Hollywood and pop culture are having a big impact again this year on how adults and their children decide to dress for Halloween.
The National Retail Federation's (NRF) 2015 Halloween Consumer Top Costumes Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, finds Minions and “Star Wars” characters have each made an appearance on all three top costume lists -- adults, children's, and pets.
Little kids and big kids
Maintaining their 11 year reign, princess costumes will top the children’s costume list with an estimated 3.2 million tiny tots looking to dress the part. Another two million will be their favorite Disney “Frozen” character. Additionally, more than 1.8 million children will don a “Star Wars” costume and one million will select a little yellow Minion costume when they go trick or treating.
And, for the 11th year in a row, a witch came in as the top adult costume with more than 4.3 million adults going with old reliable. “Star Wars” characters ranked fifth for adults this year after tying for 12th last year: 1.4 million adults will suit up as Han Solo, Princess Leia, Yoda, or another “Star Wars” character this Halloween. Animal characters (2.4 million), “Batman” characters (two million), and zombie (1.9 million) round out the top five adult costumes.
Additionally, 774 million adults have chosen a political character as their preferred costume this year.
About one in 10 Halloweeners (12.9%) plan to dress their furry friends in costumes this year, and of the 80% of those surveyed who have already selected the costume, 10.6% say they'll choose a little round pumpkin for Kitty and Rover. Additionally, several pet owners will opt to put their four-legged friend in a “Star Wars” (eighth on the list) or Minion costume (11th).
“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,” said Prosper Insights Principal Analyst Pam Goodfellow. “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 what their own and even their pets' costumes.”