VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Tracking the hottest Halloween costumes of the year is an annual tradition at 13News Now.
This year, a popular box-office hit has catapulted one character to the top of the list.
In 2022, it was all about the classics; witch topped the national list and vampire was the most popular locally, according to Google’s Frightgeist website. Every year, the search engine tracks the most popular getups across the country.
In 2023, one costume is projected to take over in dominant fashion, topping both the national and local.
It may not come as a surprise considering the frenzy created by the new Greta Gerwig film... but Barbie came in at number one.
To get a better idea of what we’re seeing here in Hampton Roads, we reached out to our resident experts on all things Halloween: costume shop Echoes of Time in Virginia Beach.
Surprisingly, Barbie-related items haven’t been their top sellers this season.
They admit, that when the movie came out over the summer, they sold a lot of Barbie accessories. Right now, though, another popular movie character’s costume is flying off the shelves: Catwoman (they couldn’t explain why).
When it comes to the Frightgeist data, some classics never go out of style. Following Barbie on the list locally are princess, fairy, cowboy and witch.
Nationally, we’re seeing similar trends. However, Wednesday Adams from the Addams Family came in as the 6th most popular costume this year. You can thank Netflix for the "Wednesday" series directed by Tim Burton.