Sexy witch, zombie anything, and a little bit of corpsey vamp. Here are the trending costumes this Halloween, courtesy of Greater Seattle area Goodwill stores.
There’s no time like Halloween to find a flimsy excuse to whip out that sexy outfit you’ve been wanting to wear (I’m a mouse, duh). But even worse than donning a costume that has no point is showing up to a party where you’re completely unoriginal.
During 13 days of costume sales (Oct. 1- 13) at 29 Goodwill stores in the greater Seattle area, cashiers polled buyers on what they’re going as this year. This Halloween, non-scary costumes are topping the list for adults and children, as a majority of the top 10 list most frequently trending items were costumes like fairies, sexy renditions of otherwise scary outfits (witch, sexy she-devil), and even topical funny stuff like trailer trash hicks.
The poll also found that more children than adults are going costumed this year. Get on the ball, adults. Here are the most widely trending costumes this year based on our region. Cheers, and happy hunting.
Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more like this. Go on, make our day.
The “junk” trade is a thriving industry in this county. Do you realize there are more than 165,000 garage sales a week, with $4 million in revenue from those same garage sales and their near cousins: yard sales, tag sales, moving sales, estate sales? That’s an enormous amount of estimated cash being spent. Where’s your vig?
That’s right, it’s actually possible to make some money in the junk trade. It’s not easy, but with a few tips, a little bit of knowledge, and a little investment in time, you’ll be surprised how much money you can make (presuming your initial expectation is at or near zero). In this four-part series, as The SunBreak’s Garage, Yard & Estate Sales Correspondent, I will break down the steps you need to find, buy, and sell items in order to make some extra cash. In part one, we’ll discuss what you need to do before you hit the sales.
Start off by getting a pair of light gloves and a flashlight. The junk trade is a dirty business and you’ll be handling a lot of different items. Also, in many house sales, there are dark corners, shelves and cupboards.
You’ll also need a magnifying glass or a loupe with a 10x magnification. These can usually cost between five and eight dollars, and can be found at photography stores like Glazer’s. This small investment, properly used, is key to success when finding and selling used items. I’ll explain later.
You’ll need a smart phone, particularly when you first start out. You can’t know everything. You might see an item that is appealing, but be unsure of the value. A quick Internet check will help you find the right price to buy with enough room to make a profit when you sell it.
Get to know your local antiques dealer and find out what is selling and what is a hot sell. Go to thrift stores, Goodwill stores, or Value Village. Go online. Find out what items are selling, and what prices they are selling for.
Most importantly, you need patience and nerve.
It takes time to go through a single house full of items for sale and you’ll need to attend a few to score big. You’ll be wading through houses, basements, and garages that are 95-percent full of common, easy-to-find items: actual junk. The patient shopper is looking for the five percent that is underpriced, overlooked, and not understood. Getting items at the right price, a price with room to make profit, is the hardest part of the junk trade. Prices at any private sale vary tremendously. Remember, in many cases family members are just pricing off the cuff. These days, many families hire a professional estate sale company to handle the actual sale. Luckily, even professionals make pricing mistakes.
The important thing is to never accept the price on any item. Negotiate. Be prepared to walk away. And, in the beginning, don’t be afraid to make a few mistakes.
Don’t waste your money on items that will never sell. Porcelain china, for example, is always highly priced. But there isn’t a shortage or market for it. If you need it, fine, buy it. Most likely you won’t be able to resell it for more than you paid.
Make sure you attend estate sales in particular. Go to estatesales.net and plan to try out two or three sales a week. The two best times to attend a sale are on the first day, usually a Friday. That usually means higher prices, but more items. Conversely, the next best time is on the last day. You’ll have fewer items to see, but lower prices — and usually sellers that are willing to deal. Yard sales and garage sales are less likely to have valuables. Mostly, you’ll find baby items, glassware, and household items of no resale value. Never go on a first day to such sales; usually a drive-by on the last day will tell you if there’s hope for profit.
When you attend a sale, take your time. The more items a sale has, the better chance there is to find something mispriced or overlooked. Get down on your knees in closets, in the basement, and in the bedrooms. Look everywhere; don’t be afraid to turn the house upside down, unless you’ve already been asked to leave.
It’s a competition. Estate sales are big business. People get up early and they fight for position in lines, for items they covet and for the lowest prices. But you can win if you have more knowledge. We’ve now told you how to wade into battle. In our next installment, we’ll tell you the items where your fortune can be made.
“Approximately 20 percent of all people planning to dress up for Halloween will wait until the last minute to choose their costume,” reports Value Village, with results from their proprietary in-house Halloween Shopping Survey. This is serious! 1,068 people were polled nationally. So it’s likely you haven’t really figured out what you’re going as yet.
Lucky for you, Value Village has a Halloween-oriented special forces unit they deploy at this time of year. If you stop into a store, you can visit with a “certified” Costume Consultant, and browse through new costumes starting at $9.99, wigs starting at $5.99, and accessories from $1.99. Thursdays at 3 p.m., all Value Villages have a costume fashion show.
Goodwill does not, that I can tell, have a “Costume Catwalk.” But as the video above illustrates, if your costume idea calls for sequins, it’s the place to go. Or, perhaps not, if you see the guy featured leaving the store, as there will be none left. UPDATE: An alert reader also suggests the St. Vincent de Paul store on Aurora, which has “several racks” of costumes.
If you are stuck for ideas, the Value Villagers have provided some jumping-off points. I have deleted the ones I found too easy (the Charlie Sheen) or which made me feel old because I didn’t know who that was (Nicki Minaj). Here are the cream of the crop:
“Walking Dead” Zombies – One of the best and easiest costumes to create and personalize, just choose any combination of secondhand clothes that can be ripped – for men, a white dress shirt, slacks and a blazer; for women, a dress or skirt and blouse. You can also go with a theme – cheerleader, mailman, or even bride! Then just add blood and makeup to finish the un-dead look. For a Zombie makeup tutorial, visit www.valuevillage.com.
80’s Movie Nostalgia – Get the Halloween party conversation started with a costume throwback to the 1980s. For a “Top Gun Maverick” costume, embellish a vintage leather bomber jacket with homemade “patches,” printed from your computer on cardstock. Pair the jacket with a white t-shirt, aviators and dog tags, and you’ll be partying in the “danger zone.” Or, transform into “Teen Wolf” by layering a brown faux fur jacket underneath a yellow basketball jersey or tank top. Then complete the classic costume with werewolf “gloves,” brown makeup and prosthetic ears and nose.
Bridesmaids – This year’s blockbuster comedy is also a perfect group Halloween costume. Choose one secondhand wedding dress and a variety of gaudy secondhand bridesmaid dresses for your group of friends. Make simple bouquets out of silk flowers to carry along, and be sure to sing Wilson Philips’ “Hold On” throughout your Halloween festivities!
