On All Hallows Eve, little yellow Minions, pint-size Yodas, and pretty pink princesses–not to mention ghosts, goblins, rock stars, witches, superheroes, and cowboys–will roam through the neighborhoods in search of bite-size pieces of sugary goodness.
It’s All About the Force (and the Minions)
The Minions as well as Yoda and his friends from “Star Wars” are among the top costumes that adults, children, and even pets will be donning on Halloween, according to the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) 2015 Halloween Consumer Top Costumes Survey. Prosper Insights & Analytics conducted the poll of 6,754 consumers from September 1-8, 2015.
More than 1.8 million children will trick or treat dressed as “Star Wars” characters, while 1 million will choose to become Minions, those dungaree- and goggle-wearing loyal yellow servants.
“As we’ve seen for several years, Hollywood and pop culture both have a tremendous impact on how adults and their children decide to dress the part each Halloween, and it’s evident some of the biggest newsmakers of the year will be out in full force this fall,” says NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay.
Princesses and Witches Rule, Too
As for the princess costumes–they top the kids’ costume list for the 11th year in row. In fact, about 3.2 million little tikes will be living out their favorite fairytales dressed in stunning silky gowns with sparkling jewels. Another 2 million children will become their favorite Disney “Frozen” characters–Anna, Elsa, and that adorable little snow guy, Olaf.
And for the 11th year in a row the witch costume came in as the top adult costume, with more than 4.3 million adults going with the old standby. “Star Wars” characters are also big with the grown ups, ranking 5th for adults this year after tying for 12th last year.
Han Solo, Princess Leia, Yoda! Oh, my!
According to the NRF, 1.4 million adults will channel Han Solo, Princess Leia, Yoda, or other beloved “Star Wars” characters this Halloween. Animal characters (2.4 million), “Batman” characters (2 million) and zombies (1.9 million) round out the top five adult costumes. And if all that wasn’t scary enough, 774,000 adults are planning to dress as their favorite political characters this year.
About one in 10 of the lovers of all things Halloween (12.9%) will dress their furry friends in costumes this year. Of the 80% of those surveyed who have already chosen their pets’ costumes, 10.6% have decided to turn Kitty and Spot into little round pumpkins. A few pet owners plan to outfit their four-legged friend in “Star Wars” (8th on the list) or Minion costumes (11th).
The NRF estimates that 68 million Americans will dress up this Halloween and another 20 million pet owners will dress up their pets. And total spending for the holiday will hit $6.9 billion, including an average of $27.33 spent on each costume.
“It’s easier than ever for consumers to find creative Halloween costumes given the popularity of Pinterest and Instagram and the immediate access to pop culture trends,” says Pam Goodfellow, an analyst at Prosper Insights & Analytics. “It’s always a nice surprise to see what tops the lists each year and to see just how creative people will get when it comes to their own and even their pets’ costumes.”
Here is a great infographic from the Opensky Merchant Community Blog that shows this data from the National Retail Federation:
