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.

Sponge Bob costume upgrade

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

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

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

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

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.