4C
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2015
PARTING SHOT
A weekly snapshot from The Daily Astorian and Chinook Observer photographers
The Astoria Column, seen from the road in October, was lighted pink to mark breast cancer awareness.
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
ODDITY
Pets dress up for more than Halloween
Dogs have busy social
lives, little shame
“In March next year, Batman and Superman
two of the most iconic superheroes will face
off on the big screen, but we are already seeing
the competition play out in stores and online
this Halloween season with these two cos-
tumes neck-and-neck, topping our best-selling
list,” said Eran Cohen, chief customer experi-
ence of¿cer for PetSmart.
It’s close, but the Batman costume is actu-
ally outselling the rest of the ¿eld, Cohen said.
By SUE MANNING
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Wally the Welsh corgi
used to get dressed up to go trick-or-treating
for Halloween, often as a banana, once as a di-
nosaur.
But Wally, owned by Marc and Cynthia
Dalangin of Wharton, New Jersey, doesn’t go
trick-or-treating anymore. Like a lot of busy
dogs, he has too many other engagements. And
as a budding Instagram celebrity, he needs a
wardrobe full of costumes to choose from.
As dogs have ¿lled their social calendars,
they’ve had to ¿ll their closets too. 7hey’re
not just dressing up once a year on Halloween.
7hese days, dogs and their owners are getting
invited to parties, parades, meet-ups, pump-
kin patches, picnics, Christmas tree farms and
many other themed outings.
Batman v. Superman
7he top ¿ve best-selling costumes on eBay
for pets are Superman, lion, panda, Batman
and necktie. For adults, the top ¿ve costumes
are Batman, Frozen characters, Alice in Won-
derland, Star Wars characters and French maid.
Spider-Man came in 10th.
7he children’s list put Mario and Luigi
(Mario Bros.) on top, then Star Wars, Batman,
Frozen and a witch. 7he Minions, Spider-Man,
7eenage Mutant Ninja 7urtles, Minnie and
Mickey Mouse and Power 5angers round out
the kids list.
Another popular pet costume consists of a
¿gure that appears to be riding the dog, like a
storm-trooper riding a dewback, a reptile from
“Star Wars.”
Wardrobe demands
As a result, canine costumes have become
more than just something dogs wear once to
a party. It’s essential for dogs and cats who
are up-and-coming social media celebrities to
have a varied wardrobe. With their likes and
followers growing faster than speeding bullets,
their fans want new photos all the time.
7wo years ago, Wally left the simple banana
costume behind when he underwent a lifestyle
and wardrobe makeover. Now he dresses like
Elvis Presley (“King Corgi”) and Michael
Jackson (“7hriller Corgi”) and has become a
rising star on Instagram, with 63,000 follow-
ers, and Facebook, with 12,000 likes.
Wally’s transformation coincides with the
pet costume industry’s coming of age. And
business is booming.
7he National 5etail Federation estimates
that 20 million pet owners will dress their pets
this Halloween, spending $350 million on the
costumes.
7he online marketplace eBay had 1.5 mil-
lion pet costumes for sale on Oct. 21 out of 800
million items listed for sale, with 159 million
active customers in 200 countries, said Zoher
Karu, vice president of global optimization and
data for eBay.
Pet costumes represent 2 percent of Cos-
tume SuperCenter’s sales. 7he company
A dog in a Supergirl
costume for Halloween.
The pet costume indus-
try has come of age.
Excluding pet stores,
retailers have only just
begun to look at pet
costumes as a trend.
PetSmart via AP
Still have the banana
Marc Dalangin via AP
Wally, a Welsh corgi dressed in a Batman costume for Halloween. Wally has dressed as
a banana, a dinosaur, Michael Jackson and Elvis. He doesn’t go out anymore. People
come to see him instead, or visit him on Instagram, with 63,000 followers, and Facebook,
with 12,000 followers.
sells nothing but costumes and accessories on
eBay and other sites.
No ceiling on pet spending
“7here does not seem to be a ceiling on
what people are willing to spend on their pets,”
said Michael Esposito, the company’s business
development and af¿liate marketing
director. 7he majority of their
pet costumes sell for $14.99 to
$24.99. You would never know
the costume only required a 10th of the fabric
needed for a human costume, he said.
“Costume SuperCenter has seen its pet cos-
tume sales double every year for the last three
years,” Esposito said. He expects the
trend to continue.
Halloween costumes for pets and
people tend to follow news
headlines and movies. 7he
latest “Star Wars” movie
isn’t out yet but demand is
already high for Darth Vader
and Yoda costumes.
Cynthia Dalangin has been in charge of
Wally’s wardrobe expansion, buying from
eBay, PetSmart, DIY sites and garage sales.
Wally has a particularly large collection of
bowties because they set off his ears so well.
She gets a lot of ideas from Pinterest and Etsy.
Most sellers said they stock pet costumes
year-round because birthdays, Christmas and
New Year’s are all good holidays for partying
and photographs. And keeping up one’s on-
line pro¿le with fresh photos is a year-round
job. Wally went as Batman on Oct. 17 when
he joined 56 other corgis at a pumpkin patch
at Conklin Farms in Montville, New Jersey. A
minion is next.
If Wally accepts all his
invitations, he might have
to rotate through all his
costumes, including Cap-
tain America and an out¿t
themed on “Breaking Bad.”
And if he comes up short,
“we still have the banana,”
Dalangin said.
A dog dressed for
Halloween in a
Batman costume.
PetSmart via AP