Fitzgerald: Halloween 2025

Good Witch and Water Nymph Costumes.

BODY publisher Nick Monjo talked with Rob Fitzgerald, who acquired Dreamgirl last summer, about that business and the costume brands he controls.

MONJO: In earlier interviews you talked about expanding your Halloween costume offerings. How has that progressed for 2025?

FITZGERALD: Well now that we have Dreamgirl, Starline LA, and Party King all in one space, it has given us the luxury of dipping our toes into some exciting new developments. Dreamgirl has a nascent sexy men’s line that we are looking to ramp up under the name brand Dreamguy. We have also designed a sweet line of children’s costumes (non-sexy, of course) for some of our private label customers, and we’re expanding our capabilities to introduce more options in this category.  

     We feel that we are solid in our sexy/ premium women’s costume core market but still see plenty of opportunities to improve our product offering. We are looking to move both upscale with premium style and more mass markets with lower cost costumes that still deliver exceptional style. Over the next couple of years, we will be filtering out some of our redundant styles and focusing on creating unique identities targeting different demographics for each of our major brands.  

MONJO: Do you have any predictions for Halloween this year? How is the holiday shaping up for the industry?

FITZGERALD: Wow!  This is the question on everyone’s minds this year! Like everyone in the industry, we have aged about 10 years over the last couple of months due to the tariff situation. We have continued production of all of our costumes at full speed and are rushing to get everything shipped out during the 90-day moratorium.  We are working hard to mitigate the disruption and cost increases for our customers. We are honoring pricing on all existing orders from our customers but have had to impose a tariff surcharge on all future orders unless something dramatically changes – which we are hoping it will!  

     We also launched a “Survive 25” program, offering pre-tariff pricing and close-outs to help our customers maintain strong product offerings at price points their shoppers are still willing to pay. It is only a short-term solution, but we are really working to help everyone keep going until we all get some more visibility. 

     Although the tariffs have fallen from an insane 145% to an effective rate of 55% (which is still insane, but certainly better), shipping costs and delivery times have both recently risen dramatically. Based on our observations with our wholesale customers and our suppliers, we expect that the supply of Halloween costumes will shrink by a noticeable amount this year. We see the demand side being strong and are positioning our company to be able to have inventory to supply the needs of our wholesale customers. If you are a retailer or an e-tailer and have decided to sit on the sidelines while things sort themselves out, you just might find yourself without anything to sell this year! We think that there is a great opportunity to gain real market share in the disruption and carnage that we are living through, but it won’t go to the faint of heart.

MONJO:  What are two or three of the most interesting “costume trends” for Halloween 2025?

FITZGERALD: One of the emerging costume trends we are seeing for Halloween is sheer materials! We have found that women are even more ready to show off than ever before and StarlineLA’s costumes are perfect for that. One of our new costumes that is shaping up to be the most popular is our Grecian Goddess (S2527). She is a mint-colored animal print embossed sheer dress with gold leaf trim throughout. The Grecian Goddess includes gold accessories, such as a waist belt, arm bands, leg wraps and a laurel-inspired headpiece. And of course, as much as our customers love to show off their curves, we include a gold panty and gold pasties for modesty’s sake! 

     Upscale cowgirl glam is riding high and we are here with the perfect costume for this Halloween season! Our Denim & Diamonds Cowgirl (S2539) is a romper with faux rhinestone trim details throughout and attached garters that come with a choker and a cowgirl hat. Whether you’re channeling Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ vibes or Bella Hadid’s off-duty cowgirl style, our customers will be the main character in every wild west fantasy.

     We have also seen the big controversy this year of whose better- a good witch or a bad witch. This is the perfect time for our costumers to get their hands on our Wicked Emerald Witch (PK2433). This is a bewitching cold-shoulder green teddy adorned with shimmering sparkles, pearl accents, and oversized “emerald” gems that radiate magical allure. The set includes a matching deluxe tulle skirt and a whimsical hat, perfect for conjuring up some serious style and spell binding charm. And of course, you can’t forget our Good Witch (S2432) who is a velvety costume, adorned with sequin gold stars and star glitter mesh, featuring a lace-up top with boning for a bewitching fit. The look includes gloves, crown, and a wand to complete the look. Together, these costumes make the perfect sexy duo- ready to cast spells and defy gravity in style.  

MONJO: Can you describe a couple of your favorite Party King costumes for this year?

Grecian Goddess and Bridgerbabe costumes.

FITZGERALD: We have so many new costumes to choose from this year it’s going to be hard to only choose two! One of my favorite costumes that we have this year is the Bridgerbabe (PK2583). She is a purple 3D lace empire dress with puff-sleeves and built-in mini dress. The matching accessories that come with are matching gloves and crown to really give the customer the perfect magical touch. I love this costume because she is proper but is giving sexy to this gorgeous period piece. 

     I think one of my favorites that is just gorgeous, and captivating is our Water Nymph (PK2533) costume. She is a beautiful green and turquoise scale foil teddy with “shell” cups with gold pearl accents, gold shell details and attached sequin fringe skirt. She comes with the matching sequin neck piece, garters and majestic headpiece. She is giving under the sea goddess with the gorgeous body suit and all the extra details that will surely make heads turn. 

MONJO: What else would you like to say about Halloween 2025?

FITZGERALD: We think this will be a standout year! We have all have been navigating chaos without the map and we are still months away from Halloween. Our experience is that many people are paralyzed when confronted with adversity and chaos. This just leads us to believe that this year will be a fantastic year for companies that have confidence (or, in our case, stupidity) to go all-in when other saner people are running for the exits. We wish everyone in the industry the best of luck and hope that 2025 proves to be your best Halloween yet!