It’s the most wonderful time of the year – abandoned storefronts are reinvented into Halloween spirit shops. Yes, spooky season is officially here, and with it comes the all-important question: What will you or your kids dress up as for the big night?
If you’re struggling to come up with Halloween costume ideas, a new survey from the National Retail Federation might help. The survey reveals the top ten costumes for Halloween this year, so you can keep up with the trends or know what to avoid if you don’t want to inadvertently twin with other trick-or-treaters.
The NFR survey collected data on consumers’ Halloween habits for more than a decade. The organization predicts Americans will spend $11.6 billion on Halloween this year, down slightly from record spending in 2023, when spending soared to $12.2 billion.
Although spending is down this year, consumers are now more likely to start their shopping season earlier, with 47% of survey participants starting shopping before October.
“Consumers in the 25-34 age group remain interested in early Halloween shopping, with 56% of shoppers in this group starting their shopping before October,” said Phil Rist, executive vice president of strategy at Prosper. “Their love for the holiday A key factor in this trend is that nearly half of people say they plan to shop early because Halloween is their favorite holiday.”
The NFR predicts that Americans will spend the most on clothing and accessories, with both expected to reach $3.8 billion.
So, what clothes do we buy?
The most popular children’s costume this year is Spider-Man, which also topped the list last year. This is not surprising since we start with Enter the Spider-Verse There are endless variations of the classic Spider-Man, so any kid can make their own costume.
In the children’s category, the Ghost and the Princess follow Spider-Man.
For adults, too, The Witch retains its No. 1 spot from last year. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
Vampires and cats take second and third place. “Beetlejuice” also reappears in the top 10, likely driven by a 2024 sequel.
Of course, don’t forget the pets. What could be better than dressing up your little pumpkin as a little pumpkin! Pumpkins also ranked No. 1 in the pet category last year.
According to the NFR survey, here are the top 10 most popular garments in 2024:
Children’s clothing:
- spiderman
- ghost
- Princess
- witch
- superhero
- batman
- vampire
- pumpkin
- disney princess
- superman
Adult clothing:
- witch
- vampire
- cat
- batman
- pirate
- ghost
- clown
- spiderman
- zombie
- Beetlejuice
Pet clothing:
- pumpkin
- hot dog
- bat
- ghost
- bumblebee
- cat
- spider
- witch
- lion
- devil/demon
Read the entire investigation here.
