Due to certain telephone calls and costume requests it is starting to become important to start showing photos of actual costume parts on my website. For example the chest and waist section of my Cleopatra costume needs actual photos shown. As I was busy getting things in order this weekend, I also took a few photos of costumes and parts, but did not yet put them all onto my website.
Many people make use of the internet these days and also do not have the time during the day due to work or distance to actually go to costume shops to rent something. Several people have mentioned so on the phone, in emails and verbally. These costume photos are especially important for people from other cities where there are no costume shops to rent from. What does not help is that so many people promise photos and do not bother sending.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Sizes do matter a lot when selecting a costume
A lot of people who come for costumes are not always sure what size will fit them. Most people are not models or super fit as used for packaging photos of the costumes. Some people also do not have generic body shapes or age and lifestyle has had their effects. In the end, once theme, availability, personal preference and sizes are applied, the number of costumes that are real options are rather limited.
Many people also prefer no masks and many women prefers skirts and dresses, even if they are at the time wearing trousers. The long suits are not at all popular with women and fit few and look good on even less.
Many people also prefer no masks and many women prefers skirts and dresses, even if they are at the time wearing trousers. The long suits are not at all popular with women and fit few and look good on even less.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
The things that mascot character performers have to worry about
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| Mascot (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Not event specific:
1. Travel time to and from the venue when you do not live there.
2. Hiding the costume before and after the event to prevent breaking the character illusion.
3. Being able to get into and out of the costume before and after the event without anyone running into the dressing room or bathroom.
4. Storage of clothing or personal items while in costume.
5. Driving in costume is very often not an option, same with getting dressed in the car unless it is a van.
Event specific:
1. Not scaring children since that could have a very long lasting effect.
2. Being aware of your surroundings due to often being wider and taller as well as having less eyesight. Mascot costumes in particular have a size and eyesight problem. Washing lines are evil when they hang too low.
3. Heat while in the costume due to time duration.
4. Children becoming naughty once they get used to a character and they get bored of the event.
5. At birthdays in particular the children tend to follow when the mascot or character leaves to get undressed. This is a problem when being cornered somewhere and sweating a lot in the costume plus time pressure.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Dear clients, a few things you should know...
Dear clients
Below are a couple of interesting details that might or might not occur to some people, but they can be rather frustrating when being repeatedly on the receiving end on a daily basis over years:
1. Please do not assume opening hours: I have one sign on my yard wall and one sign on the gate and a dedicated page on my website with the opening hours.
2. Opening on weekdays in the evening after seven does not mean that I will be there at three in the afternoon or already at six. These opening hours are because I have a main job and costume are my second job.
3. If there are two of the same looking costumes listed on my website, that means that I only have two of them and not thirty just because you happen to need thirty on short notice.
4. Getting costumes either locally made or imported from overseas takes quite a bit of time and is expensive. There is also the issue of getting different sizes which is costly, especially if something is hardly ever requested.
5. The refundable deposit is because some people do not look after costumes and cause damages and lose parts. The deposit of 200 Rand is actually too low due to damages, same with the renting fees.
6. Having to repeat the exact same answer three times on the phone just because you are confusing yourself is not fun.
7. Just because a costume fits and looks good on other people does not mean it will fit you.
8. Packaging photos are sometimes a bit incorrect. Actual photos give you an idea how a costume looks on someone, but it still might not work out well for you.
9. If you promise to send me lots of photos, please do so. Many people want to see how a costume actually looks on someone.
10. My costumes are not the super expensive collectors edition type.
11. Try not to wear costumes that you know will be a bit too tight or too small for you. I end up with stretch related damages and eventually have to pay for repairs and replacement costs. This just happens to usually make a costume not look too good.
12. Asking me five times for the same costume that I do not have will not make it magically available in your size.
13. If someone has a reservation/booking for a date that you want it for, then you are too late and have to pick something else.
14. Collecting a day early is often not an option due to other costume reservations.
15. Please use the search on my website and look at the different costume theme pages before you ask me. You might get lucky and see actual photos.
16. I do have days on which I get home after seven from work. My website states that as well. Unfortunately that is the way it is.
17. Trying to get me to rush to be home on time for costume collection and you being an hour or two late is not nice, especially not when you then suddenly take days to return the costume again.
