WASHINGTON – Halloween is just around the corner and many Americans are starting to prepare their costumes or those for their family.
Patricia Volpe is trying to put her costume together to save a few bucks. She was shopping at Total Party in Ballston for the extras to complete her Robin Hood costume.
“I found a costume online for like 40 to 50 bucks, so I’m trying to find something, even if I’m piecing it together, that’s less expensive,” Volpe says.
Manager Lorenzo Caltagirone is seeing a lot of customers who have requests for superhero costumes, flapper dresses and zombies.
“The little kids even like these scary costumes. They’re not just for the boys. The little girls like zombies and scary costumes,” Caltagirone says.
Costumes related to TV characters will also be a bit hit this year, says Shane Strobel, a district sales manager with Spirit Halloween.
He says Miley Cyrus costumes, complete with teddy and hair accessories have been a huge seller. He warns supplies are running low.
Duck Dynasty and Adventure Time show costumes are also hot.
A recent National Retail Federation‘s 2013 Top Costumes survey found adults will be going traditional this Halloween — more than 5 million people plan to dress as a witch, 2.9 million as Batman.
Of the kids, 3.8 million reported they planned on dressing as a princess, 2.8 million an animal and 2.5 million a superhero.
Halloween is not just for people anymore. The trend of dressing up the family pet continues this year with 7.9 percent of people surveyed saying they planned on putting a costume on their pet.
The average person will spend around $75 on Halloween candy, costumes and decorations this year, the survey says.
WTOP’s Brennan Haselton contributed to this report. Follow @WTOP on Twitter.
