Harry Styles Revives X Factor Look at Harryween Residency

A Nostalgic Midshow Costume Swap

On Friday, Oct. 30, the 29th night of the Together, Together residency, Harry Styles surprised the sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden by revisiting his musical beginnings. During a midshow costume change, the Pop superstar appeared in the exact outfit he wore for his 2010 X Factor audition. At just 16 years old, Styles had used that audition to perform a cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely,” a moment that successfully propelled him to the next round of the competition.

To complete the tribute to his teenage self, Styles repeated a famous line from his original television appearance, referencing the part-time employment he held in his hometown of Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, before finding global fame.

"I work in a bakery,"

— Harry Styles

The choice of the Wonder track carried deep personal significance, as it was the song that effectively launched his career. While footage released in 2022 showed that Styles initially opened his X Factor audition with Train’s “Hey, Soul Sister,” he only performed the Wonder classic a cappella after judge Simon Cowell requested to hear him without a backing track. Following that audition, Styles was placed into the group One Direction alongside Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, and the late Liam Payne.

Elvis Tributes and Band Iterations

Before the nostalgic wardrobe change, Styles opened the evening dressed as Elvis Presley. This choice served as a nod to his own history; the first song Styles ever recorded was a cover of Presley’s “The Girl of My Best Friend.” While Styles channeled the King of Rock and Roll, his band and dancers, known as The Love band, participated in the #TogetherTogetherHarryween festivities by dressing as various iterations of Styles from different eras of his career.

The costume lineup for the band included:

• Aysia and Rubia: Dressed as the dancers from the "As It Was" music video.

• Sarah: Portraying "Red shorts & Moustachrry Harry."

• Mitch: Wearing the green boa from Styles' Grammys appearance.

• Lorren and Laura: Dressed as Coachella-era Harry.

• Pauli: Channelling the "Met Galarry" look.

• Elin: Recreating the Fine Line album cover outfit.

The atmosphere at the venue was further heightened by high-profile guests. Zoe Kravitz, to whom Styles is reportedly engaged, was spotted in the front row wearing a red jacket and devil horns. She attended the show with Riley Keough, the granddaughter of Elvis Presley. Keough was seen singing along to “Watermelon Sugar” while Styles performed the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit in his Elvis costume. Throughout the set, Styles was observed throwing cheeky glances and winking toward Kravitz during songs such as “American Girls” and “Are You Listening Yet?”.

The Evolution of Harryween Traditions

The 2026 edition of Harryween continues a tradition of elaborate costumed covers. During the first Harryween at Madison Square Garden in 2021, Styles dressed as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz to perform “Over the Rainbow,” followed by a second night where he appeared as a white-ruffled clown to cover Britney Spears’ “Toxic.” In 2022, the event moved to the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, where Styles dressed as Grease character Danny Zuko for a rendition of “Hopelessly Devoted to You.”

This year's residency has also featured emotional milestones. Earlier in October, Styles debuted a new song titled “What Is Enough,” which was written for Liam Payne. The debut took place at Madison Square Garden on the second anniversary of Payne’s death. Additionally, during the final non-Harryween show of the residency on Wednesday, Oct. 28, Styles performed “Ever Since New York” for the first time in four years.

Record-Breaking Residency and Chart Success

The Together, Together residency has proven to be a massive commercial success, drawing a record 11.5 million presale registrations on Ticketmaster. This demand follows Styles’ continued dominance on the music charts. He has successfully sent all four of his solo albums to No. 1 on the Billboard 200, with the most recent being Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally., released in March.

His singles have seen similar success, with three tracks reaching the top of the Billboard Hot 100:

• “Watermelon Sugar” (2020)

• “As It Was” (2022), which spent 15 weeks at No. 1, marking the longest run at the top of the chart by a U.K. act.

• “Aperture” (2026)

The residency is scheduled to conclude on Saturday, October 31, with a final Harryween performance to wrap up the 30-night run at Madison Square Garden.