This story originally appeared on The Advocate.
Gay Christmas (a.k.a. Halloween) is right around the corner, but it may look a little different this year.
New analysis by popular escorting website Erobella, responsible for the Sexually Liberal City Index and the Out on Campus: The LGBTQ+ College Index 2026, shows that sexy Halloween costumes are becoming less popular every year. According to a study of Google search results, searches for sexy costumes fell 42 percent between 2021 and 2025. In the mid 2000s, one in 8 costume searches were for the sexy version, but by 2025 that number had dropped to one in 18. Sexy costumes overall seem to be losing steam, but men are making up a bigger share of sexy costume searches than ever.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has gone to a gay Halloween party or spent the holiday in West Hollywood, where sexy costumes — including ones that are little more than a jockstrap — reign supreme. In 2021, there were three searches for sexy women’s costumes for every one for men, but last year the gap shrank as men started searching more, bringing the ratio down to 2.5 to 1, the study reports.
So why has this shifted over the years? Is this part of the trend that has seen one in four Gen Z adults saying they haven’t had sex? Erobella thinks it has less to do with people ditching sexy costumes altogether and more to do with changes in consumer practices. Halloween costumes in general — not even the sexy type — are down a whopping 24 percent, which the report concludes means people are looking for costume inspiration in places like TikTok and Instagram, not Google, and are more likely to pick characters to dress up as instead of the sexy version of a job like “sexy cop.”
Men seem to be bucking this trend, taking over a bigger share of the Halloween searches in recent years. Magic Mike out-searched the sexy firefighter almost four-to-one over the last three Halloweens, and even beat the sexy cop. Traditionally feminine costumes like nun, nurse, French maid, and schoolgirl still top the list, but devil, referee, firefighter, and sailor are starting to creep up.
“America hasn’t stopped dressing up, and it hasn’t stopped wanting to look good. It has stopped typing 'sexy nurse' into Google,” said Brenda Jensen, head of data research at Erobella. "People want a character now, not a type. Hardly anyone searches for a sexy firefighter; they search for Magic Mike. The stores haven’t caught up. One in ten women’s costumes in stock still has 'sexy' in the name, as if it were still 2008."
In the immortal words of Cady Heron in Mean Girls, “Halloween is the one night of the year when a girl can dress like a total slut, and no other girls can say anything about it.”
Keep scrolling to see the 15 most searched sexy Halloween Costumes in the U.S.
15. Catwoman
Warner Brothers
Whether you’re talking the comic book character or the versions played by Anne Hathaway or Michelle Pfeiffer, Catwoman is still a popular costume, but it only made up 7 percent of, the searches in 2025, and dropped by 28 percent overall.
14. Bunny
LightFieldStudios/Envato
The sexy bunny used to be an even more popular costume than it is today. It now makes up 7 percent of searches, down a whopping 42 percent.
13. Cleopatra
20th Century Fox
Elizabeth Taylor and her blue eyeliner are a gay icon, which is why it’s no surprise she still made the top 15 list, coming in at No.14, with 7 percent of sexy costume searches.
12. Red Riding Hood
mimagephotgraphy/Envato
The sexy version of the storybook character still has 7 percent of the searches for sexy costumes, but that’s down 28 percent.
11. Cowgirl
FoToArtist_1/Envato
Sexy cowgirl is another one that only got 7 percent of searches, but that’s a huge 56 percent increase over previous years.
10. Sailor
romankosolapov/Envato
Sexy sailor is down 9 percent in 2025, but still managed to capture 8 percent of sexy costume searches.
9. Firefighter
fxquadro/Envato
Combining sexy and firefighter almost seems redundant, but 8 percent of people still searched for “sexy firefighter.”
8. Referee
Wavebreakmedia/Envato
This sporty costume is down 59 percent from previous years, but it grabbed 9 percent of the total sexy costume searches.
7. Devil
fxquadro/Envato
You sexy devil you! This devious costume tied with sexy referee for the total percentage but only dropped by 57 percent.
6. Cop
LightFieldStudios/Envato
The sexy cop costume is the most searched by women, but this year Magic Mike beat it, a costume that would likely make the list if you needed to add “sexy” to the name to get the search results you want.
5. Flight Attendent
friends_stock/Envato
Sexy flight attendant has been rising in popularity, getting 17 percent of the total searches in 2025, an increase of 33 percent.
4. Schoolgirl
LightFieldStudios/Envato
Schoolgirl costumes may still be topping the list, but they’re down 50 percent, capturing 13 percent of searches.
3. French maid
LightFieldStudios/Envato
The classic sexy French maid costume managed to grab 14 percent of searches in 2025.
2. Nurse
shotprime/Envato Sexy nurse costumes were down only 23 percent and got 17 percent of the overall searches.
1. Nun
LightFieldStudios/Envato
And the sexy nun landed in the No.1 spot! This regular, unsexy version of the costume didn’t make the top 15 most-searched overall, but it topped the sexy costume list.
