Business Style
From October 2006
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Not Just For Halloween Anymore
Captains of industry cavort as swashbuckling pirates and outrageous wenches, medical personnel turn into naughty nurses and mad surgeons. Your boss cross-dresses, your accountant shows up as Elvis, your dog is in drag, and your front yard looks like something from “Night of the Living Dead.” Is it a world gone mad? No, it’s Halloween in America, and this nearly $3.5 billion retail bonanza is one of the nation’s largest holidays.
Shakespeare observed, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players,” and never is it more true than during the Halloween season. Vampires in velvet capes dress formally for the evening, dark fairies flit by in black gossamer wings, dashing devils turn up in vintage silk smoking jackets, and flappers and gangsters cruise by in great style — and those are just the adults. Oct. 31 is the third-largest party day behind New Year’s and Super Bowl, according to the National Retail Federation.
Scene I: Costume Stores
Costume stores gear up for big business each fall by hiring additional staff and extending store hours to meet the mad rush.
At B-Bop Costumes, 1931 L St, Sacramento, (916) 443-2234, owner Larry Slaybaugh, who has worn many of his own hand-sewn creations atop floats at Mardi Gras in New Orleans and at Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, understands why people get a kick out of dressing up. Slaybaugh has an inventory of 5,000 adult-sized costumes for rent, most of which are custom, handmade and elaborate. He specializes in period costumes from ’20s flappers to ’70s funky groovy as well as belly dancers and Southern belles, to name but a few.
“We find a lot of people just want a release from their everyday lives and have a little fun with their fantasies,” says Slaybaugh. “Besides Halloween events, we rent our costumes to many people who are attending or giving themed parties.”
Owner Kathryn Felgenhauer of Broadway Costume & Theatrical Supply, 3945 Franklin Blvd., Ste. A, Sacramento, (916) 455-6021, rents and sells costumes and accessories such as beards and theatrical makeup to individuals and community theater groups.
“One of the more recent trends we’ve seen is the increase in children’s costume rentals,” says Felgenhauer. “There’s definitely a greater interest in more authentic costumes, and, with more parents working, it’s the most convenient way to go.”
At Cheap Thrills Formal Wear, 1217 21st St., Sacramento, (916) 446-4103, for retail sales, and at its adjacent sister store, Zoots Suits (498-9196) for rentals, the consumer can find a wide assortment of costume choices, including vintage clothing for rent or sale.
“We expect the most popular adult costumes this Halloween to be pirates and wenches, gangsters and flappers,” says sales manager Rochelle Henthorn. “It’s become an adult holiday; people want to go all out, and they are spending a lot of money.”
Decades Costumes, 2004 Del Paso Blvd., Sacramento, (916) 920-0932, rents costumes for just about every themed occasion you can imagine, from a trip to Sutter’s Fort in period attire to staged productions in local community theaters around Northern California. Stumped for a good idea? Visit Decades website for a list of suggested themes and available costumes, and look at its “Hall of Fame,” where people post, their pictures from parties and productions.
On Aug. 1 at 11 a.m. this year, when Evangeline’s, 113 K St. in Old Town, (916) 448-2594, opened its annual Haunted Mansion costume shop, there was a line of devoted shoppers already waiting to enter. Talk about consumer demand, Evangeline’s has continued to evolve since 1974 when Dorthea Evangeline Chausse first opened the doors of her gift and novelty shop.
Today, her daughter Deborah Chausse owns the growing business. In the fall of 2000, Chausse purchased the historic D.O. Mills bank building next door and opened the mansion with two additional floors to sell costumes, props and accessories. There are tons of tiaras, tooth caps to make your vampire teeth more realistic, snazzy black velvet capes lined in red satin, and the terrific class witch couture. This year Chausse will hire an additional 45 people to get through her busiest season, which culminates on Halloween night.
“Over the last six years, we’ve seen a steady 5 percent growth in costume sales,” says Chausse. “We find that people get into dressing up, and the pirate costume that was purchased last year will probably be upgraded this year with an even better hat or sword.”
Chausse says the experienced, savvy shoppers won’t wait until the last minute to make their selections. She expects the pirate scene to be strong again this year, and by mid-August she had already sold out of a very realistic, five-foot tall, hanging pirate skeleton decoration that sold for $159.
At Evangeline’s, the ground-floor store that stays open year round sells children’s costumes, but adults are catered to up in the mansion where they’ll find two floors of merchandise presented in rooms of various themes such as jungle, laboratory, saloon, Renaissance, jail, Gothic, disco, Storybookland. Even the dressing rooms are styled as a French boudoir, a dungeon, and Heaven with Hell one floor below.
Scene II: Out and About
All costumers agree on this point: this summer’s big movie sequel, “Pirates of the Caribbean, The Legend of the Black Pearl” with characters Cap. Jack Sparrow, Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann played by Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightly, respectively, will inspire many a swashbuckler and wench. Pirates are always a sure bet, but Depp and Bloom have made them romantic and sexy, and even though Depp has said he channels Keith Richards of the Stones in his portrayal, people cannot get enough of the lusty pirate.
Also, look for Superman to fly brightly across the Halloween horizon. For the younger set, Sponge Bob is still strong, as well as Blues Clues, Dora the Explorer, and, of course, the usual Disney contingent of princesses and heroes.
You may want to consider your tiara or your swashbuckling boots an important investment for your business and social wardrobe. According to Chausse, costumed occasions are on the rise. “We’re seeing a lot of weddings with themes, college sorority and fraternity events, as well as private parties,” says Chausse. “At seminars or retreats, corporate team-building exercises are using costumes and props, as well.”
And what type of prop would a corporate group be seeking? “We sold a corporate group 50 grass skirts,” says Chausse.
Scary Business
By Jeanne Winnick Brennan and Carol McCainCaptains of industry cavort as swashbuckling pirates and outrageous wenches, medical personnel turn into naughty nurses and mad surgeons. Your boss cross-dresses, your accountant shows up as Elvis, your dog is in drag, and your front yard looks like something from “Night of the Living Dead.” Is it a world gone mad? No, it’s Halloween in America, and this nearly $3.5 billion retail bonanza is one of the nation’s largest holidays.
Shakespeare observed, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players,” and never is it more true than during the Halloween season. Vampires in velvet capes dress formally for the evening, dark fairies flit by in black gossamer wings, dashing devils turn up in vintage silk smoking jackets, and flappers and gangsters cruise by in great style — and those are just the adults. Oct. 31 is the third-largest party day behind New Year’s and Super Bowl, according to the National Retail Federation.
Scene I: Costume Stores
Costume stores gear up for big business each fall by hiring additional staff and extending store hours to meet the mad rush.
At B-Bop Costumes, 1931 L St, Sacramento, (916) 443-2234, owner Larry Slaybaugh, who has worn many of his own hand-sewn creations atop floats at Mardi Gras in New Orleans and at Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, understands why people get a kick out of dressing up. Slaybaugh has an inventory of 5,000 adult-sized costumes for rent, most of which are custom, handmade and elaborate. He specializes in period costumes from ’20s flappers to ’70s funky groovy as well as belly dancers and Southern belles, to name but a few.
“We find a lot of people just want a release from their everyday lives and have a little fun with their fantasies,” says Slaybaugh. “Besides Halloween events, we rent our costumes to many people who are attending or giving themed parties.”
Owner Kathryn Felgenhauer of Broadway Costume & Theatrical Supply, 3945 Franklin Blvd., Ste. A, Sacramento, (916) 455-6021, rents and sells costumes and accessories such as beards and theatrical makeup to individuals and community theater groups.
“One of the more recent trends we’ve seen is the increase in children’s costume rentals,” says Felgenhauer. “There’s definitely a greater interest in more authentic costumes, and, with more parents working, it’s the most convenient way to go.”
At Cheap Thrills Formal Wear, 1217 21st St., Sacramento, (916) 446-4103, for retail sales, and at its adjacent sister store, Zoots Suits (498-9196) for rentals, the consumer can find a wide assortment of costume choices, including vintage clothing for rent or sale.
“We expect the most popular adult costumes this Halloween to be pirates and wenches, gangsters and flappers,” says sales manager Rochelle Henthorn. “It’s become an adult holiday; people want to go all out, and they are spending a lot of money.”
Decades Costumes, 2004 Del Paso Blvd., Sacramento, (916) 920-0932, rents costumes for just about every themed occasion you can imagine, from a trip to Sutter’s Fort in period attire to staged productions in local community theaters around Northern California. Stumped for a good idea? Visit Decades website for a list of suggested themes and available costumes, and look at its “Hall of Fame,” where people post, their pictures from parties and productions.
On Aug. 1 at 11 a.m. this year, when Evangeline’s, 113 K St. in Old Town, (916) 448-2594, opened its annual Haunted Mansion costume shop, there was a line of devoted shoppers already waiting to enter. Talk about consumer demand, Evangeline’s has continued to evolve since 1974 when Dorthea Evangeline Chausse first opened the doors of her gift and novelty shop.
Today, her daughter Deborah Chausse owns the growing business. In the fall of 2000, Chausse purchased the historic D.O. Mills bank building next door and opened the mansion with two additional floors to sell costumes, props and accessories. There are tons of tiaras, tooth caps to make your vampire teeth more realistic, snazzy black velvet capes lined in red satin, and the terrific class witch couture. This year Chausse will hire an additional 45 people to get through her busiest season, which culminates on Halloween night.
“Over the last six years, we’ve seen a steady 5 percent growth in costume sales,” says Chausse. “We find that people get into dressing up, and the pirate costume that was purchased last year will probably be upgraded this year with an even better hat or sword.”
Chausse says the experienced, savvy shoppers won’t wait until the last minute to make their selections. She expects the pirate scene to be strong again this year, and by mid-August she had already sold out of a very realistic, five-foot tall, hanging pirate skeleton decoration that sold for $159.
At Evangeline’s, the ground-floor store that stays open year round sells children’s costumes, but adults are catered to up in the mansion where they’ll find two floors of merchandise presented in rooms of various themes such as jungle, laboratory, saloon, Renaissance, jail, Gothic, disco, Storybookland. Even the dressing rooms are styled as a French boudoir, a dungeon, and Heaven with Hell one floor below.
Scene II: Out and About
All costumers agree on this point: this summer’s big movie sequel, “Pirates of the Caribbean, The Legend of the Black Pearl” with characters Cap. Jack Sparrow, Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann played by Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightly, respectively, will inspire many a swashbuckler and wench. Pirates are always a sure bet, but Depp and Bloom have made them romantic and sexy, and even though Depp has said he channels Keith Richards of the Stones in his portrayal, people cannot get enough of the lusty pirate.
Also, look for Superman to fly brightly across the Halloween horizon. For the younger set, Sponge Bob is still strong, as well as Blues Clues, Dora the Explorer, and, of course, the usual Disney contingent of princesses and heroes.
You may want to consider your tiara or your swashbuckling boots an important investment for your business and social wardrobe. According to Chausse, costumed occasions are on the rise. “We’re seeing a lot of weddings with themes, college sorority and fraternity events, as well as private parties,” says Chausse. “At seminars or retreats, corporate team-building exercises are using costumes and props, as well.”
And what type of prop would a corporate group be seeking? “We sold a corporate group 50 grass skirts,” says Chausse.
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