WASHINGTON — Planning to wait until Oct. 31 and then ransack your closet in hopes of throwing together a last-minute Halloween costume? You’re not alone. More than half of respondents in a new survey said they’ll likely opt for a do-it-yourself Halloween costume this year.
Fifty-seven percent of respondents in the national survey commissioned by Goodwill Industries said they preferred DIY costumes over prepackaged ones. The telephone survey of about 1,000 Americans, was conducted by ORC International Research and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.09 percent.
Overall, more people say they plan to dress up this year than in 2014, according to the survey. The percentage of men who said they planned to don a Halloween costume this year was up 20 percent over two years ago.
About half of millennials — people age 18-35 — said they planned to be in costume. Some 40 percent of parents who take their kids trick-or-treating said they also plan to dress up.
What not to wear? Sixty-three percent of respondents said they disapproved of “sexy costumes.” And more than half of respondents — 51 percent — said they disapprove of political costumes, up from 35 percent last year.
Goodwill operates 3,200 stores across the U.S. that sell donated clothing and household goods. The company’s website offers a several DIY costume ideas and an interactive costume generator.
