Legg Mason, headquartered in Baltimore, is a global asset management firm with over $842 billion in assets under management worldwide.

Oh, wait - my apologies. A bit of confusion there. Just checked my notes. This isn’t supposed to be about Legg Mason; it's supposed to be about Leg Avenue, manufacturer of what appear to be this year’s most popular Halloween costumes.

Sex sells. And Leg Avenue seems to be selling it quite well. As their corporate website boasts, “No one does sexy better!”

Ellen Engelman, owner of Clarksville, Tennessee’s Halloween Express costume shop, says she’s not selling many Cinderella outfits this season. But she can’t keep Leg Avenue costumes in stock.

The “Naughty Nymph” -- essentially an underwire bra with a skirt thrown in as an afterthought -- goes for about $40. The “Boarding School Dropout” -- similar to the “Naughty Nymph”, but plaid -- costs about the same.

And the “Head Referee” -- yes, that's the actual name of the costume and any double-entendre is left solely to the reader’s discretion -- will set you back a few more bucks, but it does come with a whistle. And a cap.

Aris Borjas, manager of Fresno’s Halloween Express, says the "most popular brand here in our store is Leg Avenue  - the more revealing costumes.” The most popular style? Anything law enforcement-related. So fear not! Leg Avenue protects and serves with the “Officer Frisk Me” getup, complete with handcuffs and baton, in case you're into that sort of thing.

Gary Filkins is the manager of Gift Adventures on Beaver Avenue in State College, Pennsylvania. “Guys like garters,” he says - a confused attempt to make the point that men enjoy looking at women in garters, not wearing them. But as junior middleweight boxing superstar Oscar De La Hoya demonstrated in a series of photos leaked to the press last year, that's not always the case:

“[A]lhough the economy is struggling, Halloween sales may be a bright spot for retailers this fall,” Tracy Mullin, president of the National Retail Federation, told the Los Angeles Times. “Consumers, who have been anxious and uncertain for the past several months, may be looking at Halloween as an opportunity to forget the stresses of daily life and just have a little fun.”