Hire or Buy costumes

In the past the only way to get a costume was to make it yourself, have one custom made or hire one, but these days there are lots of costumes available for sale. If you have the option try to get to a store to compare what is available.

So what is the difference between hiring a costume or buying one to keep?

Hiring 
If you want a great quality or elaborate costume or something like a large fur animal hiring can be far more economical. Many really good costumes are simply way too expensive to purchase just to wear once.

 

Hire is a good option if you need an unusual size or uncommon character. 

A good fancy dress costume hire store will probably stock a whole load of stuff that you can't find to buy because they have been collecting and making great things for years.  As costume hire stores do often make their own costumes there is less chance of someone else having exactly the same outfit at your party. Hire stores will usually allow you to mix and match from a huge selection of pieces and they are able to cater for all shapes and sizes.

If you think about it hiring a costume doesn’t create landfill unlike a single use purchased costume.

 

Buying
If you are a standard size or think you may want to be the same character over and over again buying your own costume is a good idea.  Buying also takes away the pressure of having to return something on time or in good order (great if your going on a bucks night or taking something away for a extended holiday).

 

Purchased costumes are generally mass produced to meet a certain price point, the fabrics and materials used are usually lower quality. Depending on how much or little you spend you will probably find they are not made for repeated wearing and washing. They will often be one size fits most or come in only a limited range of sizes, unlike hire costumes you can not mix and match to fit.

 

If you are nearby visit our store so you can compare what is available to hire or buy.

 

 

Costume ideas starting with A

A is a great letter for a costume party theme. You can be as obscure or obvious as you like.

If you come up with any other ideas please feel free to add them to the comments.

Visit our costume catalogue to take a look at some pictures.

Abba
Abbess -  Female superior of a convent / Nun
Abbott -  Head of a monastery / Monk
Academic - Gown and mortar board
Ace - Pilot or aviator
Acrobat
Actor
Addams family
Admiral
African
Aladdin
Al Capone
Ali Ba Ba
Alice in Wonderland
Alice Cooper
Aliens
Alter boy
Ambassador - any national dress to represent a particular country
Amelia Airhardt
American Indians
Amphibian - frog
Ancestor - any period costume including cave people or ancient Romans or Egyptians
Ancient  - Egyptians or Romans
Anaesthetist
Angel
Anglo Saxon - Vikings or Medieval
Angus Young
Animals
Annie
Annie Oakley
Anthony
Apes
Apostle
Apparition
Arabians
Archangel
Archer - Robin Hood
Ariel
Aristocrat
Arthropod
Artist
Austin Powers
Australian colonial
Aviators

Theme Party Ideas

The theme you pick for your party can have a big impact on how keen everyone is to join in. If you choose something too difficult or limiting some of your guests may not even bother. Make sure when you send out your invitations that you encourage people to think outside the square. There are ways to improve on many popular themes, take a look through the following ideas.

Superheroes

Don't forget not everyone is comfortable in Lycra or Spandex. Give your guests a bit more scope, maybe make the theme just heroes or heroes and villains. For something different you could even encourage them to come up with there own slightly dodgy superhero.

Sound of Music

Don't just stick to the characters. There's heaps of obscure ideas hidden within the song lyrics. (When the dog bites, when the bee stings, brown paper packages tied up with string, white dresses with blue satin ribbons).

Initial Parties

Getting your guests to come as something starting with the first letter of your name is quite common but you may like to think about using your first and surname initials to give people a few more options.

Colour Parties

Challenge yourself with this one. Decorate your party with one colour only, start with balloons, streamers, table covers, candles then see what else you can find in the right colour. Get creative with your menu, think up food and cocktails to serve in the same colour. Have your guests come in full costume in your chosen colour or let the less enthusiastic come with a touch of colour.

Winter

This is a great idea if your birthday is in the colder months, and there's plenty of ways to keep warm if you don't have room for an indoor party. Suggest they come as anything to do with the winter, cold or cold places. For costumes think ski gear, Snow White, Snow Monkeys, Ice Hockey. Get the brazier or fire set up and serve cheese fondue and mulled wine.

Famous Duos, Groups or Couples

To make this theme fun and get everybody mingling you randomly pick who each of your guests is to dress as then when they arrive they need to seek out who they are matched with. This is a great way to introduce different groups of friends who may not have met before. If you don't want to make this a full on dress up party you can just send your guests their chosen characters nametag and they can just wear the tag, it will still get them talking to each other.

Think up your own theme

Browse through any costume shop catalogue and see what you can come up with. Visit our costume ideas page here.http://www.actingthepart.com.au/index_files/costume_ideas_carlingford_sydney.htm Happy planning.