18. The reservation form is not the enquiry form.
19. Just asking to keep a costume for you and then not showing up and no contact details does not work since many people ask that and it becomes impossible to track phantoms like that over weeks. Just do a reservation if you really want something.
Below are a couple of interesting details that might or might not occur to some people, but they can be rather frustrating when being repeatedly on the receiving end on a daily basis over years:
1. Please do not assume opening hours: I have one sign on my yard wall and one sign on the gate and a dedicated page on my website with the opening hours.
2. Opening on weekdays in the evening after seven does not mean that I will be there at three in the afternoon or already at six. These opening hours are because I have a main job and costume are my second job.
3. If there are two of the same looking costumes listed on my website, that means that I only have two of them and not thirty just because you happen to need thirty on short notice.
4. Getting costumes either locally made or imported from overseas takes quite a bit of time and is expensive. There is also the issue of getting different sizes which is costly, especially if something is hardly ever requested.
5. The refundable deposit is because some people do not look after costumes and cause damages and lose parts. The deposit of 200 Rand is actually too low due to damages, same with the renting fees.
6. Having to repeat the exact same answer three times on the phone just because you are confusing yourself is not fun.
7. Just because a costume fits and looks good on other people does not mean it will fit you.
8. Packaging photos are sometimes a bit incorrect. Actual photos give you an idea how a costume looks on someone, but it still might not work out well for you.
9. If you promise to send me lots of photos, please do so. Many people want to see how a costume actually looks on someone.
10. My costumes are not the super expensive collectors edition type.
11. Try not to wear costumes that you know will be a bit too tight or too small for you. I end up with stretch related damages and eventually have to pay for repairs and replacement costs. This just happens to usually make a costume not look too good.
12. Asking me five times for the same costume that I do not have will not make it magically available in your size.
13. If someone has a reservation/booking for a date that you want it for, then you are too late and have to pick something else.
14. Collecting a day early is often not an option due to other costume reservations.
15. Please use the search on my website and look at the different costume theme pages before you ask me. You might get lucky and see actual photos.
16. I do have days on which I get home after seven from work. My website states that as well. Unfortunately that is the way it is.
17. Trying to get me to rush to be home on time for costume collection and you being an hour or two late is not nice, especially not when you then suddenly take days to return the costume again.
18. The reservation form is not the enquiry form.
19. Just asking to keep a costume for you and then not showing up and no contact details does not work since many people ask that and it becomes impossible to track phantoms like that over weeks. Just do a reservation if you really want something.
Monday, February 20, 2012
New website update news
The long overdue new version of my website has been receiving some improvements recently. There was a flaw in the date range search when narrowing down results for a date range to list only available costumes using the search filters. For this same purpose the themes navigation needs to get an overview page that is not a specific theme and not everything because of long loading times and duplicate content what search engines concerns. There is also the consideration of applying themes based on season.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Various changes and new costumes
Here are a couple of things to get off my mind:
Two of the three superman costumes were retired due to wear and tear reasons. Someone purchased the Wonder Woman costume which was actually also in need of replacement. Four out of eleven new costumes are still expected. They have to be collected at customs.
Due to repeat computer problems, working overtime and vacation, the new version of the website still has not gone live and this now really starts to bother me. The new site is more mobile device friendly. The site is basically ready, but it needs to be tested once more before going live.
January and February are usually quiet months which is good for availability but not good for trying to finance new costumes.
Due to popular demand, I will try to finance some more mascot style costumes. Prices are slowly being adjusted due to maintenance expenses.
Two of the three superman costumes were retired due to wear and tear reasons. Someone purchased the Wonder Woman costume which was actually also in need of replacement. Four out of eleven new costumes are still expected. They have to be collected at customs.
Due to repeat computer problems, working overtime and vacation, the new version of the website still has not gone live and this now really starts to bother me. The new site is more mobile device friendly. The site is basically ready, but it needs to be tested once more before going live.
January and February are usually quiet months which is good for availability but not good for trying to finance new costumes.
Due to popular demand, I will try to finance some more mascot style costumes. Prices are slowly being adjusted due to maintenance expenses.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
New changes happening for BKE Costume Rental
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.
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