Creative Halloween Costume Requests for 2010

 

Don’t look now, but with Halloween fast approaching, many children are making their final decision on what to wear on one of the scariest night of the year.

Did I say children? Make that children and adults.

Actually, there was a time in the United States when Halloween was strictly for children. In the 1930’s, for example, the little tikes liked to dress up as hobos and tramps in keeping with the sign of the times as the country was mired in the Great Depression.  Then as Walt Disney took the country by storm in the 1950’s, children were likely to be cloaked in Mickey Mouse costumes, Tinker Bell, and an assortment of other animated characters.

Adults really didn’t enter the picture on Halloween until the 1970’s.  Thanks largely to active gay communities, a Halloween Parade for adults was first introduced in San Francisco's Castro District in the late 1960’s, at Greenwich Village in New York City in 1973 , then in Key West, Florida in 1978.  By 1980, one out of every four adults were reportedly wearing costumes as adult costume parties grew in popularity. And the holiday for adults keeps getting stronger. By 1999, an estimated 44 percent of 25-30 year-olds attended Halloween parties, with 62 percent of 18-24 year-olds dressing up in Halloween costumes.

In 2010, the National Retail Federation reports that 69.4 percent of young adults (18-24) say they will dress up in a costume this Halloween, 55.4 percent in that age group will attend a Halloween party; while American consumers will spend $66.28 on costumes, candy and decorations with total spending estimated to reach about $5.8 billion for the holiday.

As in past years, adult Halloween costumes pretty much reflect the times.

Last year MJ (Michael Jackson) costumes were the rage; this year, Lady GaGa and cast members from MTV’s reality hit show ``Jersey Shore’’ seem to be topping the list.

According to NRF’s annual survey, Witches, Vampires, and Pirate’s are the three top costumes for adults, while Princesses, Spider-Man, and Witches are the leading favorites with children.

So with Halloween only two weeks away, I thought I would check in with some top costume shops from around the country in order to get a better sense of what types of costumes are being requested by adults.

What follows are some of my findings.

• At Ricky’s NYC  they’re rolling out an exclusive ``Angry Steward’’ costume that comes complete with a shirt, tie, and band aid for the baggage inflicted head wound; so that you can storm out of your party in a classic tirade, holding two Blue Moon beers, much like the Steven Slater meltdown aboard JetBlue Airways Flight 1052 on August 9th on a flight from Pittsburgh to New York City.

• At the Creative Costume Company in New York City, which has maintained a thriving business for the past 28 years, they’re beginning to get some requests for mining helmets, sparked no doubt by the heroic rescue of the 33 miners in Chile. And as in previous Halloweens, they’re receiving a number of requests for period costumes, Bedbug costumes; while one woman in addressing the political climate wanted to parody the bloated federal budget by dressing as a pregnant Statue of Liberty.

• Daniel Hazen, owner of Ozzie Dots in Los Angeles, said Zombie costumes rule the day as far as most popular requests go.  Marie Antoinette, lots of wigs, vampires, Pirates (a la Johnny Depp), sailor suits and mermaids also continue to be popular. As far as originality goes, Hazen said he received a request from someone who wanted to dress as an iphone. And a new twist this year, according to Hazen, is having two costumes rolled into one. So, for example, if a woman shows up at a Halloween Party and notices someone else dressed in the same costume, she can immediately pull a string, which quickly changes into another costume.

• Gillian Gardner, aka, ``The Costume Doctor’’ at Show Off! Las Vegas Costumes  tells me that although she primarily makes costumes all year long for casinos and professionals, including a special showgirl costume she designed for Mariah Carey , Gardner has been known to make Halloween costumes for adults, which consumes much of her time through the month of October. But a design by Gardner doesn’t come cheap.  They start at $800 and her consultations are by appointment only.  Last year, Gardner informs me, she made one the day before Halloween in the middle of the night and FedExed it overnight to arrive on Saturday just in time for Halloween.

• Besides the infatuation with Lady GaGa costumes, Ren Matney, Showroom Manager at Halloween Mart in Las Vegas, said they’re getting requests for lots of colored hair, glittery costumes, faces full of wild makeup and tall, tall shoes.  To underscore just how big a day Halloween is in Las Vegas, Matney impressed upon me that ``we are a city where the glam side of life is showcased to the highest extreme.  With the world famous strip within our lovely city, we see images of celebrity and "costume" on a daily basis’’.  ``Add the holiday of "Halloween" to this concept’’ Matney said, `` and it's no wonder it's a huge holiday to celebrate here.  ‘’

• At the Garment District in Cambridge MA, the most creative Halloween costume they’ve seen so far was a customer requesting a headless Marie Antoinette costume using a mannequin head, a gown from their costume room, adorned with their theatrical makeup and fake blood. The customer was planning to rig her costume in such a way that it looked like she was holding her decapitated head in her hands. The Garment District is also seeing a number of pop culture costumes requests, Coco Chanel (French fashion designer) costumes using garments from their Vintage section, along with Dwight Schrute (from NBC’s ``The Office’’) look alike costumes, using items from their men’s contemporary and glasses sections.

• At the Costume Company in Arlington, MA, they are fielding a number of requests for big masquerade balls (especially 18th century), period pieces, flees, bees, animals, rats, Alice in Wonderland; and of course, a ton of requests for ``Jersey Shore’’ characters and Lady GaGa. The Costume Company additionally specializes in costumes from the Roaring ‘20s along with Roman and Medieval costumes.

• At the Buffalo Exchange in Tucson, Ariz, they are getting a fair share of Classic Zombie requests, Batman, Alice in Wonderland, robots, Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie’s epochal figure) , used handmade super heroes , and a considerable number of ``Jersey Shore’’ requests, especially the star of the show, Snooki.

-Bill Lucey
[email protected]

Comments

[gaga halloween music]

costume count: it's gaga by a mile!
costumes are about creativity and boy has lady gaga got lots.

[Costume Suppliers]

hahahaha must say creativity is a field of fun. Think, design and make your own art of creativity by making own Halloween dresses. Upper pictures are awesome just chopper or harley is missing :D

[James]

I think too many people will be using the Lady GaGa costumes this year so perhaps go for something a little more original to the Halloween theme. I'm off dressed in this ghost busters costume http://www.mycostumes.co.uk/costumes/adult-80s-ghostbusters-costume-16529

It brings back my youthfulness from teenage years.