Thursday, November 06, 2014

Costume Count 2014!

First off, the video I promised you:

That was Eli 13.3s Halloween costume, and he was allowed to wear it to school this year. Just another day in Crazytown.

Here's where data came in from this year (with one city not identified yet):
Austin, TX
Minnesota
Toronto
San Jose, CA
Alabama
Chicago
Seattle, WA
Columbia, SC
Halifax, Novia Scotia
Redmond, EA
Canton, MI
Kansas City, MO
Alaska
Redwood City, CA
Leesburg, VA
Kutztown, PA

No costume info from Scotland this year, sadly.

Before we get into the data, here are the best comments:
Outfits of the evening were the Star Wars-themed family of Emperor Dad, Big Princess Leia (Hoth outfit), Little Princess Leia (ep 4 diplomat gown outfit) and tiny but polite Darth Vader; and another family group of a Dad Clark Kent halfway through changing to Superman, Mom shark attack victim (shark beany hat, white face paint, white coat, bikini top on over coat), little Wonder Woman and tiny Knight. 

Also stand out pair of friends were "Maleficient and the Fairy from Maleficient" whose outfits were very high quality and they had their own soundtrack as well.
***
So my two favorite Halloween Costumes this year were..
a woman dressed up like a Pumpkin Spiced Latte from Starbucks.  Straw in hat included.

A little girl dressed up in a bathrobe, slippers, and curlers in her hair.  I asked her who she was (thinking some TV or movie star) and she whispered to me, "I'm my mom, just not fat like her."
******
The most popular costume was a surprise. There were four super heroes who weren't based on existing comic book characters. More surprisingly still, the super heroes came in two separate pairs; not as one group. The first two each had two letters sewed to their shirts. I looked at them for a moment, then finally gave up and asked what their costumes were. "I'm Super Rachel!" said SR. Of course!

The Nerds were together. Their torsos were each half of a Nerds candy box, and they wore nerdy glasses. I looked it up; this seems to be a pretty common costume.
********
Gypsy without a hat (Dad: "Where's your hat?" 3yo Girl:"How should I know? Can I have some candy please?" "Is it in your bag?" "DAD, PLEASE, THE CANDY sorry about my dad.")
*********
I asked him what he was (7 or 8 years old) and he said "Murderer?"
*****
"I don't know what I am" (a gorilla mask with a Chiefs hat)
"I'm a Box of eggs" (outfit was a box with a picture of an egg on it, this was the only explanation we got)
"Warmly Dressed" (when we asked what her costume was, she said she was trick or treating warmly dressed)

I've never heard anyone say "murderer" with a question mark attached. That has to be my favorite. Plus the gypsy with the embarrassing dad.

Okay, here are the top 10:
36 Princess
27 Zombie and variations
16 Ninja
14 Witch
11 Batman
10 Ninja Turtle
9 Clown
9 Darth Vader
9 Dracula
9 Princess (Frozen)

Princesses always dominate, but zombies have had quite a rise in recent years. Much to my surprise, Elsa from Frozen barely made the top ten.

My favorite trend (in Austin, at least): kids with Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) costumes.

Beef jerky. Why hasn't anyone ever gone as a strip of beef jerky?

Here's the raw data, and at the bottom, there's one submitter who sent in costumes by category, which is also interesting. Oh, and my two favorites? Rosie the Riveter and Vote for Pedro. Outstanding!

