Top Halloween Costumes: Superheroes, Princesses, Witches Head The List

Pity the poor princess. She’s be shoved aside in favor of superheroes by those planning to dress up for Halloween.

The National Retail Federation’s 2016 Halloween Consumer Top Costumes Survey indicates both children and adults will be flexing their superpowers for Halloween. Spending on Halloween costumes is expected this year to hit $3.1 billion.

The website Popsugar reports the top costumes this year are sure to be inspired by memorable events. The site predicts costumes paying tribute to Olympians Simone Biles and Michael Phelps, balloon costumes to mark the Democratic National Convention, nods to Pokemon Go, Starbucks drinks, Hodor from “Game of Thrones,” Beyonce, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” Harley Quinn from “Suicide Squad” and Snapchat filters.

Online retailer Yandy.com is offering a followup to last year’s sellout “Donna T. Rumpshaker,” an homage to Republican nominee Donald Trump. This year’s version is “Donna T. 2.0,” which will sell for $70 and include a shirt with a plunging neckline, red tie and blue blazer. The look is completed with an American flag pin, the Hill reported. There’s a blue hot-pants costume in tribute to Hillary Clinton for $60.

The NRF found 3 million children will dress as a superhero while 2.9 million plan to slip on a crown and 2.5 million plan to dress as a cat, dog, bunny or other animal.

Among millennials, 9 percent plan to dress as Batman, while 6.1 percent plan to be witches and 5 percent plan to be animals.

Top 10 children’s costumes:

1. Action/superhero
2. Princess
3. Animal
4. Batman character
5. Star Wars character
6. Tie: Witch or DC superhero (excluding Batman)
7. Frozen character
8. Marvel superhero
9. Zombie
10. Spiderman

Top 10 costumes for 18-34 year olds:

1. Batman character
2. Witch
3. Animal
4. Tie: Marvel superhero or DC superhero
5. Vampire
6. Video game character
7. Slasher movie villain
8. Pirate
9. Star Wars character
10. Zombie

Adults 35 and older also plan to get in on the fun. More than 76 percent of adults already know what they plan to wear. Though most plan to dress as witches or pirates, a big chunk plan to impersonate a political figure, including Trump and Clinton.

Top 10 costumes for those 35 and older:

1. Witch
2. Pirate
3. Political figure
4. Vampire
5. Batman character
6. Animal
7. Tie: DC superhero or Star Wars character
8. Tie: ghost or zombie
9. Scary costume or mask
10. Marvel superhero

And who says Halloween is only for people? Sixteen percent of consumers said they plan to dress Fido or Fluffy for the holiday.

Top 10 pet costumes:

1. Pumpkin
2. Hot dog
3. Bumble bee
4. Tie: lion or Star Wars character
5. Devil
6. Batman character
7. Witch
8. Superman
9. Action/superhero
10. Cat

The NRF survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics queried 6,791 consumers Sept. 6-13 and had an error rate of 1.2 percentage points.