By Sophia Wiener
As the annual holiday gauntlet approaches, it’s time to throw down the beach shovels and pick up witch’s brooms and plastic pumpkins, preferably filled with candy. And if you need help deciding on the perfect Halloween ensemble for yourself or your little ones, we’ve looked into this year’s most popular costumes, from superheroes to supervillains, viral trends to viral jokes.
Top of the list are undoubtedly the eponymous stars of the summer’s superhero blockbuster, “Deadpool & Wolverine,” according to both Google search trends and Yaritza Luna of Eatontown’s Party City. “We already have people coming in asking for Deadpool and Wolverine costumes,” Luna said. Kids under 16 interested in dressing as Deadpool may run into a problem, though. “Disney doesn’t want to sell costumes of R-rated superheroes to children,” and Party City agrees. Young fans of Wolverine, a well-established – and not quite so foul-mouthed – character, will face fewer issues finding that costume.
Movies are absolutely the main wellspring for 2024’s popular costumes, according to a combination of Amazon top sellers, Google search trends, and Party City highlights. Other expected big-seller costumes for kids include Beetlejuice, as the 36-year-old movie’s sequal, “Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice” opened in the U.S. Sept. 6.
The massively popular Disney franchise Descendants released a new movie in August, and main character Red’s punky crimson look will be a big hit. “Inside Out 2,” the summer’s biggest movie, was another popular search, and its wide cast of human characters and colorful emotions will provide fertile ground for kids’ imaginations.
For older teens and adults, the sequel to “Joker,” “Joker: Folie á Deux,” starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, arrives in theaters in early October; it would be surprising if its leads don’t make for popular couples and singles costumes. The first “Joker,” elevated by Phoenix’s charismatic performance as the infamous villain, was a cultural phenomenon; Lady Gaga plays his much-beloved supervillainess love interest Harley Quinn in the sequel.
Outside of movies, pickings are sparser. Cowgirls were a big TikTok trend earlier this year, helmed by a rise in coastal cowgirl fashion and the release of a popular Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders documentary, so it’s been a Halloween search trend. Based on Amazon sales, you’re also likely to see at least one overheated kid stumbling around in a giant inflatable dinosaur costume.
A more unexpected breakout is Raygun, the viral breakdancing “star” of the Olympics. As people cooed over “pommel horse guy,” Simone Biles, and a South Korean markswoman whose gear seemed to come from a cyberpunk future, Raygun became the Internet’s villain of the week for using the Olympics breakdancing competition to strut contemporary dance moves. Her signature green breakdancing outfit is being widely sold online.
But not everybody is looking for the next big thing. Maria Flynn, general manager of Shrewsbury’s Party Corner, has a completely different perspective – one driven by necessity. “What are people going to be looking for? It’s impossible to know,” she said. “We go to the shows (and) they tell us, ‘Everybody’s going to be looking for this.’ We buy some. Nothing.”
Rather than trying to compete with what bigger stores and Amazon can spend on diverse costumes and extensive sizing, Party Corner stocks a variety of evergreen public-domain ensembles. But it really shines when it comes to helping older kids and adults craft and accessorize their own creations.
“(Teenagers) want to be their favorite singer. Their favorite people on television,” Flynn said. “We bring a lot of makeup, bracelets, wigs.”
When customers come to the store and say, “I want to be so-and-so,” Flynn asks them to show her a picture and then works with them to pull a costume together.
“The teenagers, 20-, 30-year-olds,” she said, “don’t want to be a pirate, a superhero. But they want to be someone famous, someone special. And those extra five, 10 minutes we spend helping them… that’s where the fun comes in.”
For those looking for something different, the Monmouth County Park System has another option. As part of its focus on sustainability and education, from Sept. 23-28, participants can go to designated drop-off locations to swap gently worn costumes for tokens. The tokens can be exchanged for new-ish costumes Sept. 29.
“A lot of the time, especially for kids, they wear it one year and they outgrow it. If you don’t have someone to give it to, where will it end up? This is a nice alternative,” explained Veronica Puza, a park naturalist.
For more information about the costume swap, visit monmouthcountyparks.com.
The article originally appeared in the September 12 – 18, 2024 print edition of The Two River Times.
