The countdown to Oct. 31 is ticking and people are flocking to stores large and local to find the perfect costume.
When it comes to which spooky looks people are buying these days, at a glance, it seems pretty standard. Princesses seem to be the most popular costume among children nationwide, with about 3.1 million kids planning to dress up as their favorite princess, followed by 2.4 million children who want to dress up as a superhero, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation. For the older crowd, 5 million adults plan to dress like a witch, 2 million as a vampire, and 1.8 million as a superhero. Some people just love the classics.
Unless you’re in the D.C. region, anyway. Costume sellers around town have said that some of the classic costumes haven’t been selling as well as they used to, with shoppers opting for looks made popular by big film releases this year. Here’s what local businesses have noticed are flying off the shelves these days.
Pennywise
Dressing up as a clown didn’t make the National Retail Federation’s list of top costumes, but around the District, It is all the rage, following the release of the film’s sequel last month.
Lorenzo Caltagirone, store owner of Total Party—a.k.a. Total Fright, in Halloween season—says the shop had to re-order the costume of Pennywise, the red-haired clown dressed in a silver suit. Kayla Ashley, a cashier at Thrifty’s store on Georgia Ave., says she’s noticed several customers come in trying to find ways to put together a DIY version of the look.
According to Tony Hill, head of web and marketing of Virginia-based chain Party Depot, the store has been selling more of its “Carnevil” costumes than usual—that’s Party Depot’s own brand adaptation of the costume. The boys’ costume is especially popular at the Falls Church location.
“This year, seems to be the year of not-so-pretty girl costumes,” Hill says. “It’s about the scare.”
Spiderman
According to the NRF, 5.2 percent of children and 1.7 percent of adults around the country plan on dressing up as the web-slinging superhero. The hero is popular in local shops, which might have something to do with the release this summer of Spider-Man: Far From Home and 2018’s Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
For smaller places like Party Warehouse in Silver Spring, costumes based on movies aren’t always up to date, since it usually takes a year to get new costumes in store, says store manager Miriam Villegas. Every year the requests they receive are different, but a costume like Spiderman just seems to stick. This year, it’s the shop’s most popular costume, Villegas says.
“You know how the new generation is. They won’t forget Spiderman,” she says.
… and other Marvel superheroes
Nationally, Avengers costumes are popular among children and adults, with 3.9 percent of children and 2 percent of adults planning to dress up as one of the Marvel superheroes (Spiderman not included).
At Total Fright, Captain Marvel dominates; the costume has been popular ever since the film of the same name debuted earlier this year, says Caltagirone. Marvel characters have also been popular at places like Thrifty’s, which gets plenty of donations.
Stranger Things’ Eleven
Eleven, lead of the Netflix sci-fi horror series Stranger Things, is another heroine that’s gotten more popular, especially following the release of the show’s third season this summer. The character made an appearance on Spirit Halloween’s 2019 Hotlist forecasting the season’s trends.
Locally, it’s one of the most popular costumes among kids at Thrifty’s, Ashley says.
Whereas costumes used to be all about unicorns and other lighthearted Disney characters, Hill says the shift to horror heroes (and villains) might be due to kids having more scary movies at their fingertips. “You have Netflix shows [like] Stranger Things, all these scary-based shows on … streaming platforms,” Hill says.
DC Comics Characters
Hill was surprised when he noticed three customers asking for the DC Comics Red Hood costume at the Party Depot’s Falls Church location all in the one day. Now, the costume, based on a Batman villain, is sold out at that location, he says.
Another costume that gets its recent popularity from a big movie release is the Joker Heritage Collection costume from Party Depot, which is on sale for a whopping $169. The costume includes a bright duster-style jacket, purple pants, green vest and tie and leather gloves—a look based on The Dark Knight’s Joker, not the version of the villain portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix in this fall’s blockbuster Joker.
Here’s what people aren’t buying
At Total Fright/Total Party, Native American costume sales have plummeted, Caltagirone says.
“I’m thinking it stems from the whole Pocahontas Trump insensitivity,” Caltagirone says, referring to President Donald Trump’s history of calling Sen. Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas” as a slur about her Native American ancestry. The costumes had already lost popularity last year: He says he often noticed that customers would pass the shelves and turn the packaging around so that other customers wouldn’t see the costumes.
The new generation also seems like they’re over the classic: Witches, vampires, and the like haven’t been selling like they used to, some say.
“A lot of people have stopped doing vampire things, witches, and old school [costumes],” says Villegas of Party Warehouse. “The new generation looks like they’re not doing that stuff anymore. We still have it, but it just doesn’t sell a lot.”
But if folks are looking for something totally D.C. to don this Thursday, there’s always Baby Shark.
