By Jill Swenby
If you are a dance teacher looking to purchase recital costumes but are frustrated by the high prices, the Costume Closet may be just the right alternative for you. Costume Closet is an online dance costume catalog that allows dance teams to consign costumes for their team, and sell or rent them to other teams.
This set up allows dance teams to save up to 60% off the original retail price. Consignment costumes average $15-20, and rentals cost on average $15-23. With over 1,000 costumes in stock, they have a wide range of costumes that cansuit any team’s needs. How does it work?
Dance teams have the Costume Closet custom design costumes specific to their needs.
“Teachers send in ideas and designs. We have someone who can produce the costumes,” said Amber, the Costume Closet owner. They can alter costumes made by name brands such as Watercolour, Marcea, Kelle’, Capezio, Body Wrappers and more. Costume Closet does not carry children’s sizes, only adult.
After using the costumes, dance teams can sell or rent them to other teams through the Costume Closet website.
The Costume Closet shares the profit with the dance team that sells the costumes. As a dancer herself, Amber says that this is a great way for dance teams to raise money.
Other teams can rent or buy these costumes.
This saves them money and makes money for the team that is selling. If a team wants to rent a costume, they just need to fill out the rental agreement, and they can rent the costumes for one month.
“We send it out. They wear it, clean it, and return it,” says Amber. If a customer is sent the wrong item, they have 7 days to return it for the correct item. The best time to place orders for spring is between October and December.
Having been around since 1997, the Costume Closet has provided costumes for a variety of teams and seen a lot of changing styles. When asked about style, Amber said, “They’re getting away from a lot of the sequins and stuff…well…but then again they’re coming back in style.”
Because the Costume Closet has a constantly changing assortment, they do not have a printed catalog. Their only catalog is online. As styles change, so do dance costumes and the Costume Closet has come up with a great way to get beautiful costumes for less and help dance teams fundraise at the same time.
For more information, you can call the costume closet at 1-800-319-7317 or visit their website at www.thecostumecloset.com.