TaoBrowser: Finding the Perfect Halloween Costume on Taobao

Where can you buy that? You already know the answer: Taobao. But navigating China’s biggest ecommerce platform can be a nightmare for foreigners, so we’re helping out by rounding up useful stores to browse in our column, TaoBrowser.

The most horrifying might of the year is upon us, and you won’t want to be caught undead on the spooky streets of Sanlitun (or whichever neighborhood you choose to go trick-or-drinking) without a snazzy, outlandish, or otherwise eye-catching costume.

In the past, temporary costume stores would open in the outskirts of Beijing, catering to seekers of ghoulish gowns. But now it’s the future, and we do our shopping online. The process is simple enough if you already know what kind of costume you want – simply search for the term in Chinese and 服装 fúzhuāng (costume) after it – but for the undecided shopper who yearns for the days of Halloween store browsing, we’ve compiled a few Taobao outlets to browse until you find the perfect match while (mostly) avoiding all the anime cosplay.

Masks of all sorts at Shanshan Cos

You’ve already gotten used to touting a face mask, so this Halloween, why not protect yourself in style? Shanshan Cos carries plenty of full head-covering masks, ranging from superheroes and supervillains to animals of the living, extinct, and fictional nature. You’ll even spot a few timely and topical vizards, including both US presidential candidates and, of course, coronavirus masks.

Full-body costumes

Not satisfied with just the head of a dinosaur, you say? Only the full Tyrannosaurus will do and nothing less, you say? You’ll find what you’re looking for at Jurassic Period, a store that carries full-body costumes of various material. Despite the name, it's not all prehistoric wear, with the likes of sumo wrestlers, Pikachu, polar bears, poop emojis, and “Mister Safety” condoms among the top sellers.

For something a bit less silly but equally striking, all-out, and occasionally sexy, Fashion has 26 categories of full-body costumes, including mermaids, superheroes, Disney characters, 1960s hippies, and more.

Classic Halloween costumes at Happy Halloween

With all the classic costumes you’d expect to see in a cartoon depiction of an Oct 31 school day, Happy Halloween is a one-stop shop for classic Halloween costumes. Find everything from costumes to makeup specially designed for horrification.

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Images: Taobao