Halloween costume trends

Each year, Party City analyzes pop culture, fashion trends and Hollywood blockbusters to determine the year’s biggest costume crazes. So today we’re here to unveil the top costume trends for the 2011 Halloween season.

• LUIGI SIDEKICK – Classic cartoon and video game characters from the 1980s and 1990s have made a big come back in recent years and definitely influence costume trends. The idea of nostalgia/retro has made costumes like Luigi and Mario very popular this year. The Luigi Sidekick costume is the female counterpart to Mario’s brother.
   
• CAPTAIN AMERICA  – Super hero costumes are big every year, but which character will be number one really depends on the latest wave of comic book blockbusters. This year, Captain America, X-Men and Green Lantern are sure to be up, up and away this Halloween.  This year, every little boy is going to want to be Steve Rogers from the movie Captain America: The First Avenger.
   
• ZOMBIES – Inspired by AMC's wildly successful series, Walking Dead, zombies are this year’s biggest costume trend. For the past several years, vampires inspired by Twilight and True Blood have been popular – but now people want something different. As a fresh take on something scary, zombies will be the biggest hit this year. 
  
  Here we have our girl’s Zombie Prom Queen, which really stands out in a costume crowd with her over-the-top makeup. Making your face pale and darkening eyes really elevates this look to the next level.
  
  What’s so cool about this costume idea is you can “zombify” any costume with makeup, unruly wigs and tattered accessories. Your whole family can dress as zombies with Party City’s many different looks – from decaying nurses and undead rockers to comatose doctors – your family can create their own scary group.
   
• MATTEL’S MONSTER HIGH – The biggest rage with older children and the tween age group has got to be Mattel’s Monster High. These costumes are perfect for older children who’ve outgrown Hannah Montana and Disney Princess costumes but still want trendy characters to emulate. These scary characters are the children of the world’s most famous monsters, and they rule the halls of Monster High.
   
• MORPHSUITS – Morphsuits originally began with die-hard sports fans who wore these spandex colored body suits in their team’s colors to show support for their favorite team – now due to sport celebrities like San Francisco Giants' player Brian Wilson, they have become even more popular and make great Halloween costumes.
  
  The morphsuit is for the young man who doesn’t want to spend a lot of time putting together a costume but definitely still wants to be the center of attention at any Halloween party.
  This green morphsuit mimics The Green Man from the popular television show “Always Sunny in Philadelphia” – however, the suits aren’t just limited to green. Party City now carries Halloween morphsuits such as mummies, devils and zombies.