DIY costume ideas are trumping prefab costumes.
Halloween costume sales aren't what they used to be, but it's not because people aren't dressing up. According to some sales professionals, the drop off is a direct result of the DIY craze that has taken hold in America.
Party Plus in Redlands, Calif. reported a steep decline in ready-to-wear costume sales. “I think it’s the whole Pinterest thing,” explains Courtney Ruhl, who has been working at Party Plus in Redlands for 10 years. “Everyone is doing their own costumes. Rather than saying, ‘Oh, let’s just buy a costume off the wall of options,’ then boom, it’s done, people are piecing their costumes together and building their own.”
DIY Makeup & Accessories
DIY costumes may have undercut sales of adult ready-made costumes in particular, but they've given a boost to other SKUs, like accessories.
Because customers increasingly want to piece together their own unique costume configuration, Ruhl and the Party Plus team stocked an expanded array of accessories — and were glad they did.
According to Ruhl, wigs are the most popular accessory in the store and pens that look like bloody syringes are the top-selling novelty item.
DIY veterans might think makeup sales would skyrocket along with the homemade costume trend, as there are many DIY makeup tutorials floating about the web. However, it seems the Average Joe/Jane isn't confident enough about their makeup skill to shell out the bucks for fancy costume makeup.
Ruhl says that customers instead prefer easy-to-apply prosthetics and makeup transfers made by a company called Tinsley Transfers. Tinsley Transfers proffers 3D “Hollywood-grade” faux skin eruptions, vampire brows, and even unicorn horns. The stick-ons are latex-free and can be adhered using water alone.
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Do you think the DIY costume trend will continue? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
