The perfect guise

For almost every American kid, Halloween means one thing: candy, candy, candy. But for those of us who are too old for trick-or-treating and who want a little more excitement than a sugar high, Halloween can seem almost boring, or at least not worth the effort of dressing up. \nWhile Halloween might be a holiday to celebrate the dead, it is anything but dead at IU. Just walk down the streets of Bloomington and you will see a slew of carved pumpkins and decorations taped to dorm and apartment windows. \nMaybe it's the nostalgia, or maybe it's just fun, but many students enjoy finding that perfect guise for Halloween.\n"You (would) be surprised by how many people buy or rent costumes each year," said John McGuire, co-owner of Rags to Riches and Campus Costumes on 1809 E. 10th St. \nJohn and his wife, Kim, own Rags to Riches, and although they also deal with second-hand clothing and tanning, they say that a little less then 60 percent of their annual income come from customers buying or renting Halloween costumes. During October, the couple cleans out the store to make wall-to-wall room for costumes. \n"We have already rented out 100 to 150 costumes, and (we're) still stocked," McGuire said.\nMcGuire said costumes are rented far in advance of Halloween weekend. Halloween falls on a Sunday this year, but this date hasn't stopped college students from getting ready to celebrate. Less than half the costumes at Rags to Riches are rented for Sunday, and most are for Friday or Saturday. \nWith costumes selling out fast in anticipation of the coming holiday, stores are already seeing costume trends.\n"College girls just want to be sexy ... anything short is good," said Bobbi Knight, an employee at Costume Delights on 336 S. Walnut St.\nMcGuire also said they have seen a trend in sexy girls' costumes. The most popular items bought by girls are from Leg Avenue, a lingerie company that has branched out to costumes. To see the kinds of costumes the company offers, visit its Web site at www.legavenue.com. The company has a costume called "Sexy Sergeant" and another one that is a replica of the outfit Uma Thurman worn in "Kill Bill." McGuire said these costumes seem to be the most popular. The store is already sold out of the two. \nOf course there are always certain costumes that never go out of style. Witch, flapper and French maid costumes are also selling strong at Costume Delight. \n"Western brothel girls never go out of style ... that's what my friend and I are being," said Amanda Cole, an employee at Costume Delights.\nDressing up is not just for girls. Boys are also joining in on the fun.\n"Girls tend to shop earlier, so we sell out of those (costumes) the fastest," McGuire said. "Girls started searching on the internet for costume ideas in September ... but sure enough, a few days before Halloween weekend, all the boys come in looking for costumes."\nThe trend in boys' costumes seems to be funny and unique. Superheroes and pimps are popular. McGuire said most of his superhero costumes are already rented or bought. Rags to Riches sells almost any odd costume of which someone could think, including a costume line called Rasta Impasta, which is a unique hat company that also saw the potential in Halloween costumes. The line carries costumes like hot dogs, beer bottles and a shark attacking a man. \nThere are also costumes for the couple who want to have matching costumes, such as the nut and bolt costume, where the man is the bolt and the girl is the nut and they fit together. There is also a giant pair of handcuffs, so the couple can be locked together all night.\n"The hardest part of couple costumes is getting a guy to go along with it ... few go along with it without a little pushing," McGuire said.\nSophomore Brittany DiSlavo didn't have much trouble convincing a guy friend of hers to wear matching costumes.\n"We're dressing as Aladdin and Jasmine, cause we both kind-of look like them," DiSlavo said. \nBut for those who want to step out the box, there is no end to what you could dress as. Junior Michael Retrum dressed up with a friend as an Instant Message. He took a picture of a message box and buddy list, enlarged the picture, glued it to cardboard and fastened it around himself. Each boy has a different part of the conversation, so they fit together.\n"I had a pen attached to the buddy list, and we had people write they screen names on the list," said Retrum. "By the end of the night, I had a healthy amount (of names)."\nThe most unique costumes McGuire has seen over the years were two boys who wanted to dress like Mario and Luigi. McGuire had to pull out some Santa suits this year for boys who want to be Bad Santa. Knight said the funniest costumes she saw were a girl dressed like Prince and a guy dressed like Madonna. \n"I think the best one I saw was a white guy dressed as Rick James," Knight said. "He looked great ... he even won a costume contest."\n-- Contact staff writer Amy Barnicle at abarnicl@indiana.edu.