BKE Costume Rental

New changes happening for BKE Costume Rental

2011-10-06T02:55:00.001-07:00

After a long quiet time there is finally some worthwhile news about BKE Costume Rental:

1. Before the Halloween weekend there should be 14 new costumes arriving. Some are useful for Halloween and some are useful for the rest of the year.

2. A purple dragon costume is being made by someone in Pretoria.

3. The website is undergoing several changes:

3.1. Home page updates with instructions on how to use the website since many seem to not know.

3.2. A "coming soon" section on the home page that only shows if new costumes are being expected.

3.3. The search filters are getting new choices like age range (adult, child, teenager) and availability by date as well as a new search results display choice.

3.4. Search results are getting a new view for displaying primarily an image and are grouped by character.

3.5. Image uploading per costume is being created but might only be added later due to security reasons.

4. Plans are being made to replace the old Wendy House and set up something bigger that will last longer.

Various costume requests changes

2011-09-09T01:24:00.000-07:00

Lately I have found an interesting shift in costume requests patterns:
Teletubby
Astronaut
Toy Story
Rock 'n Roll
Power Rangers

Teletubby and Astronaut requests got a fairly sharp increase in requests. Barney is requested occasionally by desperate parents, but that costume is not actually available for adults. I have also seen an increase in requests for children size costumes as well Power Rangers.

Most popular costumes over the years

2011-07-22T02:27:00.000-07:00

According to some new statistics that I ran recently, I have compiled a list of my top five costumes per year starting since 2006. Left to right is highest to smallest.

2006: Batgirl, Batman, Catwoman, Supergirl, Mr. Incredible
2007: Batgirl, Superman, Batman, Mr. Incredible, Spider-Man
2008: Batman, Batgirl, Spider-Man, Superman, Mr. Incredible
2009: Batman, Dinosaur, Superman, Spider-Man, Supergirl
2010: Dinosaur, Batman, Spider-Man, Supergirl, Bunny
2011: Bunny, Dinosaur, Spider-Man, Power Ranger, Supergirl

Contact lenses experiment

2011-07-11T04:40:00.000-07:00

As a new experiment, I am going to start selling or at least taking orders for coloured contact lenses on my website. This is at this stage an experiment, but it might turn out well. The pricing model is based on a percentage of the selling price.

Starting something new

2011-07-08T04:52:00.000-07:00

I will be having a meeting with a supplier this coming Sunday to sell coloured contact lenses via my website for enhancing costumes. Due to various reasons, contact lenses should not ever be hired. I might also investigate some rumours that I heard about some interesting costumes in Chinatown.

Various changes

2011-06-29T06:38:00.000-07:00

Lately there have been various changes happening:

1. New costumes due to requests.

2. New costumes to replace old costume or those with parts gone missing, this is still ongoing.

3. Website updates being mainly a much improved search filter to make it easier to find costumes. This is mostly done, but also still ongoing.

4. More actual photos on the website to give a better idea how costumes look like.

Costume renting price increase due to losses

2011-04-26T04:49:00.000-07:00

Due to costumes not being returned and people not responding on the phone numbers given, all costume and mask renting fees will be adjusted after the next upcoming annual event. This is to be able to recover from losses. The booking form will also request more details plus a possible approval system.

Easter weekend bunny costumes

2011-04-19T11:06:00.000-07:00

According to my count, I have eleven bunny costumes for Easter. It seems like that everyone wants to have the deluxe edition even when they know it gets too hot. Probably just because of the name. A lot of people also consider their costume booking for bunny suits urgent with no regard for other urgent bookings by other people. This selfish behaviour causes me some problems if they decide to not return the costume on time or to collect too early. With the too early part they at least cannot get it if it is still out. What does not help is if people just do not bother reading the opening hours and just assume the opening times.

Twitter and Facebook icons

2011-03-17T02:51:00.000-07:00

After a very long time, a Twitter acocunt has finalyl been created. Icons for both Twitter and Facebook are now also at the top of the website. An RSS news feed icon is expected soon as well. Three new Sea Captain Uniform costumes have been added to the collection and one Superman costume has been retired.

