If your daughter, niece or friend wants to be a superhero for Halloween, look no further than the real-life women all-around doing heroic things.
With Halloween just over one week away, it’s not too late to DIY an inspiring female figure costume.
Here are eight ideas to help inspire you.
Simone Biles
All this costume needs is Team USA gear and lots of gold medals.
Simone Biles did not get a chance to defend her titles at the 2020 Summer Olympics, which were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the four-time Olympic gymnastics champion and 19-time World championships gold medal winner still stood out.
In addition to her gymnastics accomplishments, Biles, 23, was named to this year's Sports Illustrated’s “The Unrelenting” list, which highlights the "most powerful, influential and outstanding women in sports right now," according to SI's website.
"The 23-year-old came forward with accounts of how she, too had been sexually abused by Larry Nassar and continues to push her sport forward as she fights for survivors and adds to her growing list of namesake gymnastics elements," the magazine wrote about Biles.
Throughout her career, Biles has always dropped inspiring advice for young girls.
"It’s important to teach our female youth that it’s OK to say, 'Yes, I am good at this,' and you don’t hold back," Biles told USA Today last year. "You only see the men doing it. And they’re praised for it, and the women are looked down upon for it. But I feel like it’s good [to do] because once you realize you’re confident and good at it, then you’re even better at what you do."
Astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir
U.S. astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir stepped outside of the International Space Station together on Oct. 18, 2019, marking the first all-female spacewalk in history.
"There has been a long line of female scientists, explorers, engineers and astronauts and we have followed in their footsteps to get us where we are today," Meir told President Donald Trump from space.
A candidate for elected office
Two years after a record-breaking number of women were elected to Congress, women continue to break new ground.
In 2020, a record number of women of color are running for Congress, and California Sen. Kamala Harris was selected as former Vice President Joe Biden's running mate, making her the first woman of color on a major party's ticket.
If elected, she'd be the first woman and first woman of color to serve as vice president.
To transform into a candidate for Halloween, pair an outfit with a homemade "I Voted" sticker and carry a homemade campaign sign or some brochures with the platform on which you'd campaign.
World Cup-winning US women's soccer team
The U.S. Women's National Team won their fourth World Cup title last summer and launched a national conversation as they fought for the same pay and treatment as the men's national team.
Dress up as a Team USA player --like Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan or Carli Lloyd -- for Halloween by wearing a world champions shirt or soccer jersey (or a shirt calling for equal pay) and carrying a soccer ball and a homemade World Cup trophy.
Track star Allyson Felix
Olympic sprinter Allyson Felix smashed a world record last year for total medals held by track star Usain Bolt, and she did it just 10 months after giving birth.
Felix was part of Team USA's mixed-gender 4x400-meter relay team that won the gold at the World Championships last October. The win gave Felix her 12th gold medal at the world championships, pushing her past Bolt's record for the most gold medals of any athlete at the track and field World Championships.
Put running shoes on your feet and 12 World Championship gold medals around your neck to dress as Felix this Halloween.
Julia Child
Child, a cookbook author and TV personality, broke new ground as a female chef in a male-dominated industry.
Bring her to life on Halloween by pairing a collared shirt with an apron and carrying kitchen utensils, or even a stick of butter. For true authenticity, craft a patch modeled after the one Child’s husband designed for her.
Rosie the Riveter
Rosie the Riveter was a World War II-era symbol of working women across the country.
Become her for Halloween by donning a red bandana, red socks and a blue collared shirt. To take the costume up a notch, create a handmade sign to carry that reads, "We Can Do It!"
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
The late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who earned the nickname the Notorious RBG, made history even in death, becoming the first woman to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol.
When Ginsburg passed away in September at the age of 87, the feminist icon was remembered for how she dedicated her history-making career to fighting for women’s rights and gender equality,
All it takes to transform into Ginsburg for Halloween is a black robe, a pair of glasses and a pair of bold earrings. A toy kitchen tool or hammer can be transformed into a gavel and Ginsburg's famous "dissent collar" can be created with some felt, glue and creativity.
Editor's note: This was originally published on Oct. 24, 2019.
