This Is What Hollywood Is Wearing this Halloween

With nearly a week left until Halloween, it’s crunch time to find the perfect costume. To help you on your quest to find the sexiest or spookiest getup, we have enlisted L.A.’s five favorite costume stores to find out the most-wanted looks of the season — and it turns out, if it’s hot on screen, it’s hot for Halloween.

Some of the most popular costumes this season include TV and movie characters such as Maleficent, Frozen’s Elsa and Anna, Breaking Bad’s Walter White, and American Horror Story’s Twisty the Clown. It’s not too surprising given that we live in the entertainment capital of the world, after all. 

Rather than the standard packaged costumes, shoppers are choosing to recreate some of their favorite characters using separates and accessories for a look that’s one-of-a-kind. Because honestly, there’s nothing worse than a “bitch stole my look” moment.

 

Ozzie Dots

Ozzie Dots owner John McBee observes a rise in the sale of separates, noting that customers prefer to buy single pieces and a few accessories and then create their own unique look. “We’re seeing people want to be all of these characters and celebrities,” says McBee. “We’re seeing the public go a little more creative.” TV characters like the zombies of the Walking Dead and even old Hollywood stars such as Buster Keaton are just a few of the looks Ozzie Dots customers are recreating.

4637 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, 323-663-2867, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; ozziedots.com

Make Believe Inc.

At Make Believe Inc., storeowner Tanisa Fatchett observes that older TV shows and movies still influence consumers’ costume decisions. “Twenties has been going strong for about three years. It started with Boardwalk Empire, and then Gatsby, and then Downton Abbey– the twenties just won’t stop,” notes Fatchett.

Fatchett also notices a decline in the typical packaged costumes such as nurses, maids, and cops. She adds: “Victoria’s Secret Angels have gone down too, thank God. Those are extra boring.” Among their replacements, Fatchett remarks that Maleficent and Frozen costumes were the most requested costumes of the season.

3240 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, 310-396-6785, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; makebelieveinccostumes.com

 

 

Bizzy B

Even stores that specialize in “sexy” have noticed a trend toward TV characters. Matt Robinson, a sales associate at Bizzy B’s lingerie store, noted that while princess costumes and cat ears are still among their best sellers, customers have been asking for accessories that are a little more out of the ordinary. “Just yesterday, we had three separate people ask if we had Spock ears that we don’t sell. That was kind of weird.”

Among male customers, Duck Dynasty-inspired looks are also pretty popular. “We have wig and beard sets paired with a camouflage mesh top and camouflage underwear,” says Robinson.

6548 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, 323-469-4309, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; bseductive.com

 

Western Costume Company

Jessica Mauricio, a sales associate and costume designer at Western Costume, observes that one TV show costume has been more highly requested than others: “A lot of Game of Thrones, oh my gosh, so many Game of Thrones. Men and women.”

Another common TV show character is Walter White of Breaking Bad. Despite the series finale ending over a year ago, the yellow hazmat suit is still one of their most requested items.

11041 Vanowen St, San Fernando Valley, 818-760-0900, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; westerncostume.com

Adele’s of Hollywood

“Today the young men and women are looking at more elegant costumes, thank God,” said Adele Sady, owner of Adele’s of Hollywood. In particular, Sady noticed a spike in more elaborate costumes for rent including 300-inspired Spartans and intricately beaded flappers costumes. In addition to these elaborate costumes, some of the most requested costumes at Adele’s of Hollywood include Maleficent and American Horror Story’s Twisty the Clown.

And Adele’s advice for a last minute costume? “We have the gorilla, which is the most popular costume for any Halloween season. Men always want to be gorillas. Last minute, no costume, they’re gorillas.”

5034 Hollywood Blvd #2, Los Angeles, 323-663-2231, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; adelescostumes.com

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Hong Kong police arrest 26 amid street clashes

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong riot police battled with thousands of pro-democracy protesters for control of the city’s streets Saturday, using pepper spray and batons to hold back defiant activists who returned to a protest zone that officers had partially cleared.

Police and activists engaged in running clashes in Mong Kok’s dense grid of streets, scuffling for hours. Several protesters were seen knocked to the ground, and dozens were carried or taken away by police.

The government said some 9,000 people gathered at the scene, repeatedly charging police lines in an attempt to retake roads. Authorities said police arrested 26 people.

Protesters are pressing for a greater say in choosing the semiautonomous Chinese city’s leader in an inaugural direct election, promised for 2017.

Students and activists oppose Beijing’s ruling that a committee stacked with pro-Beijing elites should screen candidates in the election. That effectively means that Beijing can vet candidates before they go to a public vote.

One protester was seen bleeding from his forehead as he was carried to a police van, moments after he was forced to the ground by officers. In scenes repeated throughout the evening, officers used batons to beat back umbrellas used by the crowd of young protesters to defend themselves from pepper spray.

“The police have lost control. They are beating up protesters like we’re animals. We are angry. The students are our future,” said Tommy Lee, a 45-year-old technology worker who was outraged at seeing police handcuff four protesters who appeared to be high school students.

Also detained was Bangkok-based Getty photojournalist Paula Bronstein, who was hauled away by police for standing on the hood of a Mercedes-Benz amid the melee. Hong Kong’s Foreign Correspondents Club issued a statement demanding her immediate release, saying that police have threatened and intimidated other journalists covering the protests.

The chaotic scenes unfolded hours after police had moved in to clear tents, canopies and barricades at Mong Kok, a smaller protest zone across Victoria Harbor from the main occupied area in the heart of the financial district.

Mong Kok’s protest zone had been home to a rowdier, more radical crowd less willing to follow student leaders, making it the most volatile of the three areas occupied since Sept. 28 by Hong Kong democracy protesters.

The dawn operation — the third in recent days by police to retake streets from protesters — came after Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying sought to defuse the bitter standoff with the protesters on Thursday by reviving an offer of talks over democratic reforms in the city.

However, Leung warned that police wouldn’t refrain from clearing protest sites while holding talks. The latest clashes were likely to make it harder to resolve the crisis with protesters, who were already angered by a video of a group of officers kicking a handcuffed activist.

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Joanna Chiu contributed to this report.

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Follow Sylvia Hui on Twitter at twitter.com/sylviahui

• Unrest, Conflicts War
• Politics Government
• Mong Kok
• Hong Kong

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