Celebrities, comic characters and sexy vixens. Those seem to be the hottest costumes for adults this year - at least in this area.

According to Kerri Rodriguez, the store manager at iParty in South Attleboro, there should be a lot of celebrity look-alikes wandering around the area this Halloween.

"This year, people are really looking for reality star costumes and celebrities - Michael Jackson, the Kardashians, Kate Gosselin - they've all been very popular," Rodriguez said. "This year we've seen a lot of people just wanting to put together their own costumes. You can create all of those with accessories," she said.

To dress up as Michael Jackson, Rodriguez says go with accessories including Jackson's classic red jacket, the famous white glove, and even a Michael Jackson wig.

Rather be a Kardashian from the reality TV show "Keeping Up With the Kardashians"? Rodriquez says people are buying glamorous wigs, false eyelashes, and even accessory body parts, such as fake behinds. Looking to transform yourself into Kate Gosselin from the TV reality series "Jon & Kate Plus 8"? There's a wig called "Eight is Enough" for $12.99, which worn with a simple pair of sunglasses, ranging from $1.99 to about $10, will do the trick, Rodriguez says.

At the Spirit store on Route 1 in North Attleboro, one of three Spirit stores in this area, manager Kevin Silva says Mario Bros. costumes are the hottest he's seen this year. Based on the 1980s Nintendo game, the costumes include the Mario Bros., Mario and Luigi, as well as a few of the game's other characters.

Silva says he isn't sure why the Mario Bros. costumes are so popular, but notes that they are being purchased for both children and adults, and for groups as well as individuals.

"They come in, they call, they saw it on the Internet," Silva said. "Usually, it's like one person at a time, but there are a lot of groups. When we originally sold them there were a lot of groups going."

Having sold out of the Marios Bros. costumes more than once this year, Silva said the store carried five of the characters and saw as many as four purchased for one group.

The Mario Bros. costumes range from $29 for a child's to $39 for an adult and $59 for a "deluxe."

Another costume item that Spirit has sold out of this year, according to Silva, was a red pleather Michael Jackson jacket for $59, although he says there are other Michael Jackson items still available, such as a hat for $9.99.

So, how about those sexy vixen costumes, you ask? Well, there are plenty in stock at the Halloween Shoppe at Emerald Square mall and they are in plenty of demand, according to Paula Thalis, who manages the store along with her daughter, Christina Martinez.

Seductive costumes range from an Indian Princess to a spellbinding witch to the classic chambermaid and several nursery rhyme characters, including Little Miss Muffet. There are also a female firefighter and an "Officer Naughty."

"(Customers) don't want to be ugly and they don't want to be scary; they want to be sexy," Thalis said. The seductive costumes range from $35 to $60, and even go from $100 to $135 when you get into the full Renaissance costumes, some of which include boot covers to wear over shoes.

As for the other hot costumes, Thalis says the store sold out of the Michael Jackson costumes the first couple of days it was open, and a lot of teenage girls are buying the accessories for the TV reality star costumes.

At South Attleboro Square, Nino Rizzo, manager of Rhode Island Costume Super Store, says vampires are hot costumes, both for individuals and couples, with the female costumes being very seductive.

Rizzo also confirms the popularity of the Mario Bros. costumes. He says the store sold out of the adult Mario and Luigi costumes and had to replenish its stock, and that some parents are dressing in the costumes along with their children.

Michael Jackson is also a big hit, he notes. "We had the promo guy here dressed as Michael Jackson over the weekend," Rizzo said. "He came Saturday, 2-5, and the whole crowd was just watching him dance."

Arnold Bromberg, spokesperson for the Benny's store chain, says that Star Wars cos tumes in both child and adult versions, have been popular at the North Attleboro store on Route 1. There were about a half-dozen such costumes to choose from, but they are just about sold out.

Janette Boulay can be reached by phone or fax at 508-222-0993 or by e-mail at janette.boulay@gmail.com.