Don’t just save these looks for 31 October.

The Halloween costume is a transient thing. Face paint and plastic fangs never last the evening, and the viscose cape you snatched last minute from the supermarket bargain bucket will likely end up in landfill with the rest of Count Dracula’s personal effects. Still, who cares? Halloween is all about looking as ridiculous as possible, isn’t it? Just ask costume veterans P Diddy and Ms Heidi Klum. But wouldn’t it be nice to sometimes forgo the flammable spooky garb and just put on some nice clothes?

Below, we present to you five infallible outfits which will work regardless of whether or not it’s Halloween, but that fit the bill of the characters they are styled around. Just keep clear of any fake blood: the tuxedo is Canali.

Mr Robert J Fox’s time-travelling protagonist in Back To The Future has an immediately recognisable look. In Marty McFly’s present-day 1985, he’s outfitted in a bright orange/red gilet layered over a denim jacket and a Levi’s button-up shirt, which feels like a harbinger to some of the outdoor-minded workwear that’s proven popular in 2018. Best of all, it’s easy to replicate without being overly theatrical, and will look as much at home in the pub at the weekend as it will at a sci-fi-themed Halloween party.

From tiny sunglasses to long black goth coats, the cyberpunk aesthetic from 1999’s The Matrix has resurfaced over the past few years, and designers like Alexander Wang and Balenciaga have brought hacker-style fashion into the future. This is probably because social media has totally taken over our lives and it feels that we’re all living in a simulation anyway. There are a lot of Halloween-appropriate references to take from this one, but we’re going for the less-obvious choice: Agent Smith. An AI program made flesh, he is sharply put together in a business suit and trademark sunglasses. Use a tie pin, ear piece, and nihilistic contempt for humanity to tie the look together.

If horror or sci-fi isn’t your thing, let’s look at a slightly jollier option: Paddington Bear. The marmalade-loving character from darkest Peru sits on the sweeter end of the Halloween costume spectrum, and his signature outfit of red hat, duffle coat, Wellington boots and satchel is easy enough to copy. Of course, the clothes we’ve picked out here look more like Paddington has embarked upon a career as an art director in Dalston. If anyone questions you, simply pull a marmalade sandwich from under your cap.

All work and no play may make Jack a dull boy, but the Torrances’ psychopathic father is clearly a big fan of workwear. Mr Stanley Kubrick’s version of Mr Stephen King’s The Shining is a creepy, nerve-shredding classic, and Jack Torrance’s outfit is an easy if effective one to pull off. A burgundy corduroy jacket, plaid shirt and selvedge denim jeans are all you need, plus, if you really want to make an entrance, an axe and a rictus grin.

Maximillian Zorin – from 1985 James Bond film A View To A Kill – is one of the most underratedly stylish Bond villains of all time. Underrated perhaps because he had to share a screen with Ms Grace Jones’ character May Day, and all sartorial attention was instead turned onto her Alaïa-designed wardrobe instead. Still, we think that Mr Christopher Walken’s peroxide blond antagonist is worth a proper revisit for his quintessential evil mogul aesthetic. The result of a Nazi medical experiment, Zorin is supernaturally-intelligent, wholly psychopathic, and he also happens to be very well dressed. All you need to emulate him is a tuxedo with suitably spiky peak lapels and some 1970s-style aviators (very Gucci).

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