Life as I Know It

There’s nothing remotely scary about Amber Hyder’s Halloween’s costume idea - unless the campy 60s TV show “The Addams Family” gives you the creeps.

“You don’t want to scare people off,” said Hyder of Kings Mountain, who was trying on a Wednesday Addams costume Thursday afternoon at Party City in Gastonia. “You want to make new friends.”

But instead of the long-sleeved vintage dress the sweet-natured Wednesday sported on the black-and-white show, Hyder opted to try on a more grownup version, complete with a black hip-hugging skirt, a low cut white collar half top and grey striped knee highs.

It’s one sign of how a new four letter word is replacing the adjective of choice in describing many people’s Halloween costumes. Instead of scary, more adults and teens are opting to dress sexy for Beggars Night.

More than half of the nearly 2,000 female adult costumes on BuyCosutmes.com are listed in the “sexy” category. There are schoolgirl outfits, French maids costumes and revealing military and law enforcement gear. Fictional childhood favorites aren’t sacred, either: costumes for fairy tale favorites like Snow White, Dorothy, Goldilocks and Red Riding Hood have been sexed up as well.

“Adults aren’t dressing up like SpongeBob,” said Dale Koontz, a communications and public speaking instructor at Cleveland Community College and a noted pop culture expert.

Instead, they’re dressing like Spongebabe, with the square pants replaced by barely mid-thigh skirts.

The trend towards sexy Halloween costumes has taken off the past few years, said Metina Medford, a Gaston County native who owns Casper’s Costume Closet in Forest City with husband Jeff. The store, which is open year-round, has a wall of nothing but sexy costumes, she said.

“We can hardly keep them in stock,” Medford said. “We have to hire extra help just to watch that wall.”

Teens are showing interest in more mature costumes, too. Online costume retailers hawk outfits such as a Tavern Wench Tween, a High Seas Hottie Teen and a Sweet and Sexy Vampiress Teen.

“We have to watch the (teens),” Medford said. “We will only sale them those kinds of costumes if the parent is present.”

Medford said the proliferation of adult Halloween bashes like last weekend’s Gravedigger’s Ball in Charlotte is one reason customers give for ditching the scary costume, while Koontz added that marketers are really pushing Halloween as an adult holiday. With the drudgery of everyday life, some adults tend to go overboard when they do have the chance to cut loose, she said.

“The idea of shedding responsibility for a night, there’s a real appeal there,” she said.

Plus, dressing cute gets you noticed when you’re out at Halloween party, said Kristen Williams of Kings Mountain, who’s dressing as a gangster girl. She was at Party City Thursday helping Hyder search for costumes.

 ”None of our friends dress scary,” Williams said. “We like dressing pretty.”

Need a Last Minute Costume Idea?

Here are a couple of places to go if you still haven’t decided what you want to be for Halloween:

Casper’s Costume Closet, 2270 US Highway 74A, Forest City. 828-245-7715 or www.casperscostumecloset.com.

Party City, 3686 E. Franklin Blvd., Gastonia. 704-823-1733 or www.partycity.com.

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