History of CostumesNo. 5834 · The 2026 edition
Instagram-loving pets owners will spend nearly $500M on animal costumes this Halloween
Fido's Halloween fit this year? Pumpkin, hot dog, or bee—with $480M spent, pet costumes are a booming trend.
Our own summary of the original — the full post and photos live at web.archive.org.
More than 30 million pet owners are expected to shell out nearly $480 million on animal costumes this Halloween, with favorites like pumpkins, hot dogs, and bumble bees leading the pack.
Directions
- Decide to dress the pet up — more than 31 million people were expected to buy pet costumes in 2018, up from 28 million the year before.
- Pick the costume — the pumpkin was the top pet costume, followed by the hot dog and the bumble bee, though pets have also been dressed as a pharaoh, a taco, Wonder Woman, Cleopatra, a waiter or in a tutu.
- Budget for it — pet costumes account for 15% of the $3.2 billion spent on all costume sales, part of the $9 billion Americans spend celebrating Halloween.
- Post the look online — millennials aged 25 to 34 are the most likely to dress up their pets and often share the animal's Halloween look on Facebook and Instagram.
Tips
- Pets are being drawn into Halloween whether they like it or not, with consumers spending ever-growing amounts on animal costumes.
- Millennials aged 25 to 34 are the most likely group to dress up their pets, often posting the animal's Halloween look online.
- Facebook and Instagram appear to be fueling the pet-costume trend, much as they have fueled trends like plastic surgery and boasting about children.
Facts from the original
- More than 30 million people will spend an estimated $480 million treating their pets to costumes this Halloween.
- That pet-costume spending is more than double the $220 million spent on pet Halloween costumes in 2010, when the National Retail Federation began tracking pet costumes.
- The National Retail Federation says Americans will spend $9 billion celebrating Halloween this year (2018), slightly lower than $9.1 billion last year, on costumes, cards and decorations.
- Pet costumes represent 15% of the $3.2 billion spent on all costume sales.
- More than 31 million people will purchase pet costumes this year, up from 28 million last year.
- Millennials aged 25- to 34-years-old are the most likely to dress up their pets, often posting their animal's Halloween look online.
- National Retail Federation spokeswoman Ana Serafin Smith said social media is allowing millennial consumers to have fun with Halloween.
- The pumpkin is the top pet costume, with the hot dog and the bumble bee taking the second and third spots, according to the NRF.
- Pets have been spotted dressed up as everything from a pharaoh to a taco to Wonder Woman.
- The top 2018 costume purchase for people is the witch.
More photos
Photos hosted by web.archive.org.
