photo credit: juhansonin
It’s that time of year again, the time to put find that perfect costume for yourself and your children in order to make sure that any Halloween party you attend or Trick-or-Treating fest you chaperone is suitably in tune with the spirit of the day. There are plenty of costumes to choose from but with all of the choices one can get overwhelmed. Halloween costumes can be as simple as a white sheet with eye holes in order to create the illusion of a ghost or as elaborate as some of the things that are now easily found on the internet. Halloween is not just a scary night anymore, as many of the most popular costumes for all ages are anything but frightening. Rather, these costumes represent facets of pop culture that are more likely to be very relevant to a child’s life rather than being monstrous recreations of the things that go bump in the night. Here are some costume ideas based on the Halloween getups that are poised to be the most popular for the year of 2008.
Dressing up babies for Halloween is probably not much fun for the baby. Instead of comfortable pajamas, the baby has to wear stuffy costumes. But let’s face it, it is quite fun for the family to see the babies all dressed up for Halloween. Baby girls will feel right at home in a Baby Snow White Costume, while little tykes may have more fun in a UPS Driver Uniform, a humorous – and comfortable – way for Baby to pay his homage to the postal service. Babies also look adorable in the Deluxe Pea in the Pod Costume, a cute costume that resembles a green pea, except that the baby’s head will appear in place of the third pea. Although Baby may question your choice in costume when he or she gets older and sees the pictures, two of the most popular costumes this year are the Handsome Lil Wabbit costume and the Baby Strawberry costume. The popularity of the Star Wars franchise even has babies dressing up as characters from the movies, with a baby Princess Leia costume available for purchase. All of these costumes can be found on the Internet by performing a search with the name of the costume.
Little girls love playing dress-up, so Halloween, without the excessive gore or fright, is the perfect time to express this love. One of the hottest costumes in 2008 is Hannah Montana, with a gold jacket, gold top, black leggings, and a silver glitter belt comprising the ensemble. With the immense popularity of the Hannah Montana character, it is only natural that girls will want to dress just like her this Halloween, as imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Another timeless Halloween costume favorite among young girls is the Disney Princess Cinderella costume. With the light blue dress, the shimmering overskirt, the puffy sleeves, and the silver accents, the Cinderella costume allows every young girl to feel just like a princess this Halloween.
In the same vein as the Hannah Montana costume is the Sharpay costume. Sharpay is the main villain from the popular High School Musical franchise, and with the popularity of the franchise comes the urge of young girls to be just like the characters in the movie. Another timeless costume that will be popular on Halloween 2008 is the Dorothy costume, Dorothy of course the character from The Wizard of Oz. Although you will have to provide the ruby slippers, the dress and the hair bow are the important parts of the costume, making for a truly magical evening. No Halloween would be complete without the quintessential witch, but this Halloween, pretty witches are all the rage. Nobody ever said that witches all had to have large noses and grotesque noses, and costumes that highlight the pretty witches are going to be very popular this Halloween.
The boys are also going to want to go Trick-or-Treating, and for the free candy they need to put on a costume. Like the girls’ costumes, many of the most popular boys’ costumes are based on movies that came out just before the Halloween season. Indiana Jones has long been a favorite with boys of all ages, and the Indiana Jones costume will prove to be one of the hottest costumes this Halloween. Batman has long been a favorite, and he will also make plenty of appearances in a neighborhood near you. Anakin Skywalker costumes are all the rage this year, and also from the Star Wars franchise is the Clone Trooper costume, one that is iconic of the Star Wars franchise in its entirety. The Captain Black Pirate costume will be popular this Halloween, owing to the popularity of Pirates of the Caribbean. Boys will also love dressing up as the Incredible Hulk, post-transformation of course, in order to prove to everyone that they should just not be messed with.
Teenagers are growing out of the age of Trick-or-Treating but there are still plenty of Halloween parties for them to attend under the guise of a costume. Popular costumes for girls this year will be Indian Princess costumes, ones that allow every girl’s inner Sacajawea to come out. A strong retro movement has emerged in recent years, and this is reflected in the popularity of the Poodle Girl costume that will evoke images of a better time. Much of Halloween for teenagers is the reliving of childhood, which is perhaps the reason of the popularity of the Miss Muffet costume. Teenage boys that are also fans of anime may enjoy a Naruto costume, while most teenage boys will opt for a more humorous costume, one that allows them to be the center of attention at the party. Should he be comfortable dressing up as a Comical Cow or a Magical Tooth Fairy, the teenage boy is sure to draw some laughs from his friends.
Of course, Halloween would not be complete without an adult Halloween party. Popular costumes for these occasions include the Statue of Liberty costume and the Go Go Girl costume for women, and the Indiana Jones costume and Love Guru costume for men. Scooby Doo’s Shaggy and Daphne are also popular costume choices for men and women. Many couples choose to wear corresponding outfits for Halloween as well, and some of these include Bacon and Egg costumes, Peter Pan and Tinkerbell costumes, and Cinderella and Prince Charming costumes. Hippie Male and Hippie Female costumes go over well in some circles, just as Super Beer Man and Super Beer Woman go over well in others. Adult costumes are privy to the imagination and creativity of adults.
And of course with Halloween just a few days before the 2008 Presidential Election, Barack Obama, John McCain and Sarah Palin costumes are sure to be a hit. Presidential Halloween costumes have long been popular – Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon masks are common for Halloween year in and year out.
All in all, there are plenty of costume ideas that are poised to be extremely popular this Halloween season. While some have been Halloween staples for decades, others are based on popular trends that are occurring today, such as the costumes based on characters from High School Musical, The Dark Knight, and Hannah Montana. Of course, a popular subset of Halloween costumes this year will be homemade Halloween costumes that celebrate certain individual aspects of the person wearing them, or good old-fashioned grotesque Halloween masks designed to startle anyone who is unfortunate enough to gaze upon them.
