The only thing more important than the candy you receive on Halloween is the costume you wear. After all, it’ll be commemorated in pictures decades from now.
Parents shelled out nearly $1 billion for their children’s costumes last year, according to a survey by BIGresearch Consumer Intentions & Actions, and the average person spent about $66 on costumes, candy and decorations, says the National Retail Federation.
Costumes accounted for $23.37 of that cost, and took up the largest portion of a person’s Halloween budget, the survey found. They also spent an average of $20.29 on candy, $18.66 on decorations and $3.95 on spooky greeting cards.
And while dressing up may have been something fun and whimsical decades ago, it’s become an even bigger, more important and costlier event today. The National Retail Federation found that last year – the latest year for which data is available – the highest percentage of people in the survey’s history were expected to don costumes: 40 percent, up from 33 percent the previous year. Twelve percent were planning on dressing up their pets.
Halloween was expected to come second only to the December holidays in terms of decorations, with 50 percent of people planning on adding some orange-and-black décor to their homes or yards.
Popular costumes for kids
With the bulk of the money still being spent on costumes, the outfit you select for your child had better be worth the money.
While Dora the Explorer, Handy Manny and “Toy Story” costumes were huge last Halloween, costumes this year will be more gory, says Laura Texter, assistant buyer for Halloween Adventure in New York.
Little children are expected to be dressed in Green Lantern costumes after the 2011 movie based on the DC Comics superhero, while older kids and teenagers will be decked out in vampire, zombie, “Pirates of the Caribbean” and Hive Monster – from the Nick show “The Troop” – gear, Texter says.
And while “Cars,” “Toy Story” and Dora are still very popular, they’re fading from their top spots last year.
Saving money
Texter finds that most people spend between $30 and $40 a costume when they go to the store to buy a ready-made outfit. With 1,814 costume rental and retail stores in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, it won’t be hard to find a place to buy your outfit, even at the last minute.
But making one for just a few dollars at home can also work. With this year’s zombie theme, it’s easy to make an inexpensive outfit.
“Get cheap makeup kits and start from there, and create your own costume,” Texter says. “Get green and black makeup, and some gauze to become a zombie. The more creative you are, the less money it will cost.”
Costumes accounted for $23.37 of that cost, and took up the largest portion of a person’s Halloween budget, the survey found. They also spent an average of $20.29 on candy, $18.66 on decorations and $3.95 on spooky greeting cards.
And while dressing up may have been something fun and whimsical decades ago, it’s become an even bigger, more important and costlier event today. The National Retail Federation found that last year – the latest year for which data is available – the highest percentage of people in the survey’s history were expected to don costumes: 40 percent, up from 33 percent the previous year. Twelve percent were planning on dressing up their pets.
Halloween was expected to come second only to the December holidays in terms of decorations, with 50 percent of people planning on adding some orange-and-black décor to their homes or yards.
Popular costumes for kids
With the bulk of the money still being spent on costumes, the outfit you select for your child had better be worth the money.
While Dora the Explorer, Handy Manny and “Toy Story” costumes were huge last Halloween, costumes this year will be more gory, says Laura Texter, assistant buyer for Halloween Adventure in New York.
Little children are expected to be dressed in Green Lantern costumes after the 2011 movie based on the DC Comics superhero, while older kids and teenagers will be decked out in vampire, zombie, “Pirates of the Caribbean” and Hive Monster – from the Nick show “The Troop” – gear, Texter says.
And while “Cars,” “Toy Story” and Dora are still very popular, they’re fading from their top spots last year.
Saving money
Texter finds that most people spend between $30 and $40 a costume when they go to the store to buy a ready-made outfit. With 1,814 costume rental and retail stores in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, it won’t be hard to find a place to buy your outfit, even at the last minute.
But making one for just a few dollars at home can also work. With this year’s zombie theme, it’s easy to make an inexpensive outfit.
“Get cheap makeup kits and start from there, and create your own costume,” Texter says. “Get green and black makeup, and some gauze to become a zombie. The more creative you are, the less money it will cost.”
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