Into Costume

The Cut-Rate Costume Universe

When looking for affordable costumes and props, remember to start close to home and sweep outward

1. Homemade. Often, you can create period looks with items stowed away in your attic. For cowboy kerchiefs, for example, we cut pieces of scrap fabric into squares and tied them in a knot.

2. Thrift stores. Unless you’re the spoiled, Lexusdriving spawn of some Hollywood mogul, you know that Goodwill and The Salvation Army are prime sources for costumes. Think in pieces— don’t look for complete outfits.

3. Friends and family. Chances are your friends won’t have much useful gear, but ask anyway— they might know someone who does.

4. Friends of friends. Friends love friends who stockpile guns. We got our complete Western arsenal—two Colt.45s, a Winchester rifle, fancy holsters and chaps—from a guy referred to us by a friend.

5. Community theater. Never underestimate the ingenuity of your community theater costume shop. They know how to fake historic costumes. For $200 (we set our own price), a local theater allowed us to borrow 70 percent of everything we needed for our shoot, including shirts, hairpieces, tables, chairs, hats and a couple of pairs of boots.

6, 7, and 8. Pay to play. Once you reach this point, you should really be looking only for details. Local shops typically rent full, decent looking costumes for about $40 a day. Keep in mind, however, that every moviemaker in town has access to these duds. For quality wigs, lastminute costumes for extras and hard-to-find items, you may have to roam the Internet. Here’s a short list of some good vendors who rent and/ or sell historic costumes and accessories.

Aurora History Boutique

(Enter “MovieMaker “ in the comments at checkout to save five percent off your subtotal)

The Costumer’s Manifesto

Authentic Wardrobe

Civil War Lady

Costume Holiday House

The Costumer