As we make our way into October and temperatures (finally) begin to feel like fall, it can only mean one thing – Halloween is almost here! As a family owned business with two little ones, we love Halloween! Spending weeks brainstorming the most clever costumes then carefully preparing the outfit we’ll wear on the big evening. No matter how old you are, Halloween brings a certain indescribable magic and we’re so glad that it’s almost here.
While beginning our costume preparations this year, we got to thinking about what the most popular Halloween costumes have been in past years. Google is always one of the first places we turn to drum up costume ideas, so we decided to use Google Trends search data to dig into the most popular costumes across the country for 3 years, 2015-2017. Here’s what we found!
There was a bit of variety in costumes year to year, and especially so in 2015. From classic costumes like clowns and cowboys to trendier movie-related costumes like Jurassic Park and Deadpool, 2015 was a mixed bag. What’s going on in the news and pop culture typically has a direct effect on what costumes Americans select each year, so it’s no surprise to see that the Walking Dead inspired costumes in the highest of states – the most searched in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
And now that we think about it, we do recall seeing one too many scary clowns while trick or treating in Huntington Beach – can we all agree that there are few things scarier?
2016 was an eventful year in news and politics since it was an election year. it’s not uncommon to see candidate costumes roaming around on Halloween, which helps explain why Hillary Clinton was the most searched costume in New York. And while Donald Trump didn’t make the map, his wife Melania was the most searched costume in Florida. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles originally debuted in the early 90s, but they’ve seen a resurgence in popularity over the past few years. As a result, they were one of the most overall popular costumes of 2016 – the most searched in Michigan, Minnesota, Virginia, and Washington.
Sometimes the simplest costumes end up being the most memorable. It’s interesting to see how consistently popular basic-seeming animal (both real and mythological) costumes are through the years. Mice, bears, sharks, dragons, and horses continued to see popularity in 2017. Compared to 2015 and 2016, 2017 seems to be the most impacted by popular TV shows and movies like Game of Thrones and Justice League.
Now that we’ve taken a look into past years, what can you expect to see while trick or treating this year? We’re pleased to see classic Halloween costumes like witches and vampires maintain their popularity.
One trend that we noticed as we dug into the popular costumes of past years was the consistent presence of Disney-inspired costumes, but which ones will we be seeing this year? We looked at searches for all of the Disney Princess costumes and were surprised by the results. Despite the fact that Moana and Frozen are more recent Princesses, the classic gang continues to inspire costumes. Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Cinderella, and Snow White all make appearances on the map in at least one state.
