Every year the mass media has a heavy influence on what costumes will be popular. The years that the Pirates movies came out, 1 out of 7 was a pirate.
Same for Spider-man, Star Wars, Any big Disney film, and this year it looks like Ironman , Batman, and a few others get to duke it out for most popular.

My problem is that the costumes the put out for people to wear, (even the so called deluxe versions) are quite campy and I can imagine anyone over 8 seriously enjoying themselves in a ill fitting muscle suit, bad wig or cheap plastic mask. Its one thing for a parent to dress up for their little ones, or to get a quick costume for a party, but when 13+ crowd is done up in the latest costume trend I feel a little empty and angry on the inside. Empty because I know that with some effort a better costume can be had, and angry because I know some are doing is to be 'cool' or to be jerks to who ever is wearing the same costume (ya know the whole 'mine is better than yours' crap) regardless of the other persons age.

Does anyone else feel that people are just accepting what they can get and only the ‘hardcore‘ will go so far for something good?

Also it makes me want to make an amazing costume of the popular character for the year *cough*joker*cough* and run around shoving it in the faces of snotty teens thinking they can just slap something together and get praise for half a--ing Halloween.

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I can tell the difference between punks who need a little lesson in manners... and the freaks like you who would just enjoy it.

look i has 'art' (updated randomly) - http://captaindesertpirate.deviantart.com/

I get what your saying. After watching the Dark Knight Heathe Ledger put me in an awww state of mind. He brought the Joker to life so well, that it inspired me to want to create my own coustome off of that. I'm not doing that because The Joker is the most annticaped coustome of the year and in a way it would suck to be like everyone else. Even if I created my own.
I'm so sick of pirates of the carribean. it's sooooooo over rated for coustomes. I like seeing diffrent ones not many of the same.

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I have a website I never knew existed.

eh-hem. not all of us teens half @$$ Halloween. Although i am 19...still...I am somewhat of a teen.

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Can you stake my heart?

i wasn't suggesting all did, god knows i went overboard, but some do

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I can tell the difference between punks who need a little lesson in manners... and the freaks like you who would just enjoy it.

look i has 'art' (updated randomly) - http://captaindesertpirate.deviantart.com/

Not everyone is creative enough to make a good costume. And really nice costumes purchased retail are expensive.

It would be nice to see some variety in costumes, but I would rather see half jokers than no costume at all. This seems to be a growing problem where I live. Even if you cannot afford to purchase something, dress as a hobo or clown or something. At least wear a bedsheet and come as a ghost. Make some kind of effort.

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I don't mean to alarm you but your insides look very Halloweeny.

Got a couple stories here.

Few years back, I only had my oldest to worry about. I was building a haunted house at the time, and working in it, and really didn't want to have to put in the time to make a costume.

Lord of the Rings was the big thing at the time, and Kyle wanted to be Gandalf. I figured it would be EASY to go buy one.

The stores get in their stuff.
(I'm not a LOTR fan, so forgive my lack of knowing names)
Elf dude: Check
Dwarf dude: Check
Ranger dude: Check
Elf girl: Check
Hobbits: Check.

NO GANDALF.

Sure, I could special order one off a website for $60, plus shipping.

Ok, I though, I'll make one from generic 'wizard' items, then.

Yeah, that yielded loads of Harry Potter stuff. Nothing usefull.

I ended up making him a robe from one of my long sleeve shirts, and sewing a hat and belt pouches, while de-barking a stick for his staff.

Now, last year, Alec (5) wanted to be "Black Spider Man". And, with him being black, Kyle wanted to be red spider man.

We found an awesome costume for Alec. High quality, so much so, he STILL WEARS IT while playing. And I do mean playing, running, sliding, jumping on the trampoline. Kyle's age, however, was completely devoid of Spider Man. In fact, virtually none of the chain stores had costumes in his size. Apparantly, you're supposed to stop Trick or Treating at 9. And, I'm sorry, Spider Man is a wee bit beyond my capabilities to reproduce. He ended up with a piece of crap we ended up special ordering that was fortunate to make it through the evening before tearing apart when he took it off.

Bottom line, yes, there is a problem with the costume business.

There are 2-3 costume manufacturers, and you are stuck with what they make. Every store gets the same basic stock. So, you get the same costumes for sale. Meanwhile, parents work more these days. Both parents work, get home at 6PM, and are fortunate to get the kids out Trick or Treating at all, let alone spending 30 minutes doing makeup, or assembling a costume. So, kids are stuck with the storebought stuff. And, they don't know any better when they are teens, because they've never seen a costume made.

Heck, I had my 15 year old neighbor actually ask me how to do a mummy last year. "you actually wrap yourself up?!?"

Uh. Yeah. Do it beforehand and pin/glue the wrapping to a pair of pants/shirt to make it easy day of.

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http://anunorthodoxhalloween.blogspot.com/

wow that just makes me even happier that my mom took the time to make our costumes and make sure we looked good and showed us simple things to do ourselves.

thats really bizarre that you couldnt find a spiderman costume that held up. they should have good quality suits in all sizes considering how many adults dress as the webhead for various reasons.(cons, b-days, halloween, basic weirdos)

on the line of depressing costume choices, i saw a make up kit to look like the new joker, scars and all.
it was bad, really bad, the 'scars' looked like the cheapest rubber latex and were pre-painted red. they looked as though they would fall off once you moved your mouth.

the worst part is i know some kid is gonna want them and end up really disappointed but the end of the night.

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I can tell the difference between punks who need a little lesson in manners... and the freaks like you who would just enjoy it.

look i has 'art' (updated randomly) - http://captaindesertpirate.deviantart.com/

The second I saw this thread I thought of the Joker. That will be the big costume this year, but like a few of you have said it'll be really good based on how far some go with it.

Last year I was nothing special so this year I decided to be a little more creative and not really go with a certain type of character, but do a spider theme instead.

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Purely and simply evil

Don't you know what happens on Halloween?

I love the joker! As long as its a great costume, who cares if it was store bought or home made? Not everyone has a sewing machine or the talent or even the stuff /material to pull off a well-made home costume. Except a sheet. But that is better than nothing.

I think I agree with what almost everyone is saying. Mostly, I think it comes down to putting a little bit of personal flair into a costume. I've done costumes completely homemade, handsewn, designed & everything, but I've also gotten store bought costumes, and then made my own adjustments to them to make them unique.

I suppose if you bring the right attitude into any costume, it's bound to be great!

ps....I'm thinking of doing a female Robin this year.....I'm sure I'll have no trouble finding a Batman out there!

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"There is no delight the equal of Dread." - Clive Barker