The Flamjangled Tea Party

2011-03-07T02:43:00.000-08:00

The weekend of 18 to 20 March 2011 will have the annual Flamjangled Tea Party. I have never been to the event, but according to my sources it is more or less like a huge costume party over two days. There will be different smaller events happening at the main event, including different DJs, bands, etc. According to one of my sources, it is the best party of the year.

Moulin Rouge dress available

2011-01-19T02:02:00.001-08:00

Due to popular demand, a Moulin Rouge dress is available. If needed, additional gloves can be provided.

New Cinderella and nurse costumes plus vacation

2010-12-14T00:07:00.000-08:00

Recently one new Cinderella and one new nurse costume have arrived. Models are needed to show properly how they look. The photos are very important for most people based on verbal discussions and website statistics, as well as the long range bookings from other towns and cities.

Going to be on vacation from 23rd December 2010 until 6 January 2011. Only reachable by SMS during that time period.

Couples costume suggestions and costume booking page received updates

2010-11-15T14:55:00.000-08:00

Very much long overdue updates in regards to displaying current costume bookings have been set up on the costume booking page as well on the couple's suggestions page. Various people have been asking about this, so it became more urgent to get done. Hopefully this will be of use to somebody.

A couple of new costumes and spare parts

2010-11-10T04:37:00.000-08:00

Lately a couple of new costumes have been added to the collection. This includes several devil costumes which are the top section only. This is ideal for groups. Also new is a couple of pirate costumes which are also top only as well as one clown costume. Also in the collection are several clown wigs, lots of black gloves for spare parts and to sell and well as various different gloves for other costumes where and when needed. Two whips for Catwoman costumes are also in the collection as well as a three Saddam 3/4 masks and two Michael Jackson masks with long hair.

Crazy Halloween 2010 period

2010-10-29T05:05:00.000-07:00

This Halloween period is more or less as crazy as last year. Fortunately, I have all of the costumes properly sorted out and organised for a change to keep the delays to a minimum for those waiting. Hopefully I will have some time to go to dress up Halloween parties in different costumes tonight and tomorrow night. At least I will get more photos for my website out of it and check what is needed in regards to changes.

Near Halloween costume party desperation starting

2010-10-25T00:57:00.000-07:00

The early signs of people being desperate for costumes for this coming Halloween weekend have started. Seems like panic to get something is slowly coming as well due to last minute issues.

Preparation for Halloween in October

2010-09-20T03:49:00.000-07:00

Various preparations are being done to be ready for the Halloween weekend at the end of October. In 2009 this turned out to be rather hectic and the busiest time of the year. Finance is unfortunately a bit limited for new costumes due to repairs and other factors.

Website updates

2010-09-07T03:09:00.000-07:00

Part of the ongoing website improvements, the costumes are now grouped alphabetically by their character and then by name. This should keep differently named costumes of the same character together for easier viewing. Other changes coming soon.

Over time there will be new photos added which were photographed and edited by Darren Gwynn. An example of this is the black leather Elvis costume.

Plans are being made for a different way to select costumes instead of just having to select by category. This is for those who need a costume for a certain date and then want to filter the list to see what is available.

Sponge Bob costume upgrade

2010-08-20T01:23:00.000-07:00

Recently my Sponge Bob costume has received new arms, yellow legs (finally) and feet that are less baggy and keep their shape better. Getting these new parts was not cheap, but it was worth it. If needed, costume performer service will be available on weekends for children's birthdays. Planning ahead of time will be needed for the character.

Various adult sized Barney costume requests

2010-08-03T02:14:00.001-07:00

Lately, there seem to be more requests for adult purple Barney the dinosaur costumes even though there is no official adult sized costume available. There are children sizes, but that does not help the many desperate parents who want Barney to appear for the birthday of their children.

Matieka 2010 costume party at end of July

2010-07-28T01:31:00.000-07:00

The annual costume party at the German Karneval, Matieka is happening in Stellenbosch. Tickets are limited to 600 because of space and they are pre-book only. The address of the event is the Van Der Stel Sportsclub which is more or less opposite the police station in the CBD.

More details can be found at the Facebook Matieka Group.

