Why Costume Designer Jacqueline Durran Says You Don't Need to Wear Pink to Be Barbie for Halloween

Come on Barbie, let's go party!

There's no denying the Barbie movie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, is bound to be the Halloween costume of the year. In fact, Kelsea Ballerini already got into the spooky spirit early, wearing the famous western-inspired ensemble from the film.

But if dressing in all-pink isn't your thing, Barbie costume designer Jacqueline Durran has scary-good advice.

"The main thing is to play with color," Jacqueline exclusively told E! News. "You don't have to have pink, but have a bold approach to color. And think about it being a head-to-toe look, so that you're completely in a style. That will always give you a Barbie feeling."

Another tip? When dreaming up your Barbie-inspired Halloween outfit, think about what she is representing.

"There's always a connection between all of the things she wears," the costume designer explained. "The idea is that it all comes in a pack and you've put it all on. So, when Barbie goes to the beach, she has beach-related accessories—a shell necklace or shell earrings. She always has things that relate to what she's doing."

The trick—and treat—to channeling the iconic doll, Jacqueline said, is to complete the outfit from top to bottom. "Don't be too worried about it," the Oscar winner shared, "just invent it yourself."

In fact, that's the attitude Jacqueline hopes people have when dressing up as Barbie on Halloween.

"Take it any which way you want to," she said. "I'm happy for them to riff on the idea of the costumes and make their own version of it. Be creative with it and own it."

After all, that's part of the fun. As Jacqueline put it, "Go vintage shopping and build an outfit around it. You can be more Barbie than Barbie."

The British fashionista isn't just preaching to the choir, either. It's the same advice she followed when she created looks for the film.

"We really dipped into past styles with Barbie," Jacqueline revealed. "But Margot's clothes are more influenced by it, not complete replications. The thing about Barbie is that she can wear anything—that's almost her by definition."

Think: Margot's navy blue mod-style look when she meets Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon) for the fist time or the bright pink Chanel dress she wears to win back Ken.

"One of the rules we made when we were working out how to approach the costumes," Jacqueline continued, "was the fact that she is always perfectly dressed for whatever she's doing."

 

But don't get too bogged down by perfection. As the costume designer reminded, "Have fun with fashion."

"Someone said it the other day," she shared, "and it really resonated for me, 'Creativity is a force and if we harness our creativity, we have a great amount of power.'"

Now, that's advice worth listening to long after Halloween is over.

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