Last updated: July 9, 2026·🔄 Guide reviewed and refreshed ahead of Halloween 2026.· By Ozan Bayraktar

Halloween Costume Guide

Nemo From Slumberland Halloween Costume Guide

Her stuffed pig comes to life in her dreams, which is either the sweetest detail in the movie or a little concerning, depending on the pig.
Marlow Barkley Netflix Cute Teenage
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Quick Answer: The Nemo costume from Slumberland is an oversized striped sweater over a jumpsuit, with a stuffed pig riding along in the backpack.
  • Striped Long-Sleeve Sweater (essential)
  • Plush Pig (essential)
  • Strap Velvet Jumpsuit
  • Plaid Pleated Skirt
  • Lightweight Backpack

Nemo sails through Slumberland trying to find a wish-granting pearl that can bring her father back for one more conversation. The oversized striped sweater is the item that sells the costume, since it is the piece she wears constantly once she crosses into the dreamworld. Slumberland pulled in over a billion minutes streamed in its first week on Netflix (Wikipedia), so recognition should be decent even though critics were split on the movie itself.

Items Total7 Items
DifficultyEasy
VibeCozy Dream Explorer
Cost$85-$210

Nemo From Slumberland Halloween Costume Items

Nemo from Slumberland Halloween costume infographic showing striped sweater, velvet jumpsuit, plush pig, plaid skirt, brown shoes, backpack, and polka dot socks

Nemo Costume Items

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Nemo Slumberland Marlow Barkley Netflix
  • 1 Women’s Long-Sleeve Sweater (essential)This striped knit sweater is what Nemo wears constantly once she is inside Slumberland, so it is doing most of the identifying work here. Go oversized, since the whole point is that it looks a size too big for her. A fitted sweater just reads as a normal kid’s outfit, not this specific one.
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  • 2 Strap Velvet JumpsuitThis sits under the sweater as the base layer. Any dark, simple jumpsuit with adjustable straps works, since barely any of it shows once the sweater is on.
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  • 3 Plush Pig (essential)Pig is Nemo’s stuffed companion who comes to life in her dreams, and he is the detail people actually remember. Any pink stuffed pig works, tucked into the top of the backpack so his head pokes out. Leave him at home and you have just got a kid in a big sweater.
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  • 4 Women’s Plaid Pleated SkirtWorn over the jumpsuit for the layered schoolgirl look from the film. Any plaid pleated skirt in a similar length gets this right.
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  • 5 Women’s Brown Elastic ShoesCheck your closet first. Plain brown flats or slip-ons work fine.
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  • 6 Lightweight BackpackThis is where Pig rides, so it needs a top opening wide enough for his head to stick out. A bag that is too structured will hide him completely, which defeats the point of bringing him.
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  • 7 Polka Dot Over The Calf SocksA small detail that peeks out above the shoes, easy to skip if you do not already own a pair.
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Slumberland Nemo cosplay costume with oversized striped sweater and plush pig in a backpack

How to Style the Nemo Halloween Costume

The sweater is what people notice first, since it is oversized enough to look intentional rather than ill-fitting. Without Pig in the backpack, the costume just reads as a kid in a big sweater, nothing specific to the movie. At a party where the lighting is bad, a plain skirt swapped in for the plaid one will still read fine, but skipping Pig is the one substitution that actually costs you the reference.

Nemo tells her uncle Philip that school is basically a prison that prepares kids for other prisons, delivered completely straight-faced, like she is stating a fact rather than being difficult. She says a version of it again later, because she means it. That flat, matter-of-fact bluntness is more her personality than any of the dreamworld adventuring, which is really Flip’s story as much as hers.

Keep Pig visible, not just packed

A stuffed pig buried inside a closed backpack does nothing for the costume. Position him so his head and front legs hang out the top, the way he rides in the film, or people will just think you are carrying a bag.

The jumpsuit barely shows, so do not overspend on it

Almost all of it is covered by the sweater and skirt. A plain, dark one from anywhere works fine, since the money is better spent on getting the sweater’s fit right.

