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Posted on Saturday, 10.24.09

Reality stars, dead celebs lead Halloween costume parade

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Use these tricks to make fun do-it-yourself costumes

TIPS FOR TRICKING OUT YOUR DOG

If Halloween means a costume for your pet, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has some safety tips:

A costume should not constrict an animal's movement or hearing or impede his ability to breathe, bark or meow.

Try costumes on a pet before the big event. If your pet seems distressed, allergic or shows abnormal behavior, consider letting him go in his or her birthday suit or switching to a festive bandanna.

Inspect your pet's costume and make sure it doesn't have small, dangling or easily chewed-off pieces that he or she could choke on.

Poor fitting outfits can get twisted on external objects or your pet, leading to injury.

To teach an animal to enjoy wearing a costume, get them used to it a little at a time, associating the fitting of the costume with the animal's favorite things, like a delicious treat. By going slowly, you can make sure your animal is happy at each stage before moving on to the next one.

Pets should be supervised while wearing a costume. Remove it if he or she won't have your full attention.

A pet should always wear an identification tag. Halloween is no exception. Your pet could dash out the door when you least expect it and his tag could be his ticket home. Make sure the address and phone number on the tag are up-to-date.

Source: Associated Press.

BY MEGAN K. SCOTT

Associated Press

Amy Winehouse. Kate Gosselin. Michael Jackson. Farrah Fawcett. We're definitely keeping it real this Halloween.

Costume suppliers predict the year's hot costumes for grown-ups will come from reality television, tabloid celebs and the high-profile deaths of two superstars.

The National Retail Federation picks princesses, witches and Spider-Man as popular costumes for children. Vampires, clowns and pirates were top choices on the federation's adult costume run-down, while retail chain Spirit Halloween lists Jackson, Gosselin, Britney Spears and Sarah Palin.

``Inspiration for Halloween costumes comes from the media, the movies, current events and pop culture,'' says Steven Silverstein, CEO and president of Spirit Halloween. ``This year vampires are everywhere. You will see lots of tributes to Michael Jackson, from Thriller to sequined gloves. And you may even see a Mr. Ponzi mask.''

Here's a breakdown on what's hot for various categories.

BABIES

Moms can dress their babies up as Cinderella, Ariel, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White, says Karen Dodge, chief merchandising officer for Toys R Us. Babies R Us is offering those costumes, along with Tinker Bell, for the first time in infant sizes, she says.

The top searches of infant costumes on Yahoo! over the past 30 days included a lady bug, blossom/flower, Elvis and The Flintstones' Pebbles. At Disney Stores, Nemo, Mickey and Minnie Mouse were strong sellers.

GIRLS

Disney princess costumes are all the rage again this year. The new Tiana Deluxe Costume, from the film The Princess and the Frog, is expected to be a bestseller, according to Molly Adams, vice president and general manager for Disney Stores North America. The film, featuring both Disney's newest young royal in more than 10 years and its first black princess, comes out on Dec. 11.

Mulan, a Japanese princess, and Pocahontas were also added to the costume assortment this year. Toys R Us is seeing a similar trend. ``It all tends to be really fun and girly dress up costumes that are selling for girls,'' Dodge says.

BOYS

Boys follow the blockbuster movies more than girls, Dodge says, and Transformers and G.I. Joe costumes are big sellers this year. Toys R Us is also seeing an uptick in Buzz Lightyear and Woody costumes, she says, with the reintroduction of Toy Story 1 and Toy Story 2.

``The other one that was a surprise for us is SpongeBob [Squarepants],'' Dodge says. ``It's a bestseller.''

Batman, an athlete and a ninja are the top costumes on the National Retail Federation's list, while iParty has Harry Potter, Star Trek characters and horror costumes like the Wicked Jester and Scary Mummy.

ADULTS

Spirit Halloween is touting its Gosselin wig (attach eight babies to your hip), a Palin get-up with glasses and wig, Lady Gaga with a long platinum blonde wig and a Bernie Madoff-like mask.

IParty is selling Winehouse, in the form of a wig, tattoo and rehab form, and slugger Manny Ramirez, with dreadlocks and a baseball hat.

Silverstein predicts the Jackson costume -- with a sequined glove, red leather jacket and fedora -- is going to be a strong seller, as people pay tribute to the superstar who died in June.

``He is an icon and I think this is sort of the Elvis Presley of our lifetime, of our generation,'' Silverstein says. ``He has stirred so much emotion.''

Classic costumes, such as a French maid, nurse, ghost and cat continue to be top choices on the National Retail Federation's list, and iParty has Star Trek characters, flappers, hippies and vampires.

PETS

Animal lovers are increasingly buying their pets' costumes -- essentially treating them as a member of the family, e-mails Betsy Saul, co-founder of Petfinder.com.

``Because animals are already so cute on their own, even the most simple costume idea can be the biggest hit,'' she says.

According to Yahoo, the top dog costume searches in the past month were Yoda, a Bumblebee and a horse. Batman and Super Dog were on iParty's list and top pet costumes on BuyCostumes.com were a Dog Bee, Prisoner Dog and pirate.

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