Costume booking statistics from Google Maps

2010-07-22T07:15:00.000-07:00

Recently, I have added my details to www.alibaba.com like many others did and checked today if I got any traffic from there using Google Analytics. There was no traffic yet. To my surprise, the based on the highest percentage in regards to costume bookings have come the most from Google maps which I was not expecting at all.

New Joker, Batgirl and Princess Leia costumes

2010-06-29T23:58:00.000-07:00

Recently, the following new costumes have arrived: Batgirl - Gotham Girls edition, The Joker and Princess Leia.

There has been much demand for Joker and Princess Leia costumes, in particular the Joker. With that shipment also came another Batman mask, a new Batman belt and gloves for two Batman costumes. In the meantime, one of my Batman costumes got retired.

New website updates

2010-06-22T03:25:00.000-07:00

Lately I have been working on a new details page on my costume renting website. The changes are not live yet, but are part of paving the way to the new layout changes that are being planned.

The new details page will display details about a costume/mask/cape like what the current listing shows, but it will also show details such as popularity as well as current bookings and already has a section that displays thumbnails from the gallery section.

Per costume in the search results list, there will be new links for details, gallery and booking form. Each of these pages will also have those links.

Another new plan for the future is a step by step costume finding system for those people looking for something based on their size and availability with various filtering options to present choices of what they can possibly wear. This in turn then links to the details of the costumes again.

What to do in a mascot costume at a children's birthday

2010-06-17T05:31:00.000-07:00

This is based on being in a mascot costume that does not have a cooling fan inside. Being in a full body covering costume can and will get hot in any case after a while. Having to perform for children, which involves moving around a lot, can cause even more heat issues.

Of the several times that I have been in mascot costumes at birthdays, the activities mostly included being there just for the looks and for photos. At times it was also taking part in games or just walking around as well as handing out gifts. There is of course the risk that younger children can get a fright, so being aware of it and backing back a bit is then required. Worst case scenario and last resort would be to take the head off to show the children that there is a human person underneath before putting it back on. This obviously breaks the entire illusion of the effect. Staying around for too long will also wear off the novelty, plus the extreme heat the whole time inside the costume can cause quite a loss of body fluids through sweating.

Usually for event activities it helps if the event organisers (usually parents), have some plan of what the person in the costume is supposed to do with a rough time schedule. The exact starting time is not always important, mostly the duration due to reasons mentioned above. Events can fall apart if children are doing all kinds of things and due to attention span, it does not help if there is some long or complex demonstration going on.

Finally not to forget, leaving and entering the place where an event is being held without children actually seeing the costume parts. This might cause nightmares for some and is also an illusion breaker.

How to get rid of persistent cigarette smell on clothing

2010-06-04T00:34:00.000-07:00

Some cigarette smells are rather persistent on clothing even after a full washing cycle in the washing machine. Same problem with furniture that cannot be washed.

The solution is rather simple and based on the cleaning abilities of pure Alcohol. The process is as follows:

1. Get Vodka (43% Alcohol)
2. Get a bottle to spray liquids like used for gardening
3. Mix 10% Vodka with 90% water in that bottle
4. Spray over the smell affected areas.

The reason for this is simple: Vodka has a lot of Alcohol content. Alcohol evaporates after time. Too much Vokda/Alcohol will leave a smell, hence the severe diluting. This can be applied on car seats as well.

Increased number of requests for mascot costumes

2010-05-13T03:34:00.000-07:00

There has been an increased number of requests for mascot costumes which have the bigger heads and which can be worn by men or women. These include Noddy, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Barney, Zakumi (2010 soccer mascot) and others. Due to copyright and trademark reasons, most or all of these in the list will not be made or have to look quite different if they are going to be made.

Flooding problems

2010-05-11T00:04:00.000-07:00

The latest rains have caused some flooding related damages. Several costumes had to be washed again and there is a bit of a mess because water got in. The wet areas have been cleared out.

Free Comic Book Day 2010 results

2010-05-04T01:09:00.000-07:00

The annual Free Comic Book Day at the Readers Den Comic Book Shop in Claremont was quite successful, but there were a bit less people than in the previous year. It seems like all other various types of events that also took place also had less visitors from what I have been told by various people.

