3 Comments

Antoine Dodson, Sad Keanu, Old Spice Guy and Double Rainbow Guy
Meme Halloween costumes, like memes themselves, have a limited lifespan. If you don't take the opportunity to dress up as your favorite meme this year, it'll be replaced by something new and creative next year. Your standard bedsheet ghost costume doesn't really have that problem. So what's a good, meme-loving citizen of the internet to do?

If you know you want to celebrate the memes of 2010 this Halloween -- er, HallowMeme -- take a gander at our meme costume power rankings, calculated using every single relevant costume list we could find on the internet. The more lists a costume made, the higher we ranked it.

The obvious heavy hitters -- Antoine Dodson, The Old Spice Man, Double Rainbow -- are all here, but I've also added some excellent meme costumes that the other lists sadly overlooked. Skip to the end of the list if you want a meme costume that nobody else will have (unless you're coming to our 2nd Annual HallowMeme Costume Party in New York City -- no meme is too obscure for an Urlesque party).

Oh, and if that's not enough costume info for you, I'm also throwing in some links and commentary on the lists we consulted and trends we spotted. Mmm ... meta!

Get your meme costume supplies and/or moms ready, Urlbots ... HallowMeme is upon us!
01
Old Spice Man
Old Spice Man Costume
MyDisguises.com
This year's hottest meme costume is also the easiest and cheapest to make. If you're a stud with washboard abs who needs a costume on a budget, Old Spice Man Isaiah Mustafa should be your role model.

All you need is a white towel and a bottle of Old Spice body wash, but the more creative can sport some of the accessories from Isaiah's videos. Know Your Meme suggests a monocle and a stick horse, but I'm more partial to the massive collection of medals from the final Old Spice Guy YouTube vid.

For more inspiration, check out our list of the top 10 Old Spice Man videos. Your costume is now diamonds!

(Oh, and bonus points for going as Sesame Street's Grover as the Old Spice Man.)
02
Coming in a close second on our list of hot costumes is Double Rainbow Guy, aka Bear, Yosemitebear, or simply Paul Vasquez.

The tricky thing about a Double Rainbow Guy costume is that he didn't really appear in his most famous video, so people who know the Double Rainbow meme might not recognize Bear's distinctive beard and braids.

To get around that issue, you can try adding a Double Rainbow t-shirt to your costume ... or dressing as the rainbow itself. Our favorite variant for the creative and ambitious is Know Your Meme's Double Rainbow Unicorn costume.
Double Rainbow Costume
03
Bed Intruder Costume
bedintrudercostume.com
Although Antoine Dodson says his Bed Intruder costume is the most-wanted of 2010, he didn't make quite as many top costume lists as Old Spice Man and Double Rainbow.

Still, Antoine seems to be the only meme with an official costume, which means you might see a whole lot of little Dodsons out on candy patrol this year.

To make your own Antoine costume, all you need is a red bandana, a big afro wig (unless you've already got Antoine's awesome hair), a black A-line undershirt, and a bus schedule to wave around.
04
jimmy fallon as justin bieber
justinbieberwig.com
Teen heartthrob Justin Bieber appeared on tons of costume lists this year, too. I was unsure whether to count the diminutive Canadian singer as a meme, but he's been featured on Urlesque countless times this year, whether for his epic failure at using revolving doors or for his adventures with Spaghetti Cat.

If you're going to be Bieber, you should definitely go beyond his iconic hairdo and those vests he always wears and put a viral video spin on it. For example, try sticking a water bottle to your head or riding a Segway. Know Your Meme has a great concept for a Justin Bieber in North Korea costume, too (based on 4Chan's campaign to have Bieber tour North Korea).

Idolator has a good rundown of Bieber's various outfits. If you go the hoodie route, you can probably pull this costume off with what you've got in your closet.

(By the way, that's a pic of late-night host Jimmy Fallon as Justin Bieber. If he can do it, so can you!)
05
sad keanu costume
Nerve.com
Sad Keanu is another ultra-easy meme costume. Keanu Reeves's t-shirt and sportcoat look, with jeans and some basic hiking shoes, is something that practically every dude already owns. All you have to bring to the table is a sad expression, and maybe a black wig resembling Keanu's hairstyle. Accessorize with a sandwich or cupcake if you want.

Bonus points for going as a duo with one of the Keanu variants, like Helmet Keanu, and sitting next to one another all night. Know Your Meme mixes things up by suggesting a Keanu/Forrest Gump duo. BYOB (Bring Your Own Bench) is also encouraged.
06
Steven Slater
When JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater quit his job by grabbing two beers and debarking down a plane's inflatable escape slide, he was also sliding into a cozy little place in the internet's collective heart. If you love Slater's flamboyant personality and his bold job-quitting stunt -- or if you just want a little beer with your costume -- this outfit is definitely the way to go.

Unless you happen to have access to an official JetBlue flight attendant uniform, you can fake it with a black shirt, blue plaid tie, and black apron. Some pin-on wings will definitely help sell the costume.
07
Trololo
Eduard Khil, aka Trololo Guy, is a Russian singer who made a viral video comeback with a song full of nonsense "trololo" lyrics. His stiff appearance and ghoulish stage presence make him an ideal halloween costume meme.

You'll need a brown suit, preferably with four buttons. A pocket square also helps. Tie: gold or copper. Hair: slick. Very slick. You might want to put a little bit of black zombie-style makeup around the eyes, too.

