Everyone seems to have great ideas on what to be for Halloween the day after last year’s Halloween. “I wish I wrote that down,” said Lisa D’Antonio, 23, of Jersey City. “I get so many great ideas on Halloween, then I forget. I think I’ll be a Sesame Street character this year, maybe the one in the trash can. I have a lot of green fabric at home.” D’Antonio said she makes all of her costumes by hand. “Store costumes are expensive and never look as good as they do on the package.” She plans on trick-or-treating this year and said she’s never missed the occasion. “There’s no such thing as being too old for fun,” she said. “I’ll never stop.”
DIY costumes like the one D’Antonio is planning are in this year. According to a national survey of more than 1,000 Americans commissioned by Goodwill, 57 percent of respondents said they preferred DIY costumes over packaged ones. In addition, more people plan to dress up this year than in 2014, with men planning to dress up increasing 20 percent and women increasing 5 percent.
Nowadays, Halloween is more a celebration of popular culture than the traditional remembrance of the dead. Popular costumes this year will take their cues from the most identifiable characters from mass media. Tykreika, an employee at Party City in North Bergen, said, “The most popular costume for girls is Harley Quinn and for guys it’s Ghostbusters.”
“We don’t know [what we want to be yet]. We’re still deciding.” – Teresa F. and Esperanza J.
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Harley Quinn, the sexualized DC Comics supervillain played by Margot Robbie in this year’s blockbuster, “Suicide Squad,” is popular at Spirit Halloween in Union City also, according to employees surveyed there. According to Goodwill’s in-store survey, even DIY’s are trying to create a Harley Quinn costume from used garments, with the sexy supervillain ranking number nine in most popular costumes for women. But that kind of costume will likely upset the 63 percent of Goodwill survey respondents who disapprove of “sexy costumes.”
For men, the Spirit Halloween employees said, both the Joker, also from “Suicide Squad,” and Deadpool, another DC character, are the most popular packaged costumes.
Kids on costumes
Desiree Rodriguez of Bayonne said she and her kids, all of whom go to Midtown Community School, are trick-or-treating on Broadway together. “My kids are dressing up. I dress like a mommy,” she said. Edgar Fuentes, 4, said, “I’m wearing Halloween clothes … Spider-Man.” His older brother Samuel said he plans to be Iron Man because, “he can fly,” even though Edgar chimed in that “Spider-Man can also fly by spinning webs.” Samantha Rodriguez plans to dress up as Little Red Riding Hood’s younger sister, Sirus Hood. “If I don’t get that costume, I’ll be a storm trooper,” she said.
Isiah Zurita, 5, of Union City said, “I want to be Eazy-E, because of my mom.” His mother, Peachez Mavin, said dressing up as the famed, late, California hip-hop artist of the 1990s rap group, N.W.A., is a political statement. “The country is a no better place now than it was when [Eazy-E] died,” Mavin said. “He was a great figure and stood up for what he believed in.” Isiah’s second costume is in the true classic spirit of Halloween. “A ghost,” he said. “Of Eazy-E.” So one day, he will be a live Eazy-E, and the next he will be an apparition of the same figure.
Casey T., a 4th grader in Weehawken, said he wants to be Captain America, while Roger P., an elementary school student in Union City wants to be a clown, and Sebastian, his younger brother, said he plans to be a T-Rex.
Teresa F., a sophomore at Memorial High School in West New York who was walking home with her friend Esperanza J., said, “We don’t know [what we want to be yet]. We’re still deciding.”
“We want matching costumes,” said Esperanza.
Rory Pasquariello may be reached at roryp@hudsonreporter.com. Reporter intern Gelber Castillo contributed to this story.