There is no subtle way to say this: Lil Nas X managed to outdo himself, and just about everyone else with his Halloween costume this year. The “Industry Baby” rapper loves to push our buttons with outrageous stage outfits and sets, but on Tuesday (Oct. 31) Montero took things to a whole new level with a get-up that you have to see to believe.
Lil Nas posted a 20-second video on his socials that opened with an image of a portal with a string hanging out of it. When the camera zoomed out, though, it revealed Nas dressed in a white wig, white tights and matching high heels topped by a white jacket stained red from the shoulders to the waist.
Yes, he was dressed as a bloody tampon and the portal was… you get it.
The comments on X (formerly Twitter) said it all: “this is unreal,” “is tha_,” “oh that’s not-” and “you won Halloween for sure. Walk that dog!!!” On Instagram some commenters were offended by the costume, though one said Lil Nas may have actually done his fans a service.
“A lot of people in the comments are annoying, saying ‘you don’t know how badly it hurts so don’t dress like period’ but please, can we agree that, besides the fact that it’s freaking funny, it’s also important to TALK ABOUT PERIODS??” read the comment. “Like this is a big taboo for a lot of people (women, men or everyone else). My personal first reaction was (to laugh) like ‘yeah yeah yeah, periods are something important, thanks for showing it !!’ So please, stop crying that ‘periods are a subject forbidden to men’ or ‘you laugh about our pain’ cause NO. It is funny, and it might help to talk about it.”
While Lil Nas may have divided some people with his tampon take, his other Halloween look paid homage to queer rock and roll pioneer: Little Richard. “lil richard x… this man created rock and roll and doesn’t get enough credit for it. thank u for paving the way for me in many ways little richard. fly high 🕊 wooooo,” Lil Nas wrote on Tuesday in an Instagram post in which he was dressed as the “Tutti Frutti” singer in five classic looks. In a second post, Lil Nas mouthed along to one of Richard’s classic not-so-humble brags about inventing rock.
Check out Lil Nas’ costumes below.