This year there were five people in costume for the event, plus several fans that also came dressed up. There were also the usual two prize draws. The second prize draw had numbers in different colours. The fans at least got lots of comic books, comic drawing books, T-shirts, action figures and posters as well as a decent collection of free comics that were grabbed up quickly.

In Spider-Man costume for two weekends

2010-04-23T05:48:00.000-07:00

This coming Saturday and the next Saturday, I will be in a Spider-Man costume. This coming Saturday is one hour for a children's birthday and the following Saturday is several hours for the annual Free Comic Book Day at the Readers Den in Stadium on Main in Claremont. Obviously during those times my costume renting business will be closed.

Doorbell working again

2010-04-22T02:56:00.001-07:00

The doorbell was not working for a while. This caused some problems for those coming to look for or collect costumes.

Free Comic Book Day 2010 coming up

2010-04-15T01:47:00.000-07:00

The next Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) at the Readers Den in Claremont in Stadium on Main will be here on 1 May 2010. It looks like there will be up to five people in costume for the event, plus the usual fans that also dress up. In previous years there were spot prizes for those that bothered to dress up. There is a promotion running this year about half price for that event specifically.

Still waiting for new costumes

2010-04-09T03:35:00.001-07:00

The thirteen costumes that I have ordered, still have not arrived. I have been waiting for a while and am hoping that they will come soon.

Requests for Barney costumes

2010-04-01T02:24:00.000-07:00

There are still a lot of really desperate parents who are looking for adult sized Barney costumes for the birthdays of their little ones. The problem being that nobody is allowed to have a Barney costume and even purple dinosaur costumes that look very remotely similar are apparently not even allowed. A dinosaur costume is a dinosaur costume. Anything that humans wear will look fairly similar because of walking on two legs instead of four. The fact that nobody has purple dinosaur costumes or does have and is not allowed to rent it out, makes parents even more desperate and frustrated. In the end, parents might end up hating Barney just alone for this reason.

Costume booking misunderstandings

2010-03-30T06:35:00.000-07:00

It seems that there are always one or two people that do not seem to understand that when there is already a booking for a specific costume by someone else, that the costume will not miraculously be available for them or duplicate itself. Then they do not like to hear that a costume is not available and are determined to say that it is. When they still do not like the fact that the costume has been booked by someone else weeks or even months before the time, then they get angry. My website clearly shows which costume has bookings for when and includes collection and return dates. There is not way it can be made even simpler. If some people cannot use common sense, I cannot really help them.

New devil/vampire costume for women and cloak

2010-03-29T01:00:00.000-07:00

On Friday, I got hold of a really nice vampire dress which could also be used for a devil costume for women. With that came an extra collar made of some slightly harder material to stand upright. I also got a cloak with it that is red on the inside and black on the outside.

Possible new Fairy costume in a totally different style than the current costumes

2010-03-24T02:06:00.000-07:00

There is a good chance that I can get hold of a new Fairy costume that is a totally different style than the current costumes that I have available. This one is a smaller size and more meant for a sexy look.

Thirteen new costumes ordered

2010-03-19T03:23:00.000-07:00

A total of thirteen new costumes have been ordered. This includes some children sizes and small costumes for women.
The list of costumes includes: Caribbean Buccaneer, Queen of the Pirates, Thing, Spider-Man 3, Devil Costume, Marie Antoinette, Madame Marquess, Viking Valkyrie, Spider-Man, Elvis Black Leather, Ancient Beauty, Pirate's Wench, Super Hero. Most of these costumes are for women and many are some are children sizes.

Bunny feet should also be arriving soon for the Easter weekend and possibly two black mouse costumes.

Costumes for women and children

2010-03-17T02:04:00.000-07:00

Due to the increase in requests for children sizes as well as costumes for women, I am planning to see what costumes I can get hold of. Recently one of my suppliers started selling heavily discounted costumes because they are discontinued. I had a look at the list last night and several costumes look promising. If they actually will be requested or rented is another matter.

Website changes made for simplification

2010-03-15T13:59:00.000-07:00

The website has received several smaller simplification changes which include a slightly trimmed top section, lighter colours used for the bar with the notices. The contact details page has received some layout changes due to a lot of website users not finding the contact enquiry form. The opening hours have been shifted to their own page. A lot of people did not seem to find them, even though they were listed on the same location on each page, as well as on the contact details page.

