Pet owners are set to spend roughly $1 billion on Halloween costumes this year, with centipedes and Dolly Parton tributes topping Google’s list of 2026’s hottest looks.
Americans love dressing up their dogs and cats, and the numbers keep climbing. A Mental Floss roundup of Google Trends’ 2026 Halloween report puts a homemade centipede costume in the top spot, followed by Dolly Parton outfits and Bullseye from Toy Story.
The National Retail Federation projects U.S. households will spend about $1 billion on pet costumes this year. That is up from $860 million the year before. A 2025 survey found one in three pet owners planned to spend more on their animals’ costumes than on outfits for people.
That spending surge tracks with a culture that treats pets like family. It also tracks with owners chasing every viral gag, movie release, and pop-culture moment they can zip onto a collar.
Google Trends ranked the most in-vogue pet costumes for 2026 as follows: centipede, Dolly Parton, Bullseye from Toy Story, Diet Coke, Princess Donut from Dungeon Crawler Carl, Lamb Chop, Pua from Moana, baked potato, roach, and Tow Mater from Cars.
The centipede look is a do-it-yourself project, plenty of legs, plenty of tape, and a dog patient enough to tolerate the joke. Dolly Parton costumes rose as a tribute after her death on August 25, 2026. Owners reached for pink hats, blonde wigs, and sparkly vests.
Bullseye got a lift from Toy Story 5, which arrived in June 2026. Princess Donut comes from Matt Dinniman’s Dungeon Crawler Carl series. The rest of the list mixes brand mascots, movie sidekicks, and pure novelty, Diet Coke cans, baked potatoes, and roaches included.
At the Halloween dog parade in Tompkins Square Park in New York City, the scene looked different from the search charts. An observer on site reported Thing 1 and Thing 2 Shih Tzus, a pug dressed as Sherlock Holmes, a cloud-shaped pirate, assorted pirates, Dr. Seuss characters, a greyhound in a dinosaur suit, and a dog done up as Gary from SpongeBob.
The same observer spotted a dog in full Dolly Parton gear, pink hat, blonde wig, sparkly vest, but did not see most of the other Google Trends top-10 costumes on the parade route.
Search data and street-level choices do not always match. Owners still spend real money either way.
The ASPCA advises owners to check that a costume has no dangly or sharp pieces a pet could swallow. The outfit must not block movement, breathing, or the animal’s ability to make sound. Pets should wear identification.
Common sense beats the viral photo. A costume that scares the dog, trips it on the stairs, or covers its eyes is a bad bargain no matter how clever it looks online.
Pet costumes have become a billion-dollar side show to Halloween. When owners spend more on the dog than on the kids, and when the hot list runs from centipedes to country legends, the country is telling you exactly where its soft spot, and its wallet, sit.
