WASHINGTON, D.C. – Don’t be surprised if Buzz Lightyear or an Alice in Wonderland character crashes your Halloween party this year. The National Retail Federation’s 2010 Top Costumes survey, conducted by BIGresearch, found that nearly 120 million children, adults and their pets are likely to sport traditional as well as trendy costumes this year.
Proving old habits are hard to break, 4.3 million children will celebrate Halloween dressed as a princess. Princess costumes have topped NRF’s children’s top costume list for six consecutive years. Witches are the preferred adult costume this year (11.4 percent) and pets across the country will most likely dress as pumpkins (10.3 percent).
“Aiming to attract shoppers of all ages, retailers have already begun stocking their shelves with a wide variety of costumes, from classic favorites to pop-culture icons,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. “With more people than ever planning to dress up this Halloween, partygoers should not wait until last minute to buy their costumes.”
Pop culture and Hollywood still play a large role in costume choices for all ages. Thousands of children will hit the streets dressed as Buzz Lightyear (648,000) and Harry Potter characters (459,000) this year; both are new to the list. Nearly 1.8 million children will crawl through town as Spider-Man (#2) and 1.7 million will be a witch (#3).
Vampires (2.6 million) remain popular among adults, maintaining the number two spot two years in a row, and nearly two million adults will dress as pirates (1.9 million), coming in at third on the list. After falling off the radar last year, nurse costumes jumped all the way back up to the fourth spot. Alice in Wonderland characters made the adult costume list for the first time this year, tying with Star Wars characters (#16).
“Americans young and old love celebrating Halloween, especially given the variety of costumes and decorations that are available,” said Phil Rist, Executive Vice President, Strategic Initiatives, BIGresearch. “Creativity will reign this year as parents look for ways to save money while making sure their families’ costumes are the talk of the town.”
Consumers’ four-legged friends will stick to the more traditional options, including devil (9.7 percent), witch (5.1 percent), hot dog (3.9 percent) and bee (3.6 percent).
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Top Adult Costumes
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Top Children’s Costumes
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Top Pet Costumes
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1. Witch
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1. Princess
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1. Pumpkin
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2. Vampire
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2. Spider-Man
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2. Devil
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3. Pirate
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3. Witch
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3. Witch
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4. Nurse
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4. Pirate
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4. Hot Dog
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5. Wench/Tart/Vixen
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5. Disney Princess
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5. Bee/Cat (Tie)
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6. Cat
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6. Action/Super Hero
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6. Dog
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7. Zombie
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7. Ghost
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7. Superdog/Supercat
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8. Fairy
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8. Pumpkin/Vampire (Tie)
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8. Ghost
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9. Athlete/Batman (Tie)
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9. Batman
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9. Pirate
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10. Dracula
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10. Star Wars Character
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10. Bowties/Fancy Collar/Bandana
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About the Survey
NRF’s 2010 Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, was designed to gauge consumer behavior and shopping trends related to the Halloween season. The poll of 9,291 consumers was conducted from Aug. 31 – Sept. 8, 2010. The consumer poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.0 percent.