Aliens, pirates among popular Halloween costumes

Plenty of people go the store-bought route for inventing a new persona for Halloween for their kids or, given that Halloween is increasingly becoming a "holiday" for adults as well, themselves.

Others prefer the homemade route, creating a black and white cat from pieces of black and white fleece, and a swashbuckling pirate from fabric, thread and time.

So what are people making this year?

"I've seen a lot of aliens," said Julie Longson, working at the fabric counter at Hobby Lobby in Batavia. Particularly popular have been alien-like costumes enhanced with a helmet.

Long dresses reminiscent of the Renaissance also have been very popular, she said.

Reflecting perhaps the continued popularity of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie franchise, Longson said she's also seen an awful lot of pirates-to-be. There's also been a return to the 1950s, with a number of poodle skirts heading out the door, she said.

As for little ones, parents just want something soft and cuddly, she said.

I was a little late to catch the committed sewers, observed Eileen Lunsford, merchandise supervisor at Batavia's Wal-Mart store. "People start in September" when it comes to sewing Halloween costumes.

She's cut fabric for a few Tinmen, from the land of Oz, and for a number of pirates, especially for men, not kids.

"There have been the usual clowns, a lot of princesses, the Cowardly Lion," she ticked off. "Then there's always Dorothy from the 'Wizard of Oz,' plus a few Elvises."

What about women? She's supervised the beginnings of several wenches and some fairies. One woman was switching genders, with plans to transform herself into a swashbuckling -- and male -- pirate.

And you can tell it's fall. "A lot of people are going as a Chicago Bear," she said.

CostumeZee.com reported on its Web site that, in terms of popular culture, some of the top costumes for this year include "Hannah Montana," "The 300," "High School Musical," "Hairspray," Transformers, "Burger King," "Doodlebops," the caveman from the Geico commercials, the "Pirates of the Caribbean" characters and "Borat."

Extreme Halloween, one of the largest online costume retailers, also has announced its top costumes for this year. They include Captain Jack Sparrow and Davy Jones, the Harry Potter characters, a vixen pirate wench, and Princess Fiona from "Shrek."

Top costumes for girls include a punk pirate, Cinderella, a fairy witch, Dorothy, Princess Leia ("Star Wars"), a pink Supergirl, a Bratz doll and a 3-in-one costume combining a princess, fairy and Zarnia. Boys, meanwhile, favor Jack Sparrow, Spiderman, Anakin Skywalker, Batman, Power Rangers, Shrek, Harry Potter, a Ninja turtle, Optimus Prime and the Evil Jester.

And sometimes, a costume involves a pattern invented from an agile mind. I remember one year someone stopped by the Geneva Fire Department to show firefighters a boy who was transformed into a smoke detector.

Both Lunsford and Longson have seen similar innovation at work this year. Lunsford helped a customer working to create a costume of a microwave oven. And Longson's favorite costume this season, so far, is a customer's efforts to transform herself from suburban dweller into cosmopolitan margarita.

Beginning sewers, take heart. Some people who are creating their own costumes are relying on more than their sewing machines, Longson said. "They use lots of fabric glue and Stitch Witchery, or Steam-a-Seam," she said.

And there's always Velcro, plus a popular favorite: duct tape.

Just don't forget the imagination. Before you know it, that fleece will be a cute little pumpkin. That box will be, yes, a microwave oven. And the creator will be all smiles.