Technology Stuff: Lady Gaga, 'Jersey Shore,' 'Avatar' Top Halloween Costumes

Monday, November 1, 2010

Lady Gaga, 'Jersey Shore,' 'Avatar' Top Halloween Costumes

'I'm almost out of blue makeup,' New York costume purveyor says of popularity of Na'vi look.
By Jocelyn Vena

Lady Gaga fans in costume
Photo: Kristian Dowling/ Getty Images

If the "Today" show hosts are any indication of what's cool this Halloween, then we'll be seeing a lot of ladies dressed as Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga. And that's partially true. When MTV News reached out to several costume purveyors, we learned that Gaga and the Biebs are only two of the pop culture-approved looks that will be donned by revelers and trick-or-treaters this weekend.

"Lady Gaga, of course, is very popular. Also very popular is vampires, I assume because of 'True Blood,' " Damien Valadez, the assistant manager of New York costume shop Masquerade, explained.

So which Gaga looks are flying off the shelves? "I'm not a huge expert on what these are, but the blue one," Valadez said. "I think it's 'Poker Face.' It's all Lady Gaga licensed products, makeup, glasses, hair bows. People were asking about the soda-can wig. They were looking for plastic meat. We didn't have that, but people wanted it." He added that lots of women, and some men, are buying Bieber-like wigs and "Jersey Shore" wigs.

It's not just Gaga that people are going gaga for this season. "I would say the biggest sellers in order have been that 'Avatar' stuff. [To be Na'vi] is definitely #1: the costumes, wigs, face paint," Pierce Skinner of Halloween Adventure explained. "After that it would be 'Jersey Shore,' which is also most popular with costumes, and then I would say Lady Gaga, more in terms of accessories."

Gaga's little monsters are also sinking their teeth into accessories. "Definitely the glasses, the wigs," he said. "As far as I know, we have contacts for something that she did [for 'Bad Romance']. What I see most with Lady Gaga's little license on it are the glasses and the wigs."

Cody Hadrick of the Abracadabra Superstore found that many revelers this year are going DIY. "I've had a lot of Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber. I think it's my last wig that we were styling for Bieber," she explained. "People are coming in and trying their own Gaga-inspired look. 'Avatar' is popular, but still people are trying to come in and do it differently. [Also] vampires [across] the board, kids to adults."

Wigs are still key to the homemade Gaga costumes. "They're still doing the hair. The hair is pretty much the same: the white, platinum-blond wig and then getting some makeup or masks and glitter, and they're trying to find something to cut up," she explained, adding that people are going particularly bold for "Avatar."

"We do makeup in the store. We've booked so many appointments to get 'Avatar' makeup and to get body paint, some completely nude. We had a model come in last Saturday. She was completely nude. People are totally going for it. I'm almost out of blue makeup."

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