|
 Pop culture experts say these "ripped from the headlines" costumes
to celebrate the Oct. 31 holiday - such as "El Chapo" the fugitive
Mexican cartel kingpin or "Left Shark" from pop star Katy Perry's
Super Bowl halftime show - are a way for adults to connect in a
world splintered by a myriad of choices for information and
entertainment.
While children typically dress up as witches and ghosts, the most
popular costume this year among adults shopping on Yandy.com is The
Optical Illusion Dress, the subject of an online debate that went
viral over its color. The hot seller is a compromise: half blue and
black, half white and gold, said CEO Chad Horstman.
Also in high demand is Pizza Rat - a gray mini dress with a tail,
hood, ears and two pepperoni pizza slice pockets - that is arguably
sexier than the video of a New York City rat dragging a pizza slice
down subway steps, shared more than 100,000 times on Twitter in the
last month, according to Topsy.com.
 The lion-slaying dentist Walter Palmer of Minnesota who gained
notoriety for his trophy kill of Cecil the Lion, considered a
national treasure in Zimbabwe, inspired a $139.99 getup from
Costumeish.com, complete with a blood spattered dental smock and
mock lion head.
"It used to be we all watched the same TV shows, we all knew the
same cultural references. Now the culture is really fragmented,"
said Robert Thompson, who teaches pop culture at Syracuse University
in upstate New York. "These news stories, the ones that hit the big
time, that cross that point of penetration, those are the things
that everybody shares."
Jim Von Schilling, the Pennsylvania-based area chairman of the
Popular Culture Association, said when it comes to envisioning a
Halloween costume, imaginations are sparked by current events.
"The world around us is our pop culture," said Von Schilling.
LIMITS TO POKING FUN
The costumes are meant to touch a nerve, but some vendors say there
are lines they will not cross.
Ricky's NYC, a beauty supply store that features Halloween costumes,
and Yandy.com both decided against carrying a Caitlyn Jenner costume
featuring a shiny white padded bustier resembling the outfit the
Olympic gold medalist and reality TV star formerly known as Bruce
wore to come out as transgender in a Vanity Fair cover story.
"The transgender community is a huge portion of my customer base and
is incredibly offended by this," said Richard Parrott, president of
Ricky's. "I don't really see anything funny about somebody wanting
to change their gender. There is no place to really poke fun."
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Jenner told NBC News last month that she did not find the costume
offensive: "I'm in on the joke... I think it's great."
Politicians are typically fair game and Ricky's carries a Hillary
Clinton mask and Yandy a Donald Trump costume consisting of a white
collared shirt, red tie, royal blue blazer and "booty shorts" with
extra accessories including a "Making America Great" hat and a straw
colored "comb over politician wig."
Halloween costumes that snark rather than spook tend to focus on
figures who have fallen from grace, said Jack Santino, who teaches
popular culture at Bowling Green State University in Ohio.
"They are people who were kind of ridiculous and there is a kind of
'Emperor Has No Clothes' element," Santino said. "At Halloween,
people just mock them to say, 'We all know you're ridiculous. You’re
not fooling anyone.'"
Irreverent Halloween costumes tend to be worn by adults but some
parents, seizing on the natural tendency of babies to look like old
men, have been dressing their infants as Democratic presidential
candidate Bernie Sanders, with eyeglasses and unruly white wigs,
posting their pictures to Twitter as #BabiesForBernie.
Ready-made costumes can be expensive but for frugal Trick or
Treaters there is a free online makeup tutorial that a cosmetologist
posted on Instagram with tips for looking like Kim Davis, the
Kentucky clerk who was jailed for refusing to issue same-same
marriage licenses.
(Reporting by Barbara Goldberg; Editing by Scott Malone and
Marguerita Choy)
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