The Spooky Economics of “Sexy” Halloween Costumes

Former Reason intern Jeff Winkler has an
interesting piece over at Maxim that drills down into the economics
of “sexy” Halloween costumes:

The costume industry is a serious business that the
International Council of Shopping Centers expects to bring in $11.3
billion this year. That number drops to $7 billion if you
believe the National Federation of Retailers’ figures. Either way,
it’s a lot of money and the $1.2 billion spent on adult
costumes (roughly $77 per paying customer) is nothing to
sneeze at.

And Yandy can’t reliably make more by selling less fabric.
According to company execs, “cute and cuddly” costumes have been
gaining traction. A spokeswoman for Spirit Halloween, confirmed the
trend, saying the market “saw sexy costumes reach their peak about
4 to 5 years ago.” That has to do with both sexual politics and
popular culture. Game of
Thrones and The Walking Dead are
massively popular and neither lends itself particularly to adult
role play.

Mainstream fashion also affects the market.
“We’ve seen a trend of people moving away from short skirts and
more towards rompers and shorts,” said Horstman, adding
reassuringly that “They’re still sexy but just a different
kind.”

Read the whole thing here.

And here’s a Buzzfeed list of “25
Sexy Halloween Costumes for Men that Shouldn’t Exist.” Buzzfeed
may be the least reliable news source on the planet but as this
image makes clear, it got this story dead-to-rights.