Nemo From Slumberland Group Halloween Costume Ideas

Couples Idea

Nemo & Flip

Excellent pairing, and it is really the film’s poster image. A small girl in an oversized sweater next to Jason Momoa’s towering, horned outlaw reads as a duo even to someone who has never seen Slumberland, since the size and style contrast does all the work on its own. Anyone who has seen the movie will place it instantly.

Nemo Flip

Group Idea: The Slumberland Crew

Nemo, Flip & Uncle Philip

Might work, but the actual joke here, that Philip is Flip’s waking-world self, only lands with people who have seen the film. Without that context, it just looks like a girl, an outlaw, and a guy who sells doorknobs standing next to each other. Worth doing only if your group is willing to explain the twist.

Nemo Flip Uncle Philip

Cross-Movie Idea

Nemo & Dorothy Gale

Might work, but this is a thematic pairing, not a shared-franchise one, so it only lands with people who clock the pattern. Both are girls pulled out of an ordinary life and into a strange world they have to find their way home from, but Dorothy’s gingham dress and Nemo’s striped sweater do not visually connect at all. Say the theme out loud or nobody will make the link on their own.

Nemo Dorothy Gale
Nemo from Slumberland Halloween costume styled with striped sweater, jumpsuit, and plush pig for a group costume

Nemo From Slumberland Halloween Costume DIY Tips

Building the Look

Most of this comes down to a thrift store trip and one item worth being picky about.

  • Sweater: thrift stores carry oversized knits, size up if you are not sure.
  • Jumpsuit: check your closet, any simple dark one works since it barely shows.
  • Pig: buy a pink stuffed pig, or use one you already own, it does not need to be exact.
  • Skirt: thrift stores carry plaid pleated skirts every fall.
  • Shoes: check your closet.
  • Backpack: this is the one item worth being picky about, get one with an open top.
  • Socks: skip these if you do not already own polka dot ones. Plain socks will not be noticed.

Playing Nemo at the Party

Nemo is brave without being cheerful about it, so play this flat and matter-of-fact, not loud.

  • When someone asks who you are: “I’m looking for a magic pearl. Don’t ask.” Leave it there.
  • If someone pushes back on something small, the in-character move is dry, deadpan honesty, not enthusiasm.
  • Her line about school works as commentary on literally anything mildly institutional. Deploy it sparingly.
  • Do not perform sadness. She is grieving, but the character plays it through bluntness, not tears.

Nemo From Slumberland Halloween Costume: FAQ

The oversized striped sweater and the plush pig riding in your backpack are the two things that matter. Add the jumpsuit, skirt, and shoes you can piece together from a closet or thrift store, and the costume is done. Skip the pig and you lose the one detail that actually ties it to the movie.

Yes, and not just as a nostalgia pick. Slumberland pulled over a billion minutes streamed in its first week on Netflix, and the visual effects picked up two nominations at the Visual Effects Society Awards, so the look still gets recognized. Reviews were mixed at best, but that rarely decides whether a costume works at a party.

Two lines stick with people: “Schools are basically prisons. They keep kids locked up physically and mentally, prepare them for jobs that are also basically prisons, until they retire and go to a nursing home. Their final prison.” And, when Flip warns her she’ll probably die trying to save her father: “I don’t care. I’m coming.” One is dry humor, the other isn’t joking at all.

Marlow Barkley, in her feature film debut. Slumberland premiered on Netflix on November 18, 2022.

Yes. The film is based on Little Nemo in Slumberland, a comic strip Winsor McCay created in 1905. The original strip’s Nemo was a boy, and this version changes that to a girl living with her father in a lighthouse.

Mixed. Rotten Tomatoes has it around 40 percent from critics, and Metacritic calls it mixed to average. None of that stopped it from becoming one of Netflix’s most streamed titles the week it came out.

Yes, more than any other item on this list. The sweater alone just reads as a big cozy sweater. Pig is the one prop that tells people which movie you mean.

Where does Nemo live with her father before he is lost at sea?

What is Nemo’s stuffed pig named?

What classic comic strip is Slumberland based on?