Lady Gaga's Officially Licensed Halloween 2010 Costumes In Stores Now

Hold onto your leather, glitter, and glue guns, Little Monsters. Officially licensed Lady Gaga Halloween costumes -- a first this year -- are popping up on store shelves and shopping sites as we speak (so to speak).

But get yours now: Given the pop phenomenon's popularity -- she's the newly crowned queen of the world, with the largest number of fans on Twitter and Facebook -- the costumes are likely to fly right out of stores and inventory warehouses.

"People were looking to buy Halloween costumes of Lady Gaga in 2009, and that's when we said, 'Yeah, she's very popular and inspirational,'" Howard Beige, Executive Vice President of Rubie's Costume Company -- which bought the worldwide license to make and sell Lady Gaga Halloween costumes -- tells Holidash. "Her outfits are very attractive, trend-setting and the perfect subject matter for Halloween costumes."

A gifted singer and songwriter with an equally ferocious talent for theatricality and performance art, Lady Gaga's fanciful outfits have captured the world's imagination -- and attention. Who can forget when she painted her face with red sequins and wore a bright red latex gown to meet the Queen of England? Or her bloody performance at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, where she appeared clad in a white, jewel-encrusted midriff-baring top and hot pants?

Not us, which is why we were so pleased to see that the aforementioned white VMA outfit is part of the Lady Gaga Halloween costume collection being offered by Rubie's Costume Company -- complete with mask, stockings and tall boots (you'll have to buy some fake blood separately!). "The line for this year, 2010, consists of six different costumes, six different wigs, six different pairs of sunglasses, a couple of headscarves, a makeup kit and also some lightning bolt appliques," explains Beige. Lady Gaga fans will recognize the turquoise blue swimsuit and gloves she wore in her "Poker Face" video, as well as her American Flag outfit and soda can wig from her "Telephone" video, among other items. (View the entire Lady Gaga Halloween 2010 Costume Collection here.)

Beige, who negotiated the deal with Bravado International, a music merchandising company that represents Lady Gaga, admits the pop icon was not immediately taken with the idea. "It definitely took some convincing," says Beige. "She was very concerned with the quality, and that this would not be done as a low-end, disposable-type costume, and that the costumes would really have elements of the type of fashion that she wears. She was greatly concerned with that."

Rubie's Costume Company, which has been in business for 59 years and is the world's largest manufacturer of Halloween costumes and accessories, was able to reassure the singer. "We do a better type of garment," explains Beige. "[The Lady Gaga costumes] have got nice, sequined fabrics and spandex, so the outfits are made of good quality fabrics."

Plus, everything was submitted for pre-approval to the folks at Bravado, and presumably, Gaga herself. "It starts with sketches of our interpretations of the outfits submitted with fabric swatches," Beige explains. "Then prototypes are submitted, then first finished samples. There's quite a bit that goes into this."

Why would Lady Gaga agree to turn her one-of-a-kind outfits into Halloween costumes? It's not for the money, that's for sure. Earlier this year, Forbes.com reported that the 24-year-old singer raked in $62 million between June 2009 and June 2010.

"In cases like this, the artists are not as motivated by the financial aspect, but more the artistic aspect of having costumes that are done correctly and that they would approve and be proud of, as opposed to having just pirated or illegitimate products out there that they would have no control over," explains Beige. (Rubie's Costume Company has over 130 individual licenses, including Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Michael Jackson, and newly-licensed KISS costumes, which will be available in stores next year.)

The teen and adult market were targeted by this year's Lady Gaga Halloween costume collection, but by next year, you can expect to see tween sizes too, as well as new products, including skirts, tops, belts and jewelry. "This is a line that we really see a tremendous expansion taking place over the next couple of years," says Beige.

"We anticipate selling about one million Lady Gaga costumes this year," says Beige. "The product line is going to be in stores right now -- end of August, beginning of September -- depending on the store." Rubie's has shipped the newly licensed Lady Gaga Halloween costumes to stores across the country and Canada -- including Party City, Spirit Halloween stores, Walmart and 20,000 independent retailers. "In springtime, you'll find the products in other parts of the world, such as Europe, where they celebrate Carnival," says Beige.

Surely, Lady Gaga will outsell the other new celebrity costumes that Rubie's Costume Company is offering this year -- MTV's "The Jersey Shore" Halloween costumes.

"We try to stay topical on what would be in the public interest -- from what a pre-schooler would want to tweens, teens and young adults," says Beige. "In the case of Jersey Shore, you love it or you hate it, quite frankly. Some people like to wear things that are controversial and will draw attention."

You don't say.

Related: DIY Snooki Costume, How to Rent A Halloween Costume

Shopping for a costume rather than DIYing? AOL Shopping has great ideas.
Want your party to match your costume? Celebrations.com has ideas for a Lady Gaga-themed party.