Website updates and bug fixes

2010-03-10T23:00:00.000-08:00

The reference number system has been revised to generate shorter reference numbers. A flaw on the booking check has been fixed to prevent bookings inside of other bookings.

Desperate parents are looking for Barney costumes

2010-03-10T07:21:00.000-08:00

I get a lot of rather desperate parents looking for adult sized Barney the dinosaur costumes for use for an average of fifteen minutes for the birthdays of their two or three year old children.

Unfortunately I cannot help them because of legal and brand limitation reasons that I have been made aware of recently. There should really be adult sized Barney costumes available to more or less look similar to the character that can be used for such purposes. I do understand that the company which owns the brand does not want the character image to be tainted by adults that get up to mischief while in the costume. The same can really happen with anything.

Lion spotted and dinosaur

2010-03-08T04:29:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, 87 March 2010, I spotted a lion walking in the Kuilsrivier Spar. This was actually someone in a Simba Lion costume. It was quite amusing to see that, especially since I was the day before in a dinosaur costume for a children's birthday. At least I understood was it is like inside such a suit. The original plan was a bear suit, but I have a green dinosaur suit which was then picked.

Human masks requests

2010-03-03T05:35:00.000-08:00

Somebody was asking me about various human masks today. The person was looking for various faces and wanted to buy several. I do have several masks that really work well to get the complete look of a costume right. It does not look right when someone wears a costume and just does not have the right head to match the costume. The masks that I have are made out of foam latex and can be worn for hours without getting too hot. Some are more comfortable than others.

Full size costumes are becoming more of a priority

2010-03-03T05:18:00.000-08:00

Based on the client that showed up last night, as well as previous clients, it is soon time to get costumes for really large people. Anyone who is bigger than the normal average sizes has got a problem instantly to get any costume for any theme.

Missing costume showed up again and two costumes removed from website

2010-03-02T01:55:00.000-08:00

The missing costume has turned up again. It was rented by someone who told me he had booked while I was busy and I did not make 100% sure that he actually had done so successfully. This might have been as well because that person did not read properly or was not computer literate. Some people also get stuck on the booking form after filling in the form. They just do not seem to realise that they need to click on the "Book Now" button at the bottom of the form.

Due to various reasons, I had to remove two costumes from my website.

Costume went missing

2010-02-27T03:40:00.001-08:00

For some strange reason there is one of my costumes missing. I hope it is not yet again a case of somebody in a group that came to take a costume along. This is what would force me to increase prices.

New superhero and bunny costumes

2010-02-25T00:03:00.000-08:00

Three new superhero costumes and two bunny suits have arrived yesterday. Two of the superhero suits are Venom costumes. They are listed as large but actually look like a small size. The problem is that they only come in that size. The other superhero costume is an inflatable Hulk costume with a built-in fan.

The bunny suits are quite nice, especially the plush bunny, it has a really soft mask and the attached hands have an opening on the inside to allow the wearer's hands to be outside if needed. The mask of the second bunyn suit is quite nice as well, but it will get hot.

Barney performer services

2010-02-22T02:33:00.000-08:00

Lately there have been more requests for people to perform at birthdays in a Barney costume. A lot of parents seem to be desperate to get hold of Barney costumes for adults to entertain the one to three year olds at birthdays. The problem is that those suits are not available due to legal reasons. I get a lot of phone calls for people looking for exact looking suits. What many do not realise is that those suits if available would be really expensive to get and expensive to maintain, they require a lot of space and getting someone into them would require internal cooling as well. The person wearing such a suit would be mostly blind as well.

Meeting with a fashion designer

2010-02-15T22:29:00.001-08:00

Last night I met with a fashion designer who could maybe do some work for me on new costumes. Since the previous two people that I had to working on costumes are not reachable and the other one working on a television series, I had to resort to getting someone else.

Easter bunny costume requests

2010-02-03T00:26:00.001-08:00

The Easter bunny requests are starting to come already. The Easter weekend is normally a warzone when it comes to bunny suit requests.

