses, build up the pink cream blush on your nose and cheeks, and finish with the maroon fez. Carry the walking cane if you want something to point with.
Yes. Gravity Falls ended in 2016, but Stan is on screen in nearly every episode of the show, not a side character who shows up halfway through, so recognition doesn’t depend on anyone remembering a specific arc. The fez and the pink nose are also two of the most parodied details from the whole series, which keeps the look circulating well past the show’s original run.
Bragging to his brother about his years on the run: “I’ve been to prison in three different countries! I once had to chew my way out of the trunk of a car!” And laying out his one condition for letting Ford back into the house: “You stay away from the kids, I don’t want them in danger, cause as far as I’m concerned, they’re the only family I have left.” Both lines are from the episode A Tale of Two Stans, which first aired on July 13, 2015.
Alex Hirsch, who also created the show, voices Stan. He based the character partly on his own grandfather.
It’s Stan’s roadside tourist trap, a converted house full of fake cryptid exhibits and overpriced gift shop junk. Running it, badly and dishonestly, is Stan’s main job for most of the show.
It’s part of his “Mr. Mystery” showman act, the same exaggerated, vaguely exotic theatrics he uses to sell fake artifacts to tourists. There’s no deeper story behind it beyond that, it’s costume for his costume.
No. The suit, fez, and pink nose carry the look on their own. The cane is a nice prop to point and gesture with at a party, but leaving it home won’t hurt the costume.
Who voices Grunkle Stan in Gravity Falls?
What does Stan Pines run in Gravity Falls?
What animal appears on the emblem of Stan’s fez?