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Costumes
GEOFF CARTER / NWSOURCE
Step back in time at Vintage Costumers.
  February 13, 2006
Costumes and kitsch
A good costume should start in your head, and develop through a few thrift-store excursions and misadventures with the sewing machine and glue gun. Fortunately, if your sewing skills are no match for your imagination, several local costume and accessory shops can transform you into almost anything or anyone, with little assembly required.
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Tell us about your favorite costume store
Archie McPhee (Ballard/Crown Hill)
A kitschy toy store for kids and adults alike, the shop has punching puppets, wind-up toys, bobble heads, costumes and party favors.
Brocklind's (Capitol Hill) (Capitol Hill)
Brocklind's has been outfitting Seattle's most zealous Halloween revelers for almost 100 years. And if you need a monkey suit — the other kind — all three Brocklind's locations have tuxedos.
Champion Party Supply (Queen Anne/Seattle Center)
Champion Party Supply is as good as its name. Here you'll find hundreds of nightly costumes for rent and sale, as well as party supplies.
Insurrection (Greenwood/Phinney Ridge)
Insurrection Vintage specializes in Western-style apparel. Whether you're looking to give your wardrobe a kick in the pants, so to speak, or genuinely want to come across as a cowboy or -girl, this is a fine place to shop.
Pacific Fabrics & Crafts Outlet (Sodo)
This is a great place to get discounts on fabrics, notions and more for all kinds of crafting needs, including drapery, costumes, quilting, needlepoint and more.
Party @ Display & Costume (North Seattle)
The store's selection of costumes (sale only; no rentals) is positively vast.
Red Light (University District) (University/Montlake)
Red Light has brought the art of used duds to a new high, to feed right into your every disco diva/fashionista/cowgirl-with-an-attitude/street punk/goth goddess/heroine-in-a-halter fantasy.
Value Village (Capitol Hill) (Capitol Hill)
At Halloween, the store is a veritable treasure trove of costuming elements waiting to be assembled into a kitschy whole.
Vintage Costumers (North Seattle)
The costumes hanging on the crowded racks at Vintage Costumer are of theater quality — solidly made and handsome, even when viewed from up close.