By KATHY KIRBY
kkirby@muncie.gannett.com
Pay attention, kids.
With Halloween falling on a Saturday night this year, look for more adults — maybe even your parents (perish the thought!) — in costumes.
“You’ll be seeing a lot of adult flappers and gangsters, or costumes from other time periods, like the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s and ’80s,” said Troy Davis, owner of the Party Wizards Costume Shop in Muncie. “There is a resurgence in medieval costumes, and pirates, French maids and zombies are as popular as ever.”

Davis’s store has costumes for purchase or rental.
Going to Halloween parties as an adult group dressed in theme also is a big trend this year, he said.
“We have rental costumes for three, four, five, six people with themes like Wizard of Oz, Shrek, Flintstones, The Three Musketeers or a whole group of M&Ms,” he said. “People want to be pretty distinguished in their costumes.”
For adults going solo, Michael Jackson and Madonna are popular looks, he added.
According to the National Retail Federation’s 2009 Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, 47 million adults plan to dress up for Halloween this year.
Witches take the top spot for adult costumes, followed by vampires and pirates.

Some witches will have a different or more contemporary look, according to Pat Coppock, owner of Anderson Costumes Inc. in Chesterfield.
“One customer insisted on a red wig for her witch’s outfit,” she said. “People love certain traditional costumes, but like to change small bits and pieces. The hair becomes involved a lot.”

Vampires also have a more modern-day, mussy-haired, vans-clad look instead of the caped, puffy-sleeved, vampire look that surged after the 1994 movie Interview with the Vampire.
“People are buying the fangs for vampires, but based on the characters in the movie, Twilight, normal clothes will be worn for the rest of the costume,” Davis said.
To pull off the Edward look played by Robert Pattinson, all one needs is a dark T-shirt and jeans, hair gel, makeup and fangs.
Glamour clothes with fangs also could be worn for HBO’s True Blood characters Bill Compton, portrayed by Stephen Moyer, and Sookie Stackhouse, played by Anna Paquin.
“The departure of both nurses and politicians from the top costumes list could be an indication that Americans would like to shelve the health care reform debate — at least for one night — to have a little bipartisan fun,” said Tracy Mullin, NRF President and CEO. “Pop culture always influences Halloween costumes, and it will be interesting to see how creative Americans can get this year.”
Adult costumes usually average between $35 and $160, but the recent NRF study shows that consumers might be holding back the big bucks this year. Overall spending on Halloween is predicted to be down this year, from $66.54 per person last year to $56.31 in 2009.
Despite the projected decrease, Halloween is still the fastest growing holiday in popularity among adults. Over the past decade, sales have especially skyrocketed in the 18-24 age segment, according to Jalem Getz, chief executive officer and president of BuySeasons Inc., parent company of the largest online costume retailers, buycostumes.com and costumeexpress.com.
While he believes the recession might drive parents to bargain-hunt for kids’ costumes, Getz says he doesn’t expect teens or adults to do the same.
“People are spending as much, if not more than last year,” he said. “This is their night to go out, party and have fun and they’re not going to skimp on it.”