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ROME CITY — “He saw it in the store, and cried mommy I want to be Peter Pan.”
That’s how two-year-old Jordan Klump’s mother Casey Lackey of LaGrange found a Halloween costume for her son for trick-or-treat. He tried out the costume at the recent Gene Stratton-Porter State Historic Site’s Owlo-Ween event in Rome City and received a treat.
Saturday is Halloween and you have only six days to find a costume for that special Halloween party. Even more pressing is finding costumes for your young ones.
Major department stores like Walmart, Mejir, Kmart and Target stock hundreds of off-the-rack costumes for the family, and costumes and accessories can be ordered from Internet websites, but for personal service in choosing a costume that fits or for advice and supplies in making your own costume check out specialty stores like Celebrations in Auburn and Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts in Angola.
Take care of the children first. They’ll stop nagging you about a Halloween costume and it’s fun to find something they want or something you can make for them. Ask them.
Morgan Eytcheson, 4, of Ligonier, will be a ballerina, and Jaxson Copas, 4, of Albion, is mad about Spider-Man so he’s wearing a Spider-Man costume on Halloween to collect his favorite treat - Skittles.
Star Wars characters remain popular with children even though the original movie is 33 years old. When asked about his Halloween costume, Andrew Eytcheson, 6, said he will be a Star Wars storm trooper complete with the distinctive storm trooper helmet, and Jakob Copas, 8, has his Star Wars clone warrior outfit ready for trick-or-treat.
You can learn what’s popular from retailers before buying a costume. Last year some of the most sought after teen-age and adult costumes were anything to do with pirates like Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, but retailers say this year it’s all about vampires, again because of the proliferation of vampire movies like the Twilight saga.
At the Celebrations Party Outlet store in Auburn, store owner Kimberly Wiebe said vampire costumes and accessories are popular with women. “They like something sexy but not too raunchy,” she said, holding up some feather boas. For guys it’s anything humorous like a funny wig or hat, even make-up. “Men don’t like to dress up too much,” she said.
Pirate maiden, cat woman, bat woman, Gothic maiden, witch, Lady Bug and Alice Queen of Hearts are among the popular female costumes, according to the website islandcrisis.net. Lee Ann Oberlin, store team leader at Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts in Auburn, said she helped a female customer pick out material and make a bee costume.
Hippie gear circa 1960s is popular with teens and adults with the 40th anniversary of Woodstock this year. Along the store aisles of costumes, Wiebe picked out a costume kit with a long-haired wig and tie-dyed shirt that could make the wearer fit in with the counter-culture generation.
In a year marked by some shocking celebrity deaths, Halloween feels even more macabre. “When you go to a party there will be a person dressed as Michael Jackson, no doubt,” said Jalen Getz, president and CEO of Buyseason Inc. The Celebrations store ran out of Michael Jackson gloves, said Weibe.
Elvis is a popular adult costume, according to Oberlin. Other popular dead celebrity costumes include Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon and infomercial pitchman Billy Mays.
“People like to be current,” said Getz. Masks of political figures like President Barak Obama and Bill Clinton are popular. Oberlin’s store ran out of Obama masks, and Weibe’s store had a few left last week.
Superheroes are big with boys, and it’s easy to make a superhero costume like Superman and Batman, according to Oberlin. Instead of buying packaged costumes, more people are piecing together looks with accessories and clothes from their closets or fabric from a fabric store.
“How long it takes to make a costume depends on how elaborate you want to be,” said Oberlin. For those skilled in sewing, she’ll start them with a pattern, and select the fabric. One of Oberlin’s store staff made a simple Mario costume for her son and a princess dress for her daughter with fabric from the store.
Here’s a list of five costumes that most people can put together using items they already have on hand: tourist, Hawaiian shirt, Bermuda shorts, sunglasses and camera; gypsy, girls - layer two or three dresses, peasant blouse and lots of jewelry, and guys - loose pants tucked in boots, unbuttoned shirt with gold necklaces and scarf around the head; cowboy, jeans, western plaid shirt, boots, bandanna around neck; nerd, wear clothes a size too small with shirt buttoned all the way, pants pulled up too high, white socks and pocket protector.
Guess I won’t have to invest in a costume this year. I’ll wear what I do every day and be a natural nerd.
Top Halloween
costumes for kids
1. Princess
2. Witch
3. Spider-Man
4. Pirate
5. Pumpkin
6. Vampire
7. Disney Princess
8. Star Wars Character
9. Tinker Bell
10. Batman
Last-minute
costume ideas
Here’s a list of five costumes that most people can put together using items they already have on hand:
tourist: Hawaiian shirt, Bermuda shorts, sunglasses and camera
gypsy: Girls, layer two or three dresses, peasant blouse and lots of jewelry, and guys, loose pants tucked in boots, unbuttoned shirt with gold necklaces and scarf around the head
cowboy: Jeans, western plaid shirt, boots, bandanna around neck
nerd: Wear clothes a size too small with shirt buttoned all the way, pants pulled up too high, white socks and pocket protector.
Trick-Or-Treat hours
Here are the trick-or-treat hours for the
four-county area:
Noble County
Albion: 5:30-7:30 p.m. Saturday,
Oct. 31.
Avilla: 5-7 p.m. Saturday,
Oct. 31.
Kendallville: 10-10:45 a.m., downtown businesses (see left rail on C1 for more information), 6-8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31.
Cromwell: 5:30-7:30 p.m. Saturday,
Oct. 31.
Rome City: 5:30-7:30 p.m. Saturday,
Oct. 31.
Ligonier: 6:30-8:30 p.m. Thursday,
Oct. 29.
LaGrange County
LaGrange: 5-7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31.
Wolcottville: 5-7 p.m., Saturday,
Oct. 31.
Shipshewana: 5:30-8:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31.
Topeka: 5-7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31.
DeKalb County
Ashley: 5:30-7:30 p.m., Saturday,
Oct. 31.
Butler: 5-7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31.
Auburn: 4-6 p.m. downtown businesses, citywide 6-8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30.
Garrett: 5-7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31.
Waterloo: 5-7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31.
Steuben County
Angola: 5:30-7:30 p.m. Saturday,
Oct. 31.
Fremont: 5-7 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 31.
Hudson: 5-7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31.
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