A Harvest and Halloween Handbook
Pumpkin spice-scented thank yous to Rhonda Cowan, co-owner of Etoile Costumes and Gift Shop in Tarzana, CA. She has once again come through with her picks for the top costumes for Halloween ’17. Rhonda and her sister Sue work with movie studios and customers seeking mid-to-high-end costume sales and rentals.
If you thought the creepy clown scares last year were entertaining, you probably won’t be surprised that this year’s top costume is the shape-shifting homicidal clown from Stephen King’s book “IT.” Also known as “Pennywise,” the clown takes the number one spot for teens and adults. (I’ve never read King and am not a fan of the genre so the only thing I know about it is what I’ve gathered from reviews. Sorry Moms.)
But the prognosis gets somewhat better as the list goes on. According to Rhonda;
“…For boys Spiderman, Superman, Batman, Ironman, Captain America, Thor and scary clowns in general. Teen boys are not so much into the superheroes, except Ironman, Thor and Loki + pirates and inflatable costumes like T-Rex & Godzilla.
For girls, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Cat Woman, the new Belle, Harley Quinn. Teen girls like Cat Woman, Wonder Woman & Harley Quinn. Witches seem to be trending again this year for younger girls and ladies.
Men are always sort all over the place, though I think Pennywise and Thor and Loki will do well. They prefer higher quality rentals so a lot go with pirates and cowboys and Game of Thrones or 20’s gangsters/Gatsby. The older teen girls and adult ladies are looking at Harley Quinn, the new Wonder Woman, Cat Woman, Game of Thrones, 20’s Flappers/Gatsby and Pirate wenches. Then we have a group that are into Steampunk and the Goths go with vampires, but they want to be beautiful vamps.
With rentals it’s really all over the place, but vamps, pirates, cowboys and Indians, 20’s, 50’s, Renaissance, French Revolution and I’m thinking Hamilton will be popular with the adults again this year…it’s a great look. Romans and Cleopatra are always favorites too. Men usually want something easy, or the other end, totally off the edge elaborate. Women just want to look beautiful and sexy without being sleazy. The sexy costumes we used to do great business with have really died down. Hope this helps.”
Yes it does, thank you! So depending on your sensibilities and taste, hit the costumers or sewing patterns early to get your top picks for your little pumpkins. And don’t forget to download your copy of Amazon.com’s “Hot New Picks in Design” award winning A Harvest and Halloween Handbook for party plans and recipes for your happy Halloween. As the Bard said, “All the world’s a stage” (on Halloween ; that’s my take on it.}
For more whimsy and fun, check out my Pinterest costume board!
