Heidi Klum’s amazing ‘elderly lady’ costume: does she win Halloween?

Heidi Klum

It wouldn’t have been Halloween without another over the top costume from Heidi Klum. Last year, Heidi’s favorite holiday was thwarted by the likes of Hurricane Sandy. She came back strong this year by jumping several decades into the future. Heidi excitedly tweeted this photo of herself made up as an elderly lady, and she very narrowly escaped delivering a geriatric upskirt as well. Whew. She also included pictures (which I’ve posted at the bottom of this post) of the make-up process. She had no less than three artists working on her makeover for several hours, and the process included adding major varicose veins to her legs. That part is rather gruesome, but I much prefer this look to her skinless cadaver getup from a few years ago.

Heidi sure knows how to pull off a good Halloween look.

This costume isn’t offensive against old people, right? It’s not like Julianne Hough in blackface or Ireland Baldwin dressed as a caricature of Native American culture. This is simply Heidi with some amazing makeup FX and dressed up as an older version of herself.

Such a costume takes some serious guts to pull off. Heidi must have some major confidence to essentially be saying, “Martin Kristen, this is your future.” Luckily Heidi can go home and wash off the costume. I wonder if Martin will be dressing up with her in the future. He managed to duck out this year. Maybe he’s at home watching the kids.

Heidi Klum

Heidi Klum

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet & Heidi Klum on Twitter

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84 Responses to “Heidi Klum’s amazing ‘elderly lady’ costume: does she win Halloween?”

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  1. Frida_K says:

    Good for Heidi…we’ll all get old one day (if we’re lucky) and it’s smart to start exploring what that might be like earlier rather than later. Not to say that we all need to play dress-up as an older person, but to at least face it head-on and be ready to engage…? Absolutely.

    If we’re lucky, we’ll all be old one day.

  2. Angie says:

    She wins in my book!

    • T.C. says:

      Mine too. I love her costumes she really gets in the spirit of Halloween.

    • Bubbles says:

      Do Catholics in the US celebrate All Saints Day or is it just Halloween everywhere?

      • Justme says:

        U.S. Catholics celebrate All Saints Day (I just got back from a midday Mass.) We also celebrate Halloween (our kids go out trick or treating and we give out candy). Since Halloween is the day before All Saints Day (which is a holy day of obligation), there is no conflict.

        And no Halloween is NOT devil-worship (never was 🙂

  3. Rhea says:

    Dang! She’s always giving a total commitment in her costume every year. Amazing work of make up! Look so real! 🙂

  4. V4Real says:

    Oh I’m sure someone is going to find this offensive to elderly people.

    • Littlewood says:

      Oh yeah, I already read a comment that it is insulting because old people aren’t supposed to be scary. Granted it was on the Daily Fail, but still…

      • TheOriginalKitten says:

        Well, maybe they’re not “supposed” to be but…….

      • Lucinda says:

        Which would make sense if all Halloween costumes were meant to be scary but the majority of costumes are not and most adult women costumes these days take the sexy turn rather than the scary turn. So hey, maybe she is saying old is sexy. Regardless, her authenticity, rather than making a caricature of an old person, shows great respect. imo.

      • Liv says:

        Kitten, hahaha! 😉

  5. Anaya says:

    She looks like Sally Kirkland.

  6. Kit2 says:

    Well, I’m impressed.

  7. Sunny says:

    Isn´t offensive against old people?

  8. MrsBPitt says:

    Gee…I think I could have an “amazing” Halloween costume, if I had three make-up people working on me, too!

    • Hakura says:

      @MrsBPitt – I hear you. I mean, I think it was a cool idea that I’m sure she came up with, & the dedication required to sit there for several hours (just for a Halloween party, as opposed to a movie or something) for the process is impressive. & she does this every year at Halloween, sustaining ages (Heh. xD) of makeup & such just to pull off the costume.

