We've never been overly concerned about being a little behind the sartorial times, but five centuries? That's a stretch even by our plaid flannel shirt standards.
Alas, that's where we land in an analysis of Halloween costumes. While trick-or-treaters in other parts of the country will be emulating the likes of comic book supervillain Harley Quinn and Elsa from the blockbuster movie "Frozen," a statistically significant number of Twin Cities revelers are going to be dressing up in Renaissance costumes.
This frightening image comes from the website Frightgeist (frightgeist.withgoogle.com). Every day, Google tracks the estimated 3 billion searches done on its website and lists the most popular ones on Google Trends. For Halloween, it's set up a site that lists the most popular costume searches and breaks them down by the city in which they originated.
The top five costume searches from the Twin Cities, in order: Superhero, Star Wars, Minions, pirates and the Renaissance.
The first four rank in the top 10 searches nationally. But that last one isn't nearly as hip. In fact, it's No. 74 nationally and has been trending steadily downward since 2006.
Some of the other Minnesota towns have outliers, too. In Duluth, it's Cruella de Vil at No. 4. Rochester lists Captain Hook at No. 3 and Mankato has Popeye ranked fourth. But at least these outfits are trending upward.
If you insist on wearing your Leonardo da Vinci costume and want to rub shoulders with other partyers in Renaissance get-ups, head to North Platte, Neb., Missoula, Mont., or Bangor, Maine. We shall see thee anon.
