Forget about shopping chain stores, Boston has some great, independently-owned places to find Halloween costumes for your grownup party.
The Garment District in Cambridge is probably the best known spot to outfit yourself for any costume party.
It's open seven days a week, and they've extended their hours for this season opening until midnight every day through Halloween.
They sell and rent costumes, and they have lots of vintage & secondhand clothing if you want to create your own.
The also sell items to finish the look like:
- wash out hair color in tones of atomic turquoise and cotton candy pink
- prosthetics like scars, bullet holes, horns, pointed ear tips and witch noses with the materials to attach them
- masks from simple gold or black eye masks to elaborate Venetian designs or feathery carnival styles
- heads to transform you into a bear, lion or gorilla
- an endless selection of wigs include mullets, afros, clown colors, pigtails, geishas, ragdolls, cornrows, dreadlocks, flappers and glam styles
- accessories including hats, boas, go-go boots, and wings
Their "Boston Costume" division rents the full rigs for the likes of Batman, the
Green Hornet, Marie Antoinette. Or you can be a minuteman, a cowgirl,
a knight, or a belly dancer.
Dorothy's
Boutique
This weekend people were lined up, waiting to enter Dorothy's
Boutique on Mass Ave. near Symphony Hall. They call
themselves "Boston's Halloween Headquarters and display masks, scary
arm stumps, strange shoes and accessories in the window. The website
makes it clear that these are costumes for adults. Risque is their
specialty.
Army Barracks
Across the street from Dorothy's is the Army Barracks store. With a little
imagination, you can use their surplus gear to create a costume for
that upcoming party. They were decked out in orange and black balloons
to stress their holiday worthiness.
Broadway Costumes
I phoned Broadway Costumes to ask their status, and they will not be
renting costumes this season. The person answering the phone said they
would not be open until after Thanksgiving 2008.
Use Your Imagination
And then, there is the good use of your own imagination. A few year's
ago, we stopped into Tapeo on Newbury on Halloween. The staff was
competing for the best costume, and the customers voted on who should
win the prize. We surely hope it was our waiter.
He was dressed as a dinner table. A white cloth covered round table rested on his shoulders. An artful display of vegetables surrounded his head on a silver platter. As he approached each table, he squatted down so that his tablecloth hid the rest of him and you were ordering from the head on the platter on the small table next to you.
What's your all time favorite costume?
Details:
The Garment District Inc.
200 Broadway, Cambridge, MA
www.garmentdistrict.com
Dorothy's Boutique
190 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston MA
Army Barracks
173 Massachusetts Avenue, Bosotn MA
www.armybarracks.com
For those who look at this later when they reopen:
www.broadwaycostume.com
