Most popular costumes over the years

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

Starting something new

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

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.

A couple of new costumes and spare parts

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

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

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

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

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.

New Joker, Batgirl and Princess Leia costumes

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

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.

Increased number of requests for mascot costumes

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

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.

Doorbell working again

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

Still waiting for new costumes

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.

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

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

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

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.

Desperate parents are looking for Barney costumes

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.

Full size costumes are becoming more of a priority

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.

New superhero and bunny costumes

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.