      But I think some people do give her credit for aspects she herself is not responsible for. The effects are amazing, but not because of Heidi’s hard work. As an artist myself who’s delving into the world of creative makeup, I would’ve been so happy if she’d brought the artists WITH her to the party.

    • T.C. says:

      Look at how bad the old people makeup is in movies compared to Klum. Leo Dicarpio in J. Edgar comes to mind. Then look how meh most other celebrity Hollywood costumes are. She has the money sure but I think she designs the costume and creates the idea then hires people to make it work.

  9. Dawn says:

    She hits it out fo the park again! She is the winner in my book. Well done.

    • Susan says:

      I agree!! Amazing! Awesome!

    • bluhare says:

      She won Halloween in a landslide, and she’s the only person whose career is dependent on her looks who doesn’t try to be sexy on Halloween.

      Look at her hands . . . she even had arthritis joints put on!

  10. T.fanty says:

    If Heidi Klum can look this good, why do fake old people in movies and TV invariably look rubbish?

    • Blannie says:

      I agree!! She looks 10X better than most movie “old people”. Her neck wrinkles/varicose veins/legs/arms/hands are amazing! Hollywood make-up people need to learn some tricks from her make-up people.

    • Rhea says:

      That’s what I’ve been thinking, too! Mostly they would look like someone slap a white powder in the hair or wearing a white wig and “draw” some wrinkles. Maybe they just don’t feel the need to spend extra time and money to focus on preparing that part since the role might only have a few minutes on the screen.

  11. Eve says:

    It’s clearly a great, well executed costume. I just don’t understand why Halloween is so damn important for her.

    Halloween is supposed to be a funny, relaxed event, right? There’s so much preparation, time consuming makeup in all her costumes, I wonder if she has any fun at all during these parties. Or, maybe, the whole process itself is what makes her happy.

    I’d find exhausting. Honestly.

    P.S.: If I remember correctly, she once complained (at the party) it was really hot (as in uncomfortable) when she was dressed as a Hindu deity.

    • blue marie says:

      Yeah I agree she looks great but I personally could never sit long enough for any of her costumes. I prefer my costumes to be relatively hassle free, I don’t want to have to worry about if everything stays in place. Like on this costume, I’d be afraid that the neck would start peeling away.

    • Adrien says:

      I think it makes her happy. It’s become her tradition like Macy’s Christmas window display. She’s expected to top or at least match last year’s costume. From her IG posts, I think she’s having fun.

    • curlsunited says:

      @Eve: It may be partly due to the fact that Heidi grew up near Cologne, where many people are traditionally carnival crazy and love to dress up for parties and street parades during the “fifth season” or the “crazy days”.

      I’m not a Heidi fan at all (and find her exhausting all year round), but: amazing costume, great make-up work by her special effects team.

    • Grant says:

      Some people (including myself) find it really fun to think up an inspiration/theme/character/person and commit to it 100% for Halloween. It’s kind of a hobby in a certain way.

    • MonicaQ says:

      I cosplay so I love halloween–I actually get to take my hobby out into the world and not just conventions. Months to construct a costume to wear just for one day? Worth it because the fun part is seeing kids’ faces or just in the act of soothingly burning myself with a hot glue gun while my husband thinks I’m psycho.

    • trillian says:

      But you’re not from Cologne. Heidi grew up next to it and we take carnival time pretty damn seriously (which doesn’t exclude having the time of our lives, though ;-). I am already planning my costume for February. Don’t have her money or her makeup people, unfortunately.

      • curlsunited says:

        @trillian:
        Oh, de Cologne? 🙂

        Yes, people there seem to be very special when it comes to carnival. I had to learn it the hard way that it is not a good idea to schedule business meetings in the Rhine region when the festivities and street parades are in full swing.

      • Liv says:

        curlsunited, ha! I once had to make a business phone call to cologne during carnival and they said it was just the “emergency” team left, everybody else was out celebrating…;-) So funny!