Dinosaur costume back from repairs

2010-01-22T10:19:00.001-08:00

The light purple dinosaur costume has returned from being repaired. In particular the zipper was in a bad state.

New costumes coming soon

2010-01-13T02:43:00.000-08:00

A new person with costume creation experience has been found who will be working on various costumes that have been requested. Price changes will be done as well because of maintenance expenses.

Changes on the premises

2010-01-06T05:29:00.000-08:00

All costumes have been shifted into the Wendy house at the back due to a major space problem. A basic computer system still has to be installed to prevent running back and forth to do bookings.

New costume requests

2009-12-10T00:04:00.000-08:00

Lately I have found that there are more costume requests for Austin Powers, mexican, cuban, various animals and different eras. Unfortunately some people are also expecting that the moment they request something that I suddenly have it. Costumes are expensive and take time to get or have made.

Going on vacation to namibia in December 2009

2009-12-08T23:05:00.001-08:00

On Sunday, 13 December 2009, I am going by bus to Namibia and will return around 13:30 on 4 January 2010. Costumes bookings will be stopped this coming Friday and my tenants in the main house will handle any existing bookings.

Costume repair person needed with imagination

2009-12-02T23:01:00.000-08:00

The person who is currently doing my costume repairs and creates new costumes, is busy working on a movie. This might still go for a long time, so I am now looking for a replacement who has imagination and can work with different materials. In the past I have had too many people taking chances when I advertised. This time around the advert is a bit more specific about these matters.

Costume renting website product list layout changes

2009-11-12T02:53:00.001-08:00

The recent change on my website for the costumes results layout to compact the information has helped quite a bit. It is now a lot easier to get an overview of what is going on and multiple pictures for one costume do not cause layout issues anymore.

New costumes listing layout

2009-11-09T01:32:00.000-08:00

The costumes listing on my website has been adjusted this past weekend to allow more overview because the description test somehow got lost and to cause less confusion.

New foam latex masks from Greyland Film

2009-11-06T02:48:00.000-08:00

The long awaited foam latex masks from Greyland Film have finally arrived. I had to pick them up at the Cape Gate Parcel section from SARS today. The new faces should be pretty interesting with several costumes.

High demand for costumes for Halloween

2009-10-28T02:37:00.001-07:00

Due to the high demand for costumes for Halloween this coming weekend, I am trying to spread out the collection dates of the costumes to make the chaos easier to manage.

Halloween party costume bookings

2009-10-27T01:26:00.000-07:00

This year the Halloween costume bookings are going crazy compared to last year. Must have been something that I did, plus a year of people finding out about me. I am already dreading Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately the party that I was invited to, had to send out cancellations to various people due to space problems. I am hoping to find another one that I can go to which is not at some club. Clubs are just more of the same no matter what the theme or event is.

Father Christmas costume

2009-10-23T02:55:00.003-07:00

Due to popular demand, a Father Christmas costume has been created and completed and should be picked up this evening or this coming weekend.

Halloween season

2009-10-22T02:44:00.001-07:00

This Halloween season is certainly much busier than last year, and that in a country where Halloween is traditionally not celebrated. Then again, people just want any excuse for a good party. The Halloween costume requests are piling quite a bit.

Foam latex masks shipped

2009-10-15T02:38:00.001-07:00

The ordered foam latex masks have been shipped as per the manufacturer. The masks are not really meant to be rented to different people, but they are useful for modelling costumes and just to show.

New costumes, repairs, masks and possibly wigs

2009-10-14T06:54:00.000-07:00

It is the time of the year to get more costumes due to the number of requests. Some of my costumes are also being fixed and mostly improved as well. I have also ordered more foam latex masks which I sometimes use to model costumes if I do not have a model for some of them and the costume actually fits me. The number of wig searches on my site also is an incentive to buy some wigs for reselling purposes. It is a bad idea to keep a wig around, because they are a pain to maintain and never look as good as when they were new. A father christmas suit is also being planned due to demands, as well as Austin Powers.

First posting in BKE Costume Rental

2009-10-14T04:06:00.000-07:00

After having posts for this costume renting company in my own blog called Nothing happening soon!, I have finally created a blog for the company. This was becoming very much long overdue.