36 Princess
27 Zombie and variations
16 Ninja
14 Witch
11 Batman
10 Ninja Turtle
9 Clown
9 Darth Vader
9 Dracula
9 Princess (Frozen)
7 Pirate
7 Spiderman
6 Captain America
6 Iron Man
5 Dia De Los Muertes
5 Dinosaur
5 Scream
5 Superhero
5 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle
5 Vampire
4 Ambiguous older kid
4 Black Cat
4 Bumble bee
4 Butterfly
4 Grim reaper
4 Jedi
4 Knight
4 Minion
4 monster
4 Native American
4 Nerd
4 Phantom
4 Power Ranger
4 Soldier
4 Wolverine (Xmen)
4 Wonder Woman
3 Cat
3 Clark Kent
3 Cleopatra
3 Fireman
3 Ghost
3 Little Red riding hood
3 Luigi
3 Mardi Gras dancers
3 Mario
3 Mermaid
3 Minnie Mouse
3 Monster High
3 Peacock
3 Skylander
3 Snow White
3 SWAT
3 The Flash
3 Unidentifiable under heavy raincoat 
2 Ana
2 AngryBird
2 Anime Character
2 Athlete - Baseball
2 Ballerina
2 Cat Woman
2 Cat/Kitty
2 Cheerleader
2 Devil/Demon
2 Dog
2 Fairies
2 Falcon (Comics?)
2 Geisha Girl
2 Hippie
2 Incredible Hulk
2 Kansas City Royal
2 Lazy Teenager
2 Maleficent
2 Minecraft
2 Nothing
2 Purger (from The Purge)
2 Queen
2 Red Riding Hood
2 Siamese Twin Siamese Cats
2 Skeleton
2 Soccer Player
2 Star Lord
2 Supergirl
2 Superman
2 television
2 Thief
2 Thomas the Tank Engine 
2 Unknown
2 Vampire princess
2 Werewolf
2 Winter coat 
1 "I don't know what I am" (a gorilla mask with a Chiefs hat)
1 "I'm a Box of eggs" (outfit was a box with a picture of an egg on it, this was the only explanation we got)
1 "Warmly Dressed" (when we asked what her costume was, she said she was trick or treating warmly dressed)
1 50's housewife
1 80s Girl
1 80's pop singer
1 Amelia Earhart complete with biplane
1 Angel
1 Archimedes
1 Ariel
1 Astronaut
1 Athena
1 Athlete - Soccer
1 Banana
1 BarnacleBoy(fromSpongeBob)
1 Basketball Player
1 Bat 
1 Bat Woman
1 Batgirl
1 Bathrobe, slippers, curlers
1 Big Princess Leia
1 Black Widow Spider
1 Bloody stormtrooper
1 Box Troll
1 Broncos player (Tebow)
1 Cat in the Hat
1 Cheetah
1 Chef
1 Chick (like baby chicken)
1 Chick Fil-A cow
1 chicken
1 Clark Kent mid change
1 Cow
1 Cow Girl
1 Cowboy
1 Crabby Patty
1 Creeper(fromMinecraft)
1 Crusader Knight
1 Dancer
1 Death
1 Doctor
1 Dorothy
1 Dr. Who Companion (The Small Tardis's mom)
1 Dracula
1 Duck Dynasty Idiot
1 Error 404
1 Evil Queen
1 Fairy from Maleficient
1 Fairy Tale Princess
1 Fat baby
1 Female Soldier
1 Flounder
1 Football Player
1 Frankenstein
1 Frankenstein
1 Ghost
1 Ghost
1 Gypsy
1 Gypsy Pirate princess
1 Gypsy without a hat
1 Harlequin
1 Harry Potter
1 Hermione Grainger
1 Hershey Kiss
1 Hunter
1 Incredibles (Dash)
1 Incredibles (Violet)
1 Inuit
1 Jester
1 Joker (Batman)
1 Katniss Evergreen
1 Kitty Cat
1 lady bug
1 Large Lime Green Puffy Jacket (it was cold here)
1 Leopard girl
1 Lion
1 Mad Hatter
1 Magician
1 Mary Poppins
1 Medieval Times Girl
1 MermaidMan(from SpongeBob)
1 MickeyMouse
1 Motocross racer
1 Mouse Rat (he even had a guitar, so I guess it was Parks and Recs Andy)
1 Mr. Peanut
1 Murderer
1 Navy Pilot - 1 [best costume I saw all night, looked awesome]
1 Nerdy Cat
2 No costume
1 NOT Darth Vader (Anakin in Darth Vader clothes)
1 One of The Incredibles
1 Optimus Prime
1 Pageant contestant
1 Panda
1 Pebbles (from the Flintstones)
1 Penguin
1 Person from the 80s (SO MUCH NEON!)
1 Physician
1 Picachu
1 Pickle
1 Pink Batgirl
1 Pink Batman
1 Pink Cat
1 Pirate Princess
1 Pocahontas
1 Police woman
1 Princess Leia
1 Prisoner
1 Prom Queen
1 Pumpkin
1 Pumpkin Spiced Latte
1 Purple Fairy
1 Raggedy Ann
1 Rainbow Brite
1 Rainbow Unicorn
1 Raven Queen
1 Reaper
1 Red Fairy
1 Red Suit
1 Roaring 20's girl
1 Rock star
1 Rocket Raccoon
1 Rosie the Riveter
1 Scary Bear
1 Scary Cat
1 Scary Pumpkin
1 Scorpion (Mortal Kombat)
1 Scuba Diver
1 SF 49er
1 Shark attack victim
1 Sheriff
1 Skeleton ballerina
1 Skull mask w/ crossbow
1 Skullmaster
1 Small Tardis
1 Snake-eyes (GIJoe)
1 Softball Player
1 Sophia First (1st?)
1 Sorceror
1 Space Knight
1 Spider Man
1 Spider Queen
1 Squid
1 Steve(fromMinecraft)
1 Sully (Monsters Inc.)
1 Surly teenager / Kurt Cobain
1 Taylor Swift
1 The Emperor (Star Wars)
1 The Tardus
1 Thing 1
1 Thing 2
1 Tiny Horse
1 Tiny Superman
1 Tiny tabby cat
1 Transformer
1 Unicorn
1 V for Vendetta (or just a big fan of Guy Fawkes)
1 Valley Girl
1 Vampire Nurse
1 Voodoo Doll
1 Vote for Pedro
1 Waldo
1 Winter coat w/ army pants
1 Winter coat w/ cat ear hat 
1 Winter coat w/ Jason style hockey mask
1 Winter coat w/ sequined pink hat 
1 Wolf Grandma (Little Red Riding Hood)
1 Yard Gnome
1 Yoda
1 Zebra

Category data (submitted by one reader):
Category Frequency
Job 33
Movie 17
Animal 16
Sports 12
Superhero 12
Standard 9
Zombie 9
Different 7
Monster 6
TV 6
Game 5
Object 5
Pirate 5
Costume 4
Dead 3
Subcultures 3
Vampire 2
Music 1

Thanks to everyone who sent in data and I hope we can do it again next year!

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