Charli XCX’s Secretary Halloween Costume: Sheer Blouse, Pencil Skirt and a Locked Arm Bar

By Nico Grey · Published Nov 1, 2026, 1:11 PM (BKK)

I’ve been behind the camera since 2001 and shot more than 2,000 scenes, and I can tell you which prop changes a woman’s whole body language in one second: anything that locks her wrists. Charli XCX walked into Kendall Jenner’s Halloween party with her arms cuffed to a steel bar, and every lens on the sidewalk turned. Also, the boss in the movie she copied is called Mr. Grey. I’m choosing to take that personally.

Charli XCX skipped the witch hat and went straight for the kinkiest office movie ever made. For Kendall Jenner’s Halloween birthday party at Bar Marmont in Los Angeles on Friday, Oct. 30, the 34-year-old singer dressed as Lee Holloway, the submissive secretary Maggie Gyllenhaal played in the 2002 erotic drama Secretary (Daily Mail, The Sun).

She wore a sheer white pussy-bow blouse with her bra showing through, a tight black pencil skirt, ripped sheer black tights and black pumps. The piece everyone talked about was the bondage arm bar: a rigid bar across her shoulders with locked cuffs on both wrists, copied straight from the film (Marie Claire). The Daily Mail noted it probably made it hard to hold a drink all night. Fans online called her “the Queen of movie references” (Daily Mail).

The photos: Charli XCX as Lee Holloway from Secretary

Arrival photos: Melanie Miller / Backgrid, per Marie Claire. Embedded from X (fan accounts @charliwatched and @infocharlixcx, and the Daily Mail), not re-hosted. The side-by-side with the film was the most shared post: about 41,700 views and 4,100 likes in its first day.

Every piece of the Secretary costume

• The blouse: sheer white with a pussy bow at the neck. The Sun says it “flashed her sexy bra,” and it did (The Sun).
• The skirt: a black pencil skirt, knee length and tight, the most office thing about her.
• The tights: sheer black and ripped, per Marie Claire, with black pumps (Marie Claire).
• The arm bar: a bar behind her neck with locked cuffs on each wrist, arms held out to the sides. In the film, Lee wears one around the office.
• The hair: long and dark, loose over the blouse, close to Gyllenhaal’s look in the film.

Nico’s take: the arm bar is the whole costume

One more from my side of the camera. Secretary did office kink in 2002, nine years before Fifty Shades of Grey hit bookshelves, and it did it better. James Spader’s lawyer is E. Edward Grey. Christian Grey came later. Nico Grey is just saying. When the biggest pop girl of the last two summers wears that movie’s spreader bar to Kendall’s party, kink isn’t a niche anymore. It’s a costume idea. My bet, not news: a lot of people streamed Secretary for the first time this weekend.

Same week, more rope: Charli’s CR Fashion Book shoot

The arm bar wasn’t her only restraint of the week. On Oct. 30 Charli posted her own shoot by Petra Collins for CR Fashion Book, and in one frame she’s roped to a tree in a yellow bra and a leopard skirt. The post passed 400,000 views and 12,000 likes on X, and she added more frames the next day (Charli on X).

Inside Kendall Jenner’s Halloween party at Bar Marmont

Kendall’s birthday is Nov. 3, but she threw her Halloween party early, on Oct. 30, and kept her own costume hidden, leaving in the back of a car (Daily Mail). The guest list was stacked. Tate McRae came as Catwoman in skin-tight black leather. Vittoria Ceretti was Little Red Riding Hood. Cara Delevingne did Frank-N-Furter from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Alix Earle went silver and nearly took a tumble in her platforms. Hailey Bieber posted her angel look in a feather bra the same night (Marie Claire, Daily Mail).

Charli was photographed arriving with her friend, the director Aidan Zamiri (Daily Mail). The Sun points out that the party came days after news that she’d joined Martin Scorsese’s What Happens at Night with Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence (The Sun). See Kendall Jenner’s hub and Maggie Gyllenhaal’s hub, where the original Lee Holloway lives.

Gallery: Charli XCX in sheer, white and bikini

The arm bar is the tease. These are from her Scandal Planet hub:

See all of Charli XCX’s photos on her hub →

How we got here

• 2002: Secretary comes out, with Maggie Gyllenhaal as Lee Holloway and James Spader as her boss, E. Edward Grey.
• July 2026: Charli releases her album Music, Fashion, Film (The Sun).
• Oct. 30, 2026: She posts her Petra Collins shoot for CR Fashion Book (X), then arrives at Kendall Jenner’s Halloween party as Lee Holloway (Marie Claire).
• Oct. 31, 2026: The Daily Mail and The Sun run the photos. Fan posts on X pass 40,000 views (X).
• Nov. 16, 2026: Charli’s charity sale of her old tour looks opens on Vinted (Daily Mail).

What’s confirmed

Confirmed: the photos are real and from Oct. 30, 2026. Backgrid shot her arriving, and Marie Claire, the Daily Mail and The Sun all reported the costume as Lee Holloway from Secretary. Not confirmed: Charli hasn’t posted the costume herself or said why she picked it, as of our check. The streaming bump is my guess, not data. X numbers were checked at about 1:20 p.m. Bangkok time on Nov. 1, 2026.

FAQ

What was Charli XCX’s Halloween costume in 2026?

Lee Holloway from the 2002 film Secretary: a sheer white pussy-bow blouse, a black pencil skirt, ripped sheer black tights, black pumps and a locked bondage arm bar with wrist cuffs. She wore it to Kendall Jenner’s Halloween party at Bar Marmont in Los Angeles on Oct. 30, 2026 (Marie Claire, Daily Mail).

Who is Lee Holloway in Secretary?

Lee Holloway is the secretary played by Maggie Gyllenhaal in the 2002 erotic drama Secretary. She falls into a dominant and submissive relationship with her lawyer boss, E. Edward Grey, played by James Spader.

What is the bar on Charli XCX’s arms?

A bondage arm bar, sometimes called a spreader bar, with locked cuffs on each wrist. It copies the bar Lee wears in Secretary. Marie Claire called it a bondage arm spreader with locked wrist cuffs.

Where was Kendall Jenner’s Halloween party in 2026?

At Bar Marmont in Los Angeles on Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, an early celebration of her Nov. 3 birthday. Guests included Charli XCX, Tate McRae, Hailey Bieber, Cara Delevingne, Vittoria Ceretti and Alix Earle (Marie Claire, Daily Mail).

Who photographed Charli XCX’s Secretary costume?

The arrival photos were taken by Melanie Miller for Backgrid, per Marie Claire. The Daily Mail also showed her with her friend, the director Aidan Zamiri.

— Nico. A see-through blouse, a pencil skirt and her wrists locked to a bar. She’d get the job. More of her is on Charli’s hub.

Fact-check: Scandal Planet Desk

Halloween photos: Melanie Miller / Backgrid, embedded via X. CR Fashion Book photos: Petra Collins, via Charli XCX on X. Gallery photos: from Charli XCX’s Scandal Planet hub. ScandalPlanet watermark only.

Follow us on X for new celebrity scenes