Glitz Sale
-or- how to get all kinds of costume stuff shopping at Stats
Floral
If you do costuming any length of time you soon find yourself looking towards
your Christmas tree decorations going "I wonder how that would works as
part of a costume".
Surprise!
Lots of costumers do end up incorporating their Christmas decorations in their
outfits. Garland makes great 3-D trim. You can make headdresses from
all kinds of snips or ornaments. The bigger glitz can decorate shoulder,
top a staff.... Basically your imagination is the only limit.
Best Buy time
The best time to get your Christmas decorations, turned costume bits is to
pick them up on the after Christmas sales. Prices often start at half off
and drop from there.
Best Place
In Los Angeles there is a "Craft" place that is famous for it's
after Christmas sale. Folks have been know to line up as early as 4:30 in
the morning on December 26 to take advantage of the famous Stats' half-off sale.
Stats is no ordinary craft store at anytime of the year. They
have rooms of ribbon sorted by color and types. They carry all kinds of decorations
for every season under the sun from tiny little things to bigger than life size,
from 39 cents to <gulp>, how much?... but, Christmas decorations
are what they excel in. They have a special Christmas
tree room that is absolutely magical and miniature villages that will make you
want to start collecting. They also have rows and rows of baskets and shelves
filled with every style, color, and material imagined for Christmas
decorations. They always stock lots of the latest electron lights...
so just imagine what you can do when you rewire your suit.
You will find so much to add to your costumes, though the sales staff wonders
why you're trying a glitter basket on your head. "But, it makes
such a perfect cap!" They'll smile. But still, for your planned
outfit, it's a major score.
Planning for the sale
If you want to make a killing at Stats, on December 26th... scout out the
store a few days in advance. The morning of the 26th, it's Black Belt
Shopping time!!!! So, know where your fav items are. (The week before
Christmas they will be consolidating their merchandize, so don't expect to see
things where you saw them the first time.) Also, you will know how much
they have left of what you want. Now-a-days they have more than one
store. So, it you want it bad enough and 1/2 price, you may have to
scout locations.
December 26th
Check the papers or call for their opening time. If you want
to join the party you can get there early. Normally, there's a pretty fun
crowd out there waiting for the doors to open. (They will open much earlier
than the department stores... so you can make this your first trip.)