Of course, you'll answer anyone who asks what your costume is supposed to be by singing a few bars of "Trololo," so study up before you go out.
08
Cigar Guy Costume
nerve.com
I have to say, I expected Cigar Guy to be higher up on the list. It's a natural fit for a costume, because Cigar Guy himself was wearing a costume when he photobombed Tiger Woods and the world. His dad-ish jacket, the pullover and the khakis are all not hard to find second-hand if you don't already have them, which just leaves the main articles: the red ponytail wig, the mustache, and (of course) the Cigar.

If you want to be absolutely true to Cigar Guy's wardrobe, you're in luck: when Rupesh Shingadia revealed that he was Cigar Guy, he also revealed exactly what he was wearing on that fateful day at the Ryder Cup: "a Pringle jumper, North Face anorak and Reiss trousers."
09
Kanye West Costume
Know Your Meme
Kanye West costumes are so 2009, but dressing up as Kanye's Twitter account is apparently 2000-and-now. This costume idea showed up on no less than three different lists, include TIME Magazine's list.

Of course, Know Your Meme led the pack with their "Kanye 2.0" concept, featuring a Twitter trucker hat, aviator glasses and a medallion made from a printed-out Kanye Tweet of your choice. (If you're a real high-roller, just hang your iPad from your neck and display Kanye's tweets live.)

You can rock the Kanye of your choice, as long as you've got the goatee and sunglasses: try everything from dapper sportcoat to bright orange suit to hotel bathrobe, depending on the weather and the party you're going to. Accent with a microphone for bonus points, because you know Kanye can never let go of that thing!
10
Vuvuzela Costume
Please, for the love of the internet and all that is holy, do not bring a vuvuzela to a Halloween party. I'm forced to include this costume because it appeared on a handful of lists, but vuvuzelas are for cheering on your soccer team and torturing the perpetrators of gross corporate malfeasance, not for ruining your friend's Halloween party.

If you absolutely must blow a cheap plastic horn -- and the one good thing about this costume is that it's cheap -- at least wear a "BP Blows" protest shirt or pick a World Cup soccer jersey (and maybe even face paint!) and get a vuvu that matches. As far as I'm concerned, though, if you go with a vuvuzela, you might as well be going as Forever Alone Guy.
11
Prancing Cera
I have no idea how Prancing Michael Cera didn't make any costume lists. He was one of my favorite celebrity memes this year, and his costume is quite simple -- although you'll have to prance all night to really sell it. And a blond, curly wig cut down to Cera's short hairdo wouldn't hurt.

Other than that, just get some green-ish corduroys, standard-issue green and white Adidas shoes, a shoulder bag, a book, your winter coat, and -- here's the most important part -- a red beanie. It's especially great if you're celebrating Halloween in a chilly part of the world. Plus, you'll be more original than all those dudes who went as Scott Pilgrim.
12
HOPA Jenny
thechive.com
Female meme characters were woefully underrepresented on this year's costume lists, but here's a super-easy costume for the ladies: Jenny, the Whiteboard-Wielding HOPA.

You may remember her as the girl who quit her job with a series of whiteboard messages about her awful boss. Jenny turned out to be a hoax by TheChive.com, but not before taking over the internet for days.

Being Jenny is pretty easy: all it takes is the dry-erase board. You can even mimic her messages on it, and change your board throughout the night. May we suggest, "Happy Halloween, everybody!" to start?
13
Cat Bin Lady
This might be the scariest costume of the year: Mary Bale, the evil British woman who was caught on video putting a cat named Lola into a trash bin and then said she thought it was funny. You'll need a white shirt, black pants, a grey old lady wig and glasses, but it wouldn't hurt to put some evil makeup on, too, to represent the awfulness that is Cat Bin Lady.

Of course, people won't know who you are unless you bring a trash bin (the full-sized one that Cat Bin Lady actually used might be a little much for a crowded party, so use an office wastebin painted green) with a toy tabby cat poking out. You'll be the very face of evil!
14
About The Lists and This Year's Trends
Meme Costume Ranking
We looked at 14 lists to calculate our costume rankings, and those included everything from the big names like TIME Magazine and Mashable to the slightly odd (hey, BootyCallU.com actually made a pretty good list).

Not surprisingly, we saw a trend toward memes with significant TV exposure: Old Spice Guy starred in commercials, Double Rainbow Guy showed up on Kimmel, Fallon and Tosh.0, Antoine Dodson was on the news and on the BET awards, and Justin Bieber is Justin Bieber.

Meanwhile, some of our memes that fell short were pretty internet-specific: Merton the Piano Improv Guy was a Chatroulette phenomenon, and Jessi Slaughter came from the Stickam scene (although she did also show up on Good Morning America). Stickam and Chatroulette aren't particularly mainstream as web services go, which might explain why Jessi and Merton only made the lists of web-centric sites like Mashable and Know Your Meme.

The worst trend on this year's lists was a lack of female costumes. Of course, any woman could dress up as one of the popular male meme characters, but memes starring women didn't even break the top 10. Nerve.com gets bonus points for subverting gender roles and making fun of the sexy costume trend by featuring "sexy" versions of all their memes, including Sexy Cigar Guy and Sexy Antoine, but that doesn't make up for the total lack of famous internet women on these lists.

The awards for picking great unique costumes go to MentalFloss for their mention of Officer Bubbles, and BootyCallU for digging deep to find the Dude, You Have No Quran Guy.

For your costume-browsing convenience, here are the 14 different lists we used:

Happy HallowMeming, Urlbots! We'd love to hear your meme costumes ideas, and see your photos. Are you dressing up in an internet-related costume this year? Send us a picture of your meme costume to be entered into our Meme Costume giveaway!