Playing Dress Up

Alyssa Stein came to HalloweenMart in search of an Indiana Jones costume. After 15 minutes of hunting through the top seller of Halloween costumes in the country, the 18-year-old UNLV student's shopping basket holds nothing but a single hot pink corset.

Indiana Jones' fedora simply can't compete with her own cleavage.

Stein is living proof that sex sells, especially where women's Halloween costumes are concerned. It explains why shoppers in search of "The Wizard of Oz's" Dorothy costume can find one that stays true to the film and another that pushes an R rating. The former has more fabric but costs less ($39.99) than its imagination-bankrupt sister costume ($49.99).

And, Dorothy isn't the only one who lets her hair down on Halloween. So do scientists (Sexy Scientist, $39.99), girl scouts (Cookie Girl, $39.99) and baseball players (The Babe, $49.99). If it weren't for Halloween, some of these costumes would only see the floor of a stripper stage.

"Anything sexy is always a big seller," says Heather Siegel, HalloweenMart managing partner. "My theory is that people think of Halloween as a time to let their inhibitions go."

On this busy Friday evening, women in every aisle -- from "pimps" to "pirates"-- can be found pondering a racy costume or trying one on over their clothes. Some push strollers. Others pull boyfriends. All of them want a costume that, any other day of the year, would make them blush.

"It's the one time you can be really sexy and not get called on it," says Yesica Brown, 23. She explains this as her husband, Chad Brown, straps her into a white matching corset and ruffled miniskirt. In jeans and no makeup, Yesica's everyday style hardly screams vixen, but last year she sizzled as a sexy devil and her French maid costume cleaned house the year before.

Her husband finds humor in it. "Halloween is the only time a guy can call a girl a skank and she'll be like, 'Really? That's what I was going for!' " he says.

A tightened budget this year has Yesica staying between $60 and $80 for her costume, which means she'll have to skip the wall of shoes at HalloweenMart. It's hard to find a pair under $29.99, but even harder to find a pair with a heel under 5 inches high.

The sexy look doesn't discriminate, either. Just ask Sharline Alido, a plus-sized 22-year-old, whose Halloween plans have her going to the Fetish & Fantasy Halloween Ball at the Hard Rock Hotel.

"Just because you're big doesn't mean you have to be a princess or witch," she says. "You can be something hot."

Alido plans to sashay into the ball as a naughty schoolgirl, complete with the plaid skirt, fishnet hose and sky-high heels. "It's like a disguise," she says. "It lets you act differently."

If it weren't for the eight month pregnancy protruding from her belly, Katie Kenner would probably have her eye on one of the costumes that make men so eager to attend Halloween parties, too. Her costumes in the past were "pretty sexy, but creative," like poison ivy and a military cadet. This year the 27-year-old will settle for the sea witch from "Land Before Time," Ursula. Not "sexy Ursula," just Ursula.

At least Kenner isn't alone in her non-sexy costume mission. Jennifer Marx, 26, and Brenda Derlein, 20, have come to HalloweenMart in search of a Minnie Mouse and cat costume, respectively.

Neither will actually wear the costumes they're hoping to buy today, though.

Aside from an eight-month-pregnant woman, the only two other females not looking for sexy costumes are shopping for their 2-year-old daughters.

HalloweenMart is located at 6230 S. Decatur Blvd. Ste. 101, 740-4224, halloweenmart.com.