Displays of flirty costumes inside local Halloween stores evoke a scene from the 2004 film “Mean Girls,” which glibly lampoons the nylon-thin line between “costume” and “lingerie.”
“What are you?” queries a character named Gretchen Wieners, ogling at her scandalously dressed companion, Karen Smith.
Flaunting a risque, baby doll negligee that stops short of mid-thigh, a perturbed Smith rolls her eyes and cocks her hips.
“I’m a mouse,” she huffs, pointing an index finger to a pair of fuzzy ears perched atop her head. “Duh.”
As Halloween warehouses come and go with the seasons, so does the fascinating trend of what’s hot (Angry Birds; Katy Perry; Charlie Sheen) what’s so last year (Lady Gaga; Jersey Shore), what’s turning heads (the Neytiri outfit from “Avatar”), what’s funny (a blind referee), what’s scary (zombie babies), what’s disgusting (a carnivorous rat dining on the upper torso of an animatronic zombie) and what’s ridiculously adorable, like the “too cute to spook” garden gnome outfit for children.
It’s all part of a $6.86 billion dollar industry – the amount shoppers are expected to spend on Halloween this year, according to the National Retail Foundation. A recent study listed on the NRF’s website states the average consumer will shell out $72.31 on decorations, costumes and candy; a $6 increase from 2010. Various reports, including the Huffington Post, cite Halloween as the second-highest grossing commercial holiday after Christmas. The NRF estimates $465.6 billion will be spent during holiday sales during November and December.
At the Halloween Bootique (next door to competitor Halloween City on San Ysidro Avenue) profits gross between $3,000 to $6,000 on the weekends, according to store manager Sophia Miranda. Chris Pisano, 23, assistant store manager of Spirit located at 950 Renz Lane next to Old Navy, said his branch rakes in an estimated $25,000 between Sept. 2 and Nov. 1.
It’s certainly an edgier, more commercial climate than Halloween in the 1950s, when homemade cardboard robots, modest cheerleaders in mid-calf skirts and white sheets with cut-out eye holes were the norm.
Today, sultry versions of the last thing you’d consider “sexy” (the Tin Man? Chewbacca? The clown fish from “Finding Nemo?”) demonstrate that all it takes is a little fishnet, spandex and high heels to slap an X-rating on your favorite childhood movie character.
“For tweens, we have a separate line of costumes,” said Pisano. “But it’s ridiculous, in my opinion. They’re just as skimpy and provocative as the adults.”
Costume manufacturers “even butchered Disney down,” he quipped, such as the racy Belle ensemble resembling the heroine from “Beauty and the Beast.”
Unlike the saucy numbers manufactured by adult-oriented brands such as Leg Avenue, however, which seemingly creates most of its outfits from the universal ingredients of corset, short skirt and thigh-high stockings, Pisano said the “tween” outfits “at least come with leggings.”
“Their parents will tell them, ‘you’re going to wear these, or you’re not going to go out at all,'” he laughed.
If women want a flattering, but not overly revealing, guise, both Pisano and his wife, Spirit employee Katie Pisano, said the attractive “Officer Bombshell” ($69.99) outfit is a crowd pleaser.
“That’s the costume I would choose, if I wasn’t a man,” said Chris.
Halloween’s other mega moneymaker besides sexy duds?
Scream-inducing props.
Patrons who’ve yet to browse the motion-activated merchandise still flying off shelves at Spirit, Halloween City and the Halloween Bootique can go ahead and slash “jumping spider” off their shopping list.
Gilroy trick-or-treaters should take heed: This widely sought-after animatronic arachnid – which pops out of hiding at unsuspecting candy seekers – is like the iPad 2 of Halloween. Beware of eight-legged fiends lurking in shadowy, front lawn bushes, come Oct. 31.
“We can’t keep it in stock for more than four hours,” said Pisano. “We even had to sell our window display.”
An eerie, life-size figurine of Michael Myers, the knife-wielding serial killer from the “Halloween” films, is also a best-seller according to Spirit Sales Assistant Drew Valdez.
“Pretty gross, huh,” he said, stopping to stare at a mechanical zombie baby as it whispered “die, die, die.”
Valdez said a repeat customer from Morgan Hill – who spends $2,000 to $3,000 each year on spooky accouterment – purchased 16 of the menacing infants ($59.99 a piece) for his “evil daycare.”
Over at Halloween City, district manager David Alanis agreed “our animated stuff flies off the shelves.”
As for which costume is trending in popularity, “things you think would phase out over the years are still a mainstay,” Alanis said.
Licensed products such as the characters Angelica, Jack Sparrow and Hector Barbossa from the latest installment of Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, along with zombies and Smurfs are still popular.
Still, bearded buccaneers don’t hold a flame to this season’s hottest item, which is red, round and angry all over.
“Angry Birds is crazy right now,” said Pisano, of the costume inspired by an epidemically popular cell phone video game that’s been called the Super Mario of the 21st century.
All managers in Gilroy’s three Halloween superstores said the children’s sizes of Angry Birds costumes sold out online weeks ago.
The pint-sized Rye Adam Davis, however, is content with a classic American superhero over a ubiquitous, computer-animated fowl.
“Take that, bad guy!” he declared, thumping his dad, Gilroy native Brock Davis, in the knee with a shield while testing the capabilities of a Captain America costume inside Halloween City.
The 4-year-old was in search of a mask that day; the crowning accessory needed to complete his muscular ensemble.
“My superpower?” he replied, considering the question. “These shoes. They’re super fast.”
Rye proceeded to jet down the aisle at light speed, demonstrating his ability to out-maneuver garlic-thieving ghosts, goblins and ghouls.
Safe to say, the fate of Gilroy is in good hands.