    • Delta Juliet says:

      Also, most people don’t have that kind of time. My “prep time” for Halloween usually revolves around getting my kids ready, than about 5 minutes to slap some make-up on myself haha

  12. goldie says:

    hmmmm…I thought she was Tan Mom 5 years down the line…

  13. LauraM says:

    Damn. And now I miss my grandmother….

  14. Kiddo says:

    Heidi will never look like this unless she reaches 100. She will have everything pulled, injected, snipped and filled before then to stave it off.

  15. Adrien says:

    She always wins Halloween (although last year, Katy Perry as Daria’s friend, Jane Lane was my winner). I bet the other party guests were like, ” why do I even bother to make an effort?”.
    Her makeup effects are even better than the ones I see in the movies. It’s even better than the aging effects on Bad Grandpa and Mr. Nobody.

  16. Tanguerita says:

    she is way too tryhard to win anything. NPH’s family is so much cooler – look at these kids: that’s what I call fun. Clear win of Halloween in my books.
    http://www.pajiba.com/miscellaneous/neil-patrick-harris-that-unrelenting-monster-wins-halloween-for-a-second-time-this-year.php

    • Eve says:

      Kind of what I think — the whole point is to have fun…not “win” anything (unless, of course, it’s a contest).

    • Bottle Brunette says:

      Isn’t she the host of her own Halloween party? Perhaps that’s why she thinks she’s expected to go all out. I don’t mind that she seems competitive about it. That’s part of the fun for some people.

      • TheOriginalKitten says:

        Honestly, I’m the laziest Halloween-er (Halloweenie?) ever, but I appreciate the fact that she goes all-out.
        I might too, if I was having a huge-ass Halloween party and was going to be photographed by a million paps.
        Also, she’s set the bar pretty high for herself as far as Halloween costumes go.

        I don’t know…I kinda dig the effort.

    • Lucinda says:

      That is so adorable! Thanks for sharing that link. Made me smile.

  17. feebee says:

    Wow, that is an all-in old lady costume. I think she wins again.

    It’s not offensive to old people, if anything it’s the opposite. No need to lose your style just because you’re 95!

  18. AlmondJoy says:

    I’m thinking that this is only offensive to elderly people if she’s making fun of them.. idk maybe I’m wrong. Even so, this is the most realistic old lady costume I’ve ever seen lol.. she puts waaaay to much into Halloween.

    • Bottle Brunette says:

      I think it could be seen as offensive if she came as the caricature of another old person. But the way I see it, she dressed up as the old version of herself. I can’t knock her on this, not when so many other women are still using Halloween as an excuse to dress as “Slutty ______________”.

  19. Tig says:

    I think it’s a great costume- and if she likes to go all out for H’ween- go for it!

  20. Nicolette says:

    Not a fan of hers anymore, she annoys me. But this is an amazing costume! Incredible what talented make-up artists can do.

  21. PrincessMe says:

    Totally offensive to old people. “My age is not a costume”.

    /sarcasm

  22. yeahright says:

    Amazing!! Not sure how this isn’t fun.

  23. vixo says:

    Very well executed, but if Heidi lives long enough to be this age, I wonder if she will grow old naturally and resist plastic surgeries and procedures.

  24. Marianne says:

    That is the best Halloween costume. I hate how so many celebrities have tons of money and then yet can always wear something super cheap looking like the rest of us folk. Liken you have money to pull this kind of thing of….

  25. Trina says:

    That’s the first and last time we’ll see her looking old, unless she dresses up again.

  26. The Original G says:

    “Such a costume takes some serious guts to pull off.”

    Really? I know this is a gossip site, but can we keep a bit perspective on what having serious guts entails?

    • bluhare says:

      Well, for Heidi maybe it does take a certain kind of courage. Her face and body are her fortune after all.

  27. Walice says:

    Heidi is confirming to me this is exactly where HOUNDSTOOTH AND PAISLEY belong LOL!!

  28. Jo 'Mama' Besser says:

    Okay, the ‘offensive to old people’ bit is already wearing thin.

