Costume ideas: Still time to get your spook on

Halloween Festival Friday

The Fairborn Area Chamber of Commerce will host its second Halloween Festival on Main Street 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday. Festivities include amusement rides, entertainment, food concessions, a costume contest, crafts, a zombie walk and a Spooktacular Parade starting at 6 p.m. at the Fairborn YMCA, 300 S Central Ave., Fairborn.

See our very own Ken-Yon Hardy try on some of this year's most popular costumes in pursuit of the perfect Halloween look. MyDaytonDailyNews.com

Not so ready to be the creature that goes bump in the night?

Vicki Fox says there is still plenty of time to shop for All Hallows’ Eve.

As luck would have it, the shop she works in sells costumes.

Fox has seen costume trends come and go her 25 years with Foy's in Fairborn. She manages Foy's Costume Store, 10 W Main St. and has helped thousands find the perfect costume.

She works 10 to 14 hours days during the Halloween season starting in September and wrapping up Nov. 1.

While many of today’s Halloween fanatics seek to piece together their own looks using elements from various places, she said pre-assembled costumes are still in demand.

“The popular thing is sexy (costumes) and couples, Cleopatra and Caesar, Mrs. Krueger and Freddy Krueger…,” she said.

Traditional costumes — witches, zombies and princesses — also will be popular this year, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2013 Top Costumes Survey.

The trade organization expects Americans to spend $2.6 billion on Halloween costumes, including    $1 billion on children’s costumes, $1.2 billion on adult costumes and $330 million on pet costumes.

NRF estimates that more than 5 million adults will dress as a witch. Another 2.9 million will dress as a character from “Batman.”

About 3.8 million children will dress as a princess, 2.8 million will dress as an animal. Kids are also really into Batman. NRF predicts that 2.5 million children will dress as a characters from the Batman universe.

Fox said superhero costumes are always popular. This year, people are also gravitating toward the not-so-super heroes featured in the A&E reality show “Duck Dynasty.”

“It is such a simple costume, but it is really popular,” he said of the bearded “Duck Dynasty” looks.