This Halloween could get weird.
Costume choices are often drawn from figures featured in contemporary news accounts, and this year, Harvey Weinstein has been all over the news. That’s not going to be pretty.
“At least 30% of consumers are trying to spend no money on their costumes, so that means they’ll be digging in their closets looking for something to wear. So it’s possible we could see people in the media as costumes,” says Sarah Hollenbeck, a shopping expert with offers.com, a website that tracks trends and cheap deals.
The National Retail Federation predicts that we’ll spend a record $9.1 billion, up from $8.4 billion last year. Hollenbeck says that averages out to about $75 per person in the U.S.
Seven out of 10 people report they will be participating in Halloween festivities in some manner this year.
For those dressing in costume, among the adults witches will be the top choice for women. “Pop culture closely follows the classic look,” Hollenbeck says of costume selections. “We have a lot of people tell us they are dressing as a movie character or TV character such as from Game of Thrones.” Kids, as usual, will dress up like their favorite action or super hero, it’s predicted. Batman and Ironman will be racing up and down sidewalks, bags of candy in hand, Disney princesses possibly leading the pack.
10% of people will dress their pet as a pumpkin.