  29. Jane says:

    It looks so real! I love her idea for this year. The woman has guts galore.

  30. Jesusia says:

    Are elderly people going to get offended by this? YOu know, every costume is offensive nowdays…..

  31. Madpoe says:

    LOVE IT! I love seeing what she comes up with every Halloween!

  32. Jo March says:

    sorry, but I find it highly problematic. An excellent likeness, yes, but I suppose we need to know what she was trying to prove here? That this is the bullet she will probably dodge by way of plastic surgery/botox, etc? I love a good costume like the rest of us; I just wonder how women in their 80s feel about this. I agree with the poster who said we’ll be lucky if we reach that age looking this good.

    • Nan says:

      Here’s how it works – find a population that can’t fight back and turn them into “Halloween costumes” — because when you can’t make fun of Native Americans or Blacks or Hindu goddesses anymore, you can always make fun of old people. Ageism is the new racism.

  33. lenje says:

    Oh wow, incredible. Incredible! I find her annoying most of the times, but I love her Halloween (or other parade/carnival) costumes! This one really, really sets the bar high, even for her. It would even be crazier better if the skirt is mid length, or at least below the knee, like many “conservative old ladies” do.

  34. Alix says:

    Only thing I would’ve changed about her costume was to make the skirt longer. No old woman wears a skirt that rides up so high when she sits. Otherwise, perfection.

  35. Virgilia Coriolanus says:

    If I was rich and into Halloween, this is how I would do my costumes.

  36. Tiffany :) says:

    I love it!
    I love that even though she is female, she resists the pressure to do a “sexy” halloween costume. I am so tired of that trend! On a night when women can be ANYTHING, why do most costumes trend toward sexualization?

    I get that it is fun to be sexy. But it is also fun to be scary, crazy, quirky, etc. I think Heidi is getting so many props on websites like this because she resists that pressure and tends to put the focus on fun when it comes to Halloween.

  37. serena says:

    Amazing and creepy, perfect!

  38. St says:

    What? She dared to dress up as older person? Does she make fun of them? At how bad their skin is and how bad they walk? How hare she. It’s so hard for old people to even walk. And she makes fun of that? She must totally hate old people. She is such racist. We should all bully her now on Internet for that…. Just like we bullied Ireland Baldwin and that other chick.

  39. orion70 says:

    Boring, compared to her other costumes, IMO.

  40. I Choose Me says:

    Her makeup people did a freakin fantastic job. She kinda has to top herself every year right? And I’m with those asking, if Heidi Klum can pull this off so realistically why do so many movies do a rubbish job?

  41. deehunny says:

    it wouldn’t be ms. Klum without the plunging neckline. old ladies don’t wear that!

  42. dcypher1 says:

    Heidi is the queen of Halloween. She always has the most amazing elaborate costumes. I like how she really tries to look exactly like a character in a movie. So detailed and perfect. Amazing she knows how to get our attention and wow us every year. I love how much work and detail she puts into her costumes. And I also like how she’s not wearing a sexy costume like everyone else. She really tries to make u say omg kewl costume.

  43. lisa says:

    This reminds me of Johnny Knoxville’s “Bad Grandpa” costume. I want to see the two of them together in costume. That would be funny.

  44. TG says:

    I always look forward to seeing Heidi’s costumes too. I can’t stand her ever since she ditched Seal then tried to
    Make him look bad but she does do Halloween right. Also why do people always assume the boyfriend or the step-dad is the one babysitting the children? Maybe they are with their real dad. I don’t know if that is the case but it always seems like gossip site unintentionally push the dad out of the kids lives with their assumptions. I know I bein a bitch and it is because I can’t stand Heidi anymore.

  45. Jenn says:

    That’s awesome. Love the broach. My grandmother had some of those.

  46. Meggin says:

    I love that she doesn’t feel the need to slut it up in a “sexy” Halloween costume. Her costumes are always the best!