Jack Sparrow, the hero of "Pirates of the Caribbean," is appealing to boys and girls, but because of customer demand, Disney is introducing a version of heroine Elizabeth Swann for the holiday season. "This is a girl taken outside of the traditional role and into pirate action and adventure," Hauk says.

Not to say that girls still aren't enchanted with princesses. To Hauk's surprise, the star at Disney Store this season is Jasmine from "Aladdin."

"Purple is a big fashion color, so maybe even as young as 2 they're subliminally being influenced by John Galliano," Hauk adds with a laugh.

And other nonblond princesses, including Ariel and Belle, are faring better than traditional favorites Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty.

Infant costumes are running more to expectations, with Mickey and Minnie, Winnie the Pooh and Nemo leading the pack. The busiest selling period for costumes at Disney stores, the end of September, has already past.

Other standouts:

— Children embracing the scarier side of Halloween are getting younger each year. Vampires, witches and other dark looks are being worn by tweens and teens, and even Ungaro's own 7-year-old son wants to be a vampire. "She specifically asked me to put blood on her lips," she says.

Brothers Ryan and Matthew Kramer, 8 and 6, respectively, will be dressed as baseball players during their school-day Halloween party but will be "scary guys" when they go trick-or-treating that night. "We can't wear masks to school," laments Ryan, showing off a creepy, glowing monster face in front of Party City in Mount Kisco, N.Y.

— Older teenage girls like a sassier look, such as "Major Flirt," a military-inspired outfit, and "Evil Cheerleader," with dark pompoms and the outfit slightly askew.

Katie Rhodes, 17, Lisa Stevenson, 17, and Katie Stevenson, 15, are going with a theme. Rhodes plans on being the angel between the Stevenson sisters' devils at the John Jay High School costume parade in Cross River, N.Y. "We've been planning this for a while," says Rhodes. "I'm blond, they're brunettes. I drive a white car, Lisa has a dark one. It seemed to make sense."

— Men are looking for humor, such as a "chick magnet," costume, a giant magnet around the neck and little yellow chicks attached, and the "lost dog," a fat suit with a squashed puppy on the rear.