2023’s Top Halloween Costumes Aren’t All Barbie Land Perfection

ACROSS AMERICA — Real-life Barbie dolls may try to paint Halloween 2023 pink, but they’ll get competition from other pop culture icons and traditional witches, vampires and ghosts, according to recent surveys.

Pink as the new orange this Halloween is no surprise, given the sensational success of the “Barbie” movie at the box office. The film has grossed more than $1.4 billion worldwide since its July 21 opening, and toy maker Mattel and Warner Bros. stand to make money from partnerships with more than 100 brands that have plastered their products in pink.

Spirit Halloween, the largest Halloween retailer in North America, is all in with an officially licensed “Barbie” movie costume and accessory collection. It includes duds for Ken, too.

Halloween won’t be all Barbie Land perfection, though. Costumes referencing other top pop culture moments are expected to be big this year, according to Good Housekeeping.

Robert Oppenheimer and Albert Einstein — from the other half of “Barbieheimer,” the simultaneous release in theaters of two blockbuster films — are sure to make Halloween appearances.

Be prepared for a parade of Taylor Swifts, Ted Lassos and Beyoncés, along with many little Harry Potters and Ariels from “The Little Mermaid,” teams of women from “A League of Their Own,” the Pink Ladies from “Grease,” Wednesday Addams from “Wednesday,” Maverick from the “Top Gun” franchise, and Mario and Luigi from “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.”

In other words, if it popped up in recent pop culture moments, it’ll likely pop up as a Halloween costume.

$4.1 Billion In Spending On Costumes

Classic witches, vampires and ghosts win the day, though, according to a National Retail Federation survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics.

The retail group expects Halloween celebrations may be more over the top than ever before. Halloween spending is estimated to reach a record $12.2 billion this year, exceeding pre-pandemic levels, the survey of 8,084 consumers found.

About half of Americans are planning to dress in costume, and among them, 69 percent plan to buy their Halloween get-ups, according to the survey. Total spending on costumes is expected to reach a record $4.1 billion, up from $3.6 billion in 2022.

Despite the popularity of the movie, the majority of adults who have already planned their costumes will dress up as witches (5.8 million) and vampires (2.4 million). But 1.8 million plan to step into Barbie Land, 1.4 million plan to dress up as Batman and 1.3 million said they’ll put on cat costumes. Cats, zombies, pirates, princesses, ghosts and Superman are also among adults’ top choices.

Among children, about 2.6 million plan to dress up as Spider-Man, 2 million as a princess, 1.6 million as a ghost, 1.5 million as a superhero and 1.4 million as a witch. Other top choices are Batman, Barbie, a zombie, Mario and Wednesday Addams.

Costumes for pets are big, too. The most popular are a pumpkin (11 percent), a hot dog (7 percent), a bat (4 percent), and a bumblebee and a spider (3 percent each). Other popular pet costumes are devcils, cats, lions, ghosts and witches.

Several newcomers joining the top costume rankings are also inspired by this year’s big movies and shows, according to the survey.

It’s Still A Fright Fest, Though

Another survey of 1,086 adults by Halloween Costumes also found witches, vampires and ghosts are top costumes, along with skeletons and zombies.

Almost half of the respondents (48 percent) chose Wednesday Addams as the top character to impersonate, followed by Beetlejuice (18 percent), Dracula (17 percent), Frankenstein (13 percent) and Slimer (4 percent).

Of course, not everyone wants to go along with the crowd. Pinterest has a plethora of do-it-yourself ideas for the costume challenged, collected under the heading, “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Many DIY Halloween costumes can be pulled together with clothes and other things people already have around the house. Good Housekeeping offers more than 100 ideas that range from dressing up as a piece of cake or crayons to Beth and Ripp from “Yellowstone.”

And if you really want to go big on Barbie or go back to the Dream House, all the inspiration you need is a picture snapped at the World Bog Snorkelling Championships held in Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales, on Aug. 27.