When October 31st rolls around, it seems that all the girls are prancing around in scantily-clad sexy nurse fancy dress costumes and all the guys are wandering aimlessly, staring at eye-candy, while wearing their last-minute, thrown-together garb. How many guys have you seen dressed up as a beer keg or women wearing Halloween costumes portraying nurses, police officers or Playboy bunnies? We can do better than this. Whether you’re prepared to make your own ensemble, seek out a movie character or find a group theme, there is an original costume for you.

While the grown up girls will prefer to buy a sexy sailor fancy dress costume, some of the cleverest childrens costumes are the ones parents devise and make themselves. For instance, some kids paint themselves all black and dress in black (with red or blue colored sleeves and iPod accessories), while carrying matching backdrops, to go as the classic iPod ad! Other kids dress up as the “Koolaid” man and have two friends dress as pieces of the wall he was busting through. You can dress as a “Holy Cow,” as the late gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson or as one of the “Royal Tenenbaums” in a red cord track jacket, sweatband, faux fur and eyeliner. You can go as “Nick Nolte’s Mug Shot” by wearing a Hawaiian shirt and messing up your hair, or you may want to use that Hawaiian garb to go with your moustache and sunglasses, as in “Weekend at Bernies.” Imagine the laughter at the costume party when you arrive as a lawn gnome, pine tree air freshener or paper doll!

However, if you’re looking for this year’s trendiest Halloween costumes, then look no further than the blockbuster Hollywood hits. For instance, the latest Batman movie is bound to bring a host of Jokers, Batmans and Two-faces. You can find some great adult costumes at www.halloweenadventure.com and www.costumzee.com, or you can make your own. Adults may also look to films like “Grease,” “Titanic,” “Chicago,” “A Clockwork Orange,” “Moulin Rouge,” “Cabaret,” “The Seven Year Itch” (Marilyn Monroe), “Breakfast at Tiffanys” (Audrey Hepburn), “Elizabeth-The Golden Age” or “Gone With the Wind” for inspiration. For kids costumes, Harry Potter will continue to be popular throughout 2009, so check www.whimsicalley.com, www.onlinecostumestore.com or www.hollywoodcostumes.com! There are a number of adorable kids costume ideas at www.buycostumes.com that are new for 2008, like Indiana Jones, Transformers, Iron Man, Pokemon, Speedracer, Batman and Cookie Monster. Girls may want to dress as Hannah Montana, or as a character from High School Musical or the Chronicles of Narnia. If money is no object to you and you want to stop the show with a movie-quality $500 Bigfoot, $300 Evil Inbred or $2,000 Wraith costume, then be sure to check www.thehorrordome.com!

If you’re making Halloween costumes this year, then be sure to start in advance. Make a list of items you’ll need and reference with your closet. Then it’s shopping time. Hit the thrift store first for old cheesy suits, out-of-date styles and uniforms, the army surplus store second for jumpsuits or military accessories, the dollar store third for odds and ends accessories, the fabric store fourth for sewing fabrics, velcro or felt and the Halloween costume store for wigs, make-up and hard-to-procure items last. Generally, the time and effort it takes to make your own costume design will pay off greatly because no one at the party will look just like you!