Stand Up and Be Costumed at Savers' Weekly Halloween Costume Catwalk Fashion Shows

BELLEVUE, Wash., Oct. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Stumped on what to wear for Halloween this year? Determined to finally win the costume contest at your friend's Halloween bash? You're in luck!  Savers, an international secondhand store chain that offers the largest selection of Halloween merchandise of any other retailer, is inviting costume-challenged shoppers into their stores for free weekly Costume Catwalk fashion show events throughout October to help them create one-of-a-kind costumes for the whole family and for every budget.

New this year, the Costume Catwalk events will be held every Thursday in October at 3 p.m. in all Savers locations.  Set to festive Halloween-themed music, Savers' specially-trained Costume Consultants will showcase that week's hottest costumes and help individual shoppers build outfits from scratch using Savers' endless selection of gently-used clothing and costumes, as well as enhance brand new, ready-made costumes with unique makeup and accessories.

"This year, we conducted a Halloween shopping survey that showed many consumers are unable to create the costume of their dreams every year due to a lack of time or inspiration," said Meg Allan Cole, National Costume Consultant at Savers. "Only at Savers will you find dedicated Costume Consultants helping customers find exactly what they need to put together Halloween looks that will set them apart from the crowd, all under one roof."

Top Costume Trends for Halloween 2010

The Savers "Halloween Shopping Survey" polled 1,000 adults about their Halloween shopping habits, and identified popular costumes and the hottest trends for this year. Below is a sampling of Halloween trends for 2010, courtesy of the Halloween Shopping Survey and the expertise of Savers' national Costume Consultants:

• Do It Yourself – Fabulously: With the rise of the DIY and crafting movement, Savers customers are increasingly combining new and gently used items to create one-of-a-kind costumes. According to the Halloween Shopping Survey, more than four in ten (42 percent) of those who dress up in a costume like to combine both brand new and secondhand pieces to create their Halloween look.
• Attack of the Killer Tan: Celebrities and pop culture icons remain some of the most popular costumes. According to the Halloween Shopping Survey, pop culture influences more than one in five costume-wearers on their choice of costume. This year, Savers is predicting Snooki, "The Situation" and the rest of the cast of MTV's "Jersey Shore" to be top costumes, as well as looks from recent movie blockbusters such as "Alice in Wonderland," "Avatar" and "Toy Story 3."  According to the Savers Halloween Shopping Survey, the cast of HBO's "True Blood" was named the best group costume inspired by television (25 percent), followed by the castaways from "LOST" (14 percent) and Michael Scott and crew from "The Office" (14 percent).
• Steampunk Theme:  This year, Savers Costume Consultants are expecting to see a lot of customers looking to fit into this burgeoning trend, which combines styles from the Victorian era, classic goth, gypsy and industrial technology. Steampunk costumes can be easily created by mixing Victorian era clothing, leather vests or jackets, aviator accessories and goth looks like black clothing and makeup.
• Convertible Costumes: Ten percent of costume-wearers Savers surveyed wear more than one costume per year (for example, one costume for the office party and another for going out with friends). For an easy way to create multiple looks, shoppers can combine one or two new costume pieces or accessories and mix with secondhand items to create two or more looks for the price of one.

Online Inspiration

In addition to in-store offerings, Savers provides a variety of spooky (and simple) DIY Halloween projects at www.savers.com. Visitors to the website will find a wealth of creative costume ideas, including Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and the popular Steampunk look, as well as makeup tutorial videos of the season's hottest trends, such as "Jersey Shore," "Avatar," and "Sparkly Vampire." To keep Halloween party planning stress-free, the site also features seasonal home entertaining inspiration to spice up your Halloween bash.

Good Deeds. Great Deals.

Not only does shopping at Savers for Halloween save money, purchasing secondhand items is a form of recycling and helps keep millions of pounds of goods from entering landfills each year. Savers encourages its environment-conscious customers to donate their Halloween costumes after the holiday. Every costume donated to Community Donation Centers, located on-site at Savers stores, benefits a local nonprofit partner and will be resold or recycled for someone to enjoy as a secondhand look next year. For more information, or to locate the nearest store, visit www.savers.com.  

*Methodology Note: The Savers Halloween Shopping Survey was conducted by Kelton Research during the summer of 2010 and polled 1,001 nationally representative consumers aged 18 and over.

About Savers, Inc.

Founded in 1954, Savers, Inc. is a privately held for-profit international secondhand store chain with more than 250 locations in the United States, Canada and Australia. Also known as Value Village in the western United States and Canadian provinces (and as Village des Valeurs in Quebec), the company employs more than 13,000 people. By purchasing and reselling donated items, Savers has paid more than $1 billion directly to its nonprofit partners – turning otherwise unused items into pure sustainable funding that supports their programs and services. The company also offers local communities a smart way to shop and is one of the largest recyclers of used goods in the world. Visit savers.com or valuevillage.com for more information.

SOURCE Savers, Inc.

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