Costumes; Sexy Over Spooky

Tuesday, October 31st 2006, 8:47 pm

By: News On 6

It seems spooky has been replaced by sexy when it comes to Halloween costumes. Young adults are slipping into sultry outfits that will probably only scare their parents. And it seems the costume industry has caught on, offering less as more.

News on 6 anchor Jennifer Loren says Halloween has gone sexy.

"On Halloween, its acceptable to be who you're not," said costume shopper Melissa Paschal

"This one would be real easy. Get some fishnet stockings, some red ones," shopper Lisa Rouell said.

Melissa and Lisa were doing some last minute shopping for their Halloween costumes. Like most women shopping at a Tulsa store, the outfits they liked were fewer ghouls and more drool. "Playboy had some that were really cute. They had a gangster that was really cute and a pirate that was very cute," said Paschal.

Krystal Colvard planned to be a Catholic school girl, "a little plaid skirt, a little white tie-off shirt and I got some fishnets and I'm going to wear some heels, so. Like a sexy school girl outfit. Yeah, yeah a little bit."

If sexy's what they want, sexy is what they'll get. The costume industry is selling a lot more of a lot less, fabric that is. "The industry changes with what the consumer wants," said Steve Lancaster from Top Hat Costumes in Tulsa. Costume experts say five years ago they hardly sold any sexy costumes. Now they say they put them in their store windows to draw customers in.

So what has changed? Some say Halloween has become more popular with adults over the past few years. "The whole industry has changed to more of a upgrade in fashion. When I first started doing this 30 year ago everything was just black," Lancaster said.

And you can still get black. But beware, today's black, many times, is red-hot. Itâ€™s a trend that suits many ladies, but others say itâ€™s a fashion statement they don't want make. "Just a lot of girls just kind of take advantage of the fact that it is Halloween and they can do what ever they want. But we're not doing that," said Carter.