Sexy kitty costumes at work on Halloween: A do or a don’t?

More than half of American workers will participate in Halloween festivities at work this year, but employees planning skimpy costumes for the cubicle might want to reconsider.

Only about 1 in 10 workers will dress up for the holiday, according to a survey by career website Glassdoor, though nearly 30% said they hope their boss will show up decked out.

Managers should ask inappropriately dressed colleague to change, according to half of respondents. But 14% think the offenders should be sent home.

Of the small number of people brave enough to venture into the office in character, 42% said they’ll play it safe with basic costumes such as ghosts, witches or pirates.

Two in 10 will don duds worn by movie characters such as Katniss from “Hunger Games.� A bold 11% said they’ll attempt an office theme, dressing up like the boss, a pink slip, a paper-puncher and more.

This Halloween is set to be a record-breaker, according to several reports.

IBISWorld, a Santa Monica research firm, said that Halloween-related sales are expected to hit an $8 billion high this year, up 10.7% from 2011. Spending sunk to a $5 billion low in 2009.

Consumers are likely to buy more small-ticket items such as home decorations and candy as well as ready-to-wear costumes rather than the DIY outfits common during the recession.

Popular options will include Captain America and the presidential candidates, as shoppers shell out $2.9 billion for costumes. That’s a 12.2% increase from last year, coming off a 34.8% boost in 2011.

Though the price of sugar has surged 11.6% each year for the last five, candy sales will grow 2% this year after soaring 25% last year. Purchases of decorations, driven by shared ideas on Pinterest, will surge 23.7%.

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