Jakks Launches Alice in Wonderland Halloween Costumes
Halloween is several months away from Jakks Pacific is already showing off a new line of costumes based on characters from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland movie. Jakks' Disguise brand has made Halloween costumes for this coming Halloween season based on Alice, the Mad Hatter and the Red Queen. There is also a Chesire Cat costume. You can see more of the costumes here.
The nominees for the 12th annual Costume Designers Guild Awards have been announced. The winners will be announced at the awards gala on Thursday, February 25th, 2010. Here are the nominees.
Excellence in Contemporary Film:
(500) Days of Summer - Hope Hanafin
Brüno - Jason Alper
Crazy Heart - Doug Hall
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire - Marina Draghici
Up in the Air - Danny Glicker
Excellence in Period Film:
Coco Before Chanel - Catherine Leterrier
Julie & Julia - Ann Roth
Nine - olleen Atwood
Sherlock Holmes - Jenny Beavan
The Young Victoria - Sandy Powell
Excellence in Fantasy Film:
Avatar - Mayes C. Rubeo & Deborah L. Scott
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - Monique Prudhomme
Star Trek - Michael Kaplan
Outstanding Made for Television Movie or Miniseries:
We can't let Halloween fade just yet. Here are some links to blog entries, Twitter photos and magazine articles revealing what some of the celebrities were wearing this year. The Today Show cast stole the show this year with its Star Wars theme.
The Today Show anchors dressed as Star Wars characters. Al Roker was
Emperor Palpatine and Han Solo, Meredith Vieira was Princess Leia, Matt Lauer was Luke Skywalker, Ann Curry was Darth Vader, Hoda Kotb was Yoda,
Kathie Lee was C-3PO and Natalie Morales was Queen Amidala.
Brad Pitt was DJ Lance Rock from the kids TV show Yo Gabba Gabba!.
Nadya Suleman went as a pregnant nun and dressed her eight youngest kids as little devils.
Rosie O'Donnell was Glenda the Good Witch and Rachael Ray was Dorothy.
Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag dressed as Jon and Kate Gosselin.
Video: Seal and Heidi Are Giant Crows For Halloween
Heidi Klum and husband Seal dressed as giant black crows for Halloween. They talked to E! about the costumes, which Heidi designed and had someone else make. Heidi said she thinks about her Halloween costume for a long time in advance.
When Seal didn't seem too enthused about being forced to walk around in a giant bird costume she said he could pick the costumes next year. Ever the gentleman, Seal demurred and said that he leaves all that to her. He gamely tried to backtrack and say that the costumes weren't really that uncomfortable, but clearly they were. The giant beaks, the black makeup...not easy to wear. It's pretty funny, take a look:
Daytime TV personalities dressed up for Halloween today. Some of the costumes included:
On the Today Show, Matt Lauer was Luke Skywalker, Meredith Vieira was Princess Leia and Hoda Kotb was Yoda. You can see photos here and a video here.
Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa were Jon and Kate Gosselin. They also did Real Housewives of New Jersey and other characters.
The View went with a vampire theme including Elisabeth Hasselbeck as Countess Chocula. Bill O'Reilly was a guest and also dressed as a vampire - see the video here.
Ellen DeGeneres dressed as Oprah maagazine - see here and here.
The CBS Early Show costumes included Maggie Rodriguez as Adam Lambert and Harry Smith as Julia Child - see here.
Rosie O'Donnell was Glenda the Good Witch with Rachael Ray as Dorothy on the Rachael Ray show - see here.
Martha Stewart was dressed as Queen of the Wild Things.
Take a look at some of the costumes in the clip below:
Reports have indicated consumers are going to spend less on costumes this Halloween - see here and here. This was not unexpected with the economic crisis and growing amount of job losses from the recession. Many people plan to make their own costumes this year to save money. Scholastic magazine's Sara Sinek showed Maggie Rodriguez some creative ideas for homemade Halloween costumes. Some products from Arts and Crafts stores were used to make them. You can find more information about the costumes and the materials used here. The Max costume, Princess Tiana costume and the father and son iPhone and iPod costume are very cute. Take a look:
Dog owners pulled out all the stops for the annual Halloween dog costume contest in Lithuania. There was a Harry Potter dog, a spider dog (that was awesome) and the winner wore a bee costume. Zac, the winner, and his owner were thrilled to win first prize. Take a look:
Party City Survey Finds Transformers, Michael Jackson Costumes Popular
Several retailers and organizations conduct surveys and put out lists of the most popular costumes each year. Party City recently released findings of a national costume survey today. With nearly 40 percent of the vote, costumes inspired by Transformers 2, the No. 1 box office film of the year, beat the
inauguration of President Obama, Kanye West taking the microphone from Taylor Swift, and the Hudson River plane landing by Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger as the most "costume-worthy" event in 2009.
Party City says that over half of respondents indicated that Michael Jackson's "Thriller" look will be the most popular Halloween tribute. Fans plan to done , black eyeliner and the red leather jacket he wore in "Thriller." Other popular Michael Jackson Halloween looks include the singer's "Billie Jean" ensemble, featuring white socks, loafers and Michael Jackson's signature white sequined glove. Other will dress like his "King of Pop" look with a military-style jacket, white gloves and aviator sunglasses.
"As the Halloween experts," says Lisa Laube president of Party City, "we know that costume choices are driven by popular culture, including blockbuster films, television shows and, of course, the latest news sensation. We have thousands of costumes and accessories to help our customers transform themselves - from head to toe - into any character they choose."
You can read more about this year's costume trends here, here, here and here.
Cosplay is when players dress up as their favorite video game characters or as anime characters. There were many people playing dress up at the Tokyo Game Show. Take a look at some of the detailed costumes. You can also look at some cosplay photo galleries here, here and here.
Where the Wild Things Are Apparel and Jewelry at Open Ceremony
Open Ceremony has a collection of clothing and jewelry inspired by the upcoming film, Where the Wild Things Are. The Spike Jones film is based on the children's classic by Maurice Sendak. Many of the Wild Things apparel items listed on Open Ceremony have the creatures that inspired them standing nearby. Apparel prices range from $290 to $895.
The jewelry collection includes claw-like cuffs and bracelets. The jewelry pieces range in price from $185 to $575.
There are also some Max costumes which are a cute Halloween idea. The costumes cost $610.00 and are currently listed as sold out.
The Star Wars Shop is selling a couple adult Star Wars costumes this year that would make a great pairing. The Jabba the Hutt costume is inflatable one-size fits all costume that retails for $69.99. The Leia slave costume includes top and briefs with skirt, belt, choker and headpiece. It retails for $54.99.
The force is strong in these little ones. That's a baby Princess Leia pictured above. Below you can see a baby Chewbacca and a baby Darth Vader. Three other infant Star Wars costumes out this year include R2D2, Stormtrooper and Yoda. The costumes can be found here on Brands on Sale and here on Amazon.com.
Below is a list of the most popular pet costumes choices from the National Retail Federation's 2009 survey conducted by BIGresearch. Pumpkins and devils are the most popular choices again in 2009. Bowties and fancy collars came in third, followed by witches, superdog/supercat costumes and pricesses. The graphic above, from left to right, shows Mailman Dog Rider, Snow White Puppy and Zelda Bee costumes.
2009 Most Popular Pet Costumes
Pumpkin
Devil
Bowties/Fancy Collars
Witch
Superdog/Supercat
Princess
Bat
Dog
Angel
Bee
Last year, pumpkins and devils were by far the most popular pet costume choices followed by witches, princesses and hot dog costumes. Pumpkins and devils were also the top choices in 2007.
Bob Mackie's Costume Designs for Cher's Vegas Show
Designer Bob Mackie has posted sketches for Cher's fabulous new costumes for her Las Vegas show. They're all so Cher. Love her. You can get tickets for Cher's shows at
Ticketmaster.
Martha Stewart posted these fabulous behind the scenes photos from her Halloween photoshoot for Martha Stewart Living magazine. Martha is dressed as a ghostly horsewoman and her Friesian horse Rutger got his mane especially braided for the shoot. Be sure to pick up the Halloween issue of Martha Stewart Living: it always has such fabulous ideas for Halloween fun.
The nominees for the 12th annual Costume Designers Guild Awards have been announced. The winners will be announced at the awards gala on Thursday, February 25th, 2010. Here are the nominees.
Several retailers and organizations conduct surveys and put out lists of the most popular costumes each year. 
