LIHUE — If you have been wandering for weeks looking for Halloween costumes but can’t find one, don’t worry. Plenty of options are out there to suit partygoers or trick-or-treaters in time for Thursday. Especially if you look a little
LIHUE — If you have been wandering for weeks looking for Halloween costumes but can’t find one, don’t worry.
Plenty of options are out there to suit partygoers or trick-or-treaters in time for Thursday.
Especially if you look a little off the beaten path. All kinds of stores and even the Salvation Army have costumes for all kinds of dress-up.
“I’ve got something for everyone,” said Gloria Cataluna, who owns Lifestyles Boutique in Lihue, and specializes in unique party outfits and costumes, which are popular this time of year.
On Halloween day — and on days prior to it — the store usually gets jammed with people, with lots of customers looking for last-minute costumes and accessories, Cataluna said.
What’s popular right now?
Young girls go for wings and light-up accessories, she said. For adults, Lifestyles has eartips, police hats, mustaches, leopard spots, several styles and colors of wigs, 100 different styles of fishnets and thigh-highs, tons of Mardi Grass masks and many more costumes and accessories.
“It’s a really good mix of craziness and chaos, but somehow it works,” Cataluna said.
Those who would rather buy accessories to put together a costume, and save money, could spend as low as $18 for an entire outfit, she said.
North Shore musician Madison, who was shopping at Claire’s in Kukui Grove Shopping Center Tuesday, said she already got her outfit.
“I’m going to be a doctor,” she said. But that didn’t stop her from trying out kitty cat accessories at Claire’s. After all, she says she loves cats and when she gets older, she’ll be a “cat lady.”
The prices for Halloween costumes at Claire’s dropped considerably in the last few days.
“Our entire Halloween stock is 50 percent off,” store manager Del Basuel said Tuesday. On Halloween day, she said, prices could drop even more after special discounts.
Wings were also popular with young girls at Claire’s, and there are still a few left. Adults have been buying a lot of accessories such as chains, big earrings, fake eyelashes and Halloween jewelry.
The store still has Halloween costumes and accessories, including bows, head wraps and bands, flowers, mini hats, tutus, gloves, socks, jewelry and other things.
Still in Kukui Grove, the Knick Knack Shack has a small section dedicated to Halloween supplies and costumes at affordable prices. The store has witch and mummy outfits for less than $10, Mardi Grass masks for less than $2 and children’s costumes as low as 99 cents. They also have some cool neon webs, in case your house still needs some decoration.
Claire’s and Knick Knack Shack staff will join Kukui Grove’s Halloween celebration and will be passing out candy.
Just in time for Halloween, Tanya Hughes opened Party Wonderland in Lihue Monday. After so many parties she and her husband put together for their children, the business idea slowly matured.
“We threw elaborate parties, that’s kind how the business started,” she said, laughing but completely serious about it.
The new store is loaded with party supplies, including some unique Halloween stuff, as well as costumes for the whole family.
For those children who insist on wearing a superhero costume all year long, Hughes has the perfect solution.
For a little more than $20, Party Wonderland offers a super-hero T-shirt, with a removable cape attached by Velcro. The outfit also comes with a head accessory, depending on the type of costume — Superman, Superwoman, Batman, Batgirl or Robin. And the store has mom and dad sizes, too.
Hughes said her goal is to have unique items available nowhere else. Also, the majority of the party supplies they have are eco-friendly, she said.
Another affordable alternative for last-minute costume seekers is the Salvation Army in Lihue.
Employee Marchita Annam said she sold a few hats. On Tuesday, there was still one hat available, as well as three pumpkin costumes for babies.
Mostly, people come in to shop for used clothes, which they cut up to create costumes, Annam said.
But true last-minute shopping may not allow time to get creative with cutting and rearranging clothes to make a Halloween costume. If that’s the case, Salvation Army has a rack full of nursing outfits — which you can donate back when the party is over.
