Co-authored by Emily Valentine
It’s our best guess that this weekend, you will either a) attend an epic costume party, b) hear about an epic costume party, c) see pictures of said epic costume party or d) all of the above. If you answered “d,” congratulations; your weekend will clearly be black, orange and “basic” all over. It’s not a bad thing. Adults these days LOVE Halloween. They really get into it.
The National Retail Federation predicts that this weekend, some 75 million adults will put on costumes. Americans are expected to spend $2.8 billion on costumes, according to NRF’s Halloween Consumer Spending Survey. Specifically, consumers will spend $1 billion on children’s costumes, $1.4 billion on adult costumes and $350 million on pet costumes. Moreover, total Halloween spending is estimated to reach $7.4 billion this year, with the average person spending $77.52 on indoor and outdoor décor, costumes, and candy. That’s a whole lot of money for one little weekend. Don’t get us wrong. We’re not hating; we just wonder… why?
Is it because it’s the one time each year we can get away with dressing in scary, outlandish or downright inappropriate costumes… in public?
(Maybe Cady Heron said it best.)
Or, as NPR opines, has it always been this way and we’re just putting our own 21st century spin on it?
So why is it really that we LOVE Halloween? Rather than treat you with the satisfaction of a tough question answered, we’ll leave this one open-ended. Call it a trick, or simply call it like it is: we don’t know.
Do you? Tell us what you think in the comments. Happy Halloween.