Lansing - Shawna Plunkett and Justin Brown studied a bulletin board covered with photos of people dressed as Cleopatra, Marilyn Monroe and Robin Hood as they waited near a small counter at the top of the stairs.
“I’m pretty clueless right now,” Plunkett, a psychology senior, said when asked what she was looking for. “Marilyn looks pretty sweet.
“Normally I make something up last minute. This year I want something where you can actually tell what I am.”
Soon the two were ushered back into a long, slightly musty-smelling room stuffed to capacity with costumes in every manner of fabric and style, squeezing through narrow tunnels of dresses, capes and suitcoats in every color of the rainbow.
The Lansing Civic Players costume shop, 2300 E. Michigan Ave. in Lansing, stocks more than 1,000 costumes year-round, outfitting the Civic Players’ performances as well as shows at Riverwalk Theatre, 228 Museum Drive in Lansing, and several area high schools.
“It’s an amazing collection, not only of vintage stuff but also production quality clothes,” shop manager Patty Campbell said.
Plunkett and Brown quickly dove into the racks, looking for the perfect outfit to wear to parties and to their respective bartending jobs at Rick’s American Café, 224 Abbott Road, and Harper’s Downtown, 131 Albert Ave.
“Maybe I’ll be a dead ’80s prom queen,” Plunkett said, holding up a fluffy black dress with gold beading and two flouncy petticoats.
“That was my idea,” replied Brown, an interdisciplinary humanities senior. He said he normally puts his costumes together himself, but this year is considering going as Han Solo from the Star Wars trilogy.
“It’s just once a year, why not go all out?” Plunkett said.
At the shop, students can get outfitted for Halloween festivities as anything from a monk to a walking Hershey’s Kiss.
“Some years you have themes,” Campbell said as she walked through moving walls of tapestry and tulle. “Renaissance and medieval costumes are always really strong. We’ve rented quite a few Batman costumes, Alice in Wonderland, Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz,” characters like that.”
Prices for the public start at $45 with a $200 retainer fee that is not applied if the costume comes back clean and undamaged.
Diane Kosovec, owner of Events to Rent, 144 N. Harrison Ave., turns her showroom into a costume shop during October, offering more than 400 costumes to a clientele that she estimates is 70 percent college students.
“They never know what they want,” she said with a laugh. “Unless it’s one of the superheroes, and then they definitely know.”
Kosovec said Spider-Man, Batman and Wonder Woman costumes have been especially popular rentals this year.
“We have a book with pictures of costumes, or they can just browse through the racks,” she said. “Ninety percent of customers are just looking for something to hit them when they walk in the store.”
Events to Rent charges between $20 and $50 depending on the costume and requires a $20 returnable deposit.
Leslie Ozanich, owner of Costume Rental Service, 2442 N. Grand River Ave. in Lansing, rents only complete costumes ranging in price from $30-$150.
“We have over 2,000 costumes,” said Ozanich, who runs the business with her daughter Laura and son Justin. “We have animals, ’50s stuff, pirates, Titanic, superheroes, Star Wars, everything.”
Ozanich does all her own cleaning, and explained, “That way I know it’s done right.”
“We do some custom fitting and take tucks here and there to make sure it fits them when they wear it,” she said. “I reserve mornings for walk-ins. Afternoons and evenings I’m usually booked solid with appointments.”
Like most other costume shops, Ozanich doesn’t provide shoes for rental since the inventory required makes the process cumbersome and cost prohibitive. But she said that the store’s policy of renting only complete costumes has earned her many repeat customers.
“The people who come here expect it to be complete,” she said. “That way you pay one time. It’s one fee and you don’t have to look all over town for this and that part.”
Costume Rental Service is open year-round, unlike Halloween USA in the Frandor Shopping Center, which opens temporarily during the busy season.
“The Spider-Man costumes are selling fast,” Halloween USA manager Sheila Letts said. “So are the Grim Reaper and all the devil costumes.”
Costumes cost $23 to purchase and can range up to $100 for a full outfit with wig, makeup and other accessories.
“People are just looking to see what we have,” Letts said. “They put their own costumes together.”
Advertising senior Myia Driscoll went to Kmart for wings and a headband, having been forced into dressing up by her best friend.
“We’re going to a party in Ann Arbor,” she said with a sheepish grin.
But even though Driscoll won’t be donning an expensive get-up this Halloween, she encouraged others to enjoy themselves however they see fit.
“If you’re an adult going to an adult party, go all out and buy elaborate costumes to make up for the cheap ones your mom